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Christmas and Hanukkah Specials on WITF FM
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Fred Vigeant
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Here is a rundown of special programming from December 23 to December 26 on WITF 89.5 & 93.3:
Monday December 23, 2019
9:00am – 10:00am – Tinsel Tales 4 – In keeping with a well-loved NPR holiday tradition, hear the fourth collection of extraordinary Christmas stories that will transport you to unexpected places. NPR’s past and present tell stories of the season in this hour-long special. Some tales are funny; some are touching; some are insightful or irreverent or nostalgic or surprising. You might recognize them from our broadcast archives — or you might fall in love with them for the first time. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
2:00pm – 3:00pm – Hanukkah Lights 2019 – The NPR favorite returns with all new Hanukkah stories. Authors TBA. Hosted by Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.
7:00pm – 8:00pm – Tinsel Tales 4 – encore of an earlier broadcast
Tuesday December 24, 2019
9:00am – 10:00am – Tinsel Tales 1 – This program features stories from the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk — these and other NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
10:00am – 12:00pm – Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (Live) – An annual and beloved Christmas tradition, “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” is an extraordinary and memorable live service of word and music from the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England.
12:00pm – 1:00pm – Welcome Christmas – A perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premiere choral groups.
1:00pm – 2:00pm – Christmas with Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs – One of the great holiday traditions in America, the choirs of Morehouse and Spelman Colleges — two of the most prestigious historically black institutions in the nation — get together to present a spine-tingling concert program. This encore presentation features the best works of the last several years. It’s a joyous celebration of the schools’ tradition of singing excellence, with their trademark mixture of spirituals and carols. Korva Coleman hosts.
2:00pm – 3:00pm – Jazz Piano Christmas 35 – Join the Kennedy Center and NPR Music for this annual holiday tradition highlighting jazz pianists and their favorite seasonal music. The line-up will be announced soon. Felix Contreras hosts.
3:00pm – 4:00pm – Tinsel Tales 3 – Audie Cornish, Ken Harbaugh, Nina Totenberg and other voices from NPR’s past and present tell stories of the season in this hour-long special. Some tales are funny; some are touching; some are insightful or irreverent or nostalgic or surprising. You might recognize them from our broadcast archives — or you might fall in love with them for the first time. Hosted by Lynn Neary
All Things Considered and Marketplace
7:00pm – 8:00pm – Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir – The world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir continues its tradition of great artistry this holiday season, with touching arrangements of familiar carols, and lesser-known melodies that are fast becoming the new classics.
8:00pm – 9:00pm – A Chanticleer Christmas – Celebrate the season with song! Brian Newhouse hosts this one-hour program of a cappella holiday favorites, new and old, presented live in concert by Chanticleer, the superb 12-man choral ensemble known as “an orchestra of voices.”
9:00pm – 12:00am – Handel’s Messiah – Performed by The Trinity Choir and Trinity Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Julian Wachner. The program is hosted by WQXR’s David Garland and noted choral conductor, Kent Tritle. The concert was recorded live at Trinity Church, New York City.
Wednesday December 25, 2019
9:00am – 10:00am – Tinsel Tales 2 – NPR fills millions of homes each holiday with humor, warmth, and a host of festive voices. Continuing with the tradition of the first Tinsel Tales program, this is another collection of the best and most requested holiday stories. Joy, hope, and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
10:00am – 12:00pm – St. Olaf’s Christmas Festival – This service in song and word has become one of the nation’s most cherished holiday celebrations. The festival includes hymns, carols, choral works, as well as orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians in five choirs, and the St. Olaf Orchestra.
12:00pm – 1:00pm – A Choral Christmas with Stile Antico – Celebrate Christmas with the sound of soaring voices. Stile Antico, the award-winning choir from London, pays a visit to St. Paul’s church on Harvard Square for a concert of radiant sacred music for the Christmas season by the most acclaimed composers of the renaissance. Hear the group’s luminous blend of voices sing the intricately woven music of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd. Hosted by Cathy Fuller of WGBH. Presented by NPR Music.
1:00pm – 2:00pm – All is Bright: Contemplative Music for Christmas – Lynne Warfel hosts an hour of gorgeous, contemplative choral music that tells the traditional Christmas story with songs about angels, the star and the manger scene.
2:00pm – 4:00pm – Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols – repeat Tuesday’s broadcast
All Things Considered
6:30pm – 7:00pm – The Christmas Skater – Like “An Affair to Remember” but with a Christmas theme.
7:00pm – 8:00pm – Tinsel Tales 2 – repeat of an earlier broadcast.
8:00pm – 9:00pm – Jonathan Winters’ A Christmas Carol – Hosted by NPR’s Susan Stamberg. Master comedian Jonathan Winters presents a distinctive reading of Dickens’ holiday classic, with a special performing edition prepared by Dickens for his own presentations. Also featuring Mimi Kennedy.
9:00pm – 10:00pm – Festivo Alt.Latino: Gaby Moreno in Concert – NPR Music’s Alt.Latino presents a 2015 encore featuring songwriter and performer Gaby Moreno and her band performing tracks from her popular holiday album Posada. Recorded live at the KUT studios in Austin, Texas, she was joined by special guests Gina Chavez, Chicano Zen and bandleader and record producer Michael Ramos.
10:00pm – 11:00pm – All Songs Considered for the Holidays – This year, All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton decide to get away from it all with a holiday cruise to Bermuda. Along the way they meet a few special guests aboard the ship, including John Legend, Aloe Blacc, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, William Shatner, Lucius, Micky Dolenz of The Monkees and Rodney Crowell, who all try to share their own good cheer for the holidays. But nature inevitably runs its course and the gang finds itself stuck in the swirling vortex of the mystical Bermuda Triangle, desperate for some sort of passage back home. It all unfolds like a bad high school play in this regular, seasonal spoof from NPR Music.
11:00pm – 12:00am – Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir – repeat
Thursday December 26, 2019
2:00pm – 3:00pm – Candles Burning Brightly – Mindy Ratner hosts the celebration of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. “Candles Burning Brightly” explores the meaning and traditions of Chanukah, including holiday foods and Sephardic and Ashkenazi music.
Sunday December 29
7:00pm – 8:00pm – A Chanukah Celebration with Chicago a cappella – Join Jonathan Miller, artistic director of Chicago a cappella and a longtime champion of Jewish choral music, for an inspiring and informative show featuring choral music set to Chanukah texts.
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