From the lights of Hanukkah, to the joy of Christmas and the vibrant celebrations of Kwanzaa, NHPR's holiday program offerings bring heartfelt stories, music, and reflections that capture the spirit of the season.
Enjoy well-loved national programs such as A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas eve, and Tinsel Tales, stories from the NPR archives that speak to the meaning of Christmas. We're also proud to bring you homegrown favorites like NHPR's The Folk Show, Check This Out, and Live from the Word Barn. Find a complete lineup of ClassicalNH holiday programs, here!
See the daily schedule of NHPR's special programming below:
Friday, Dec. 13
Holidays By Request - Live from Studio D from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
NHPR is wrapping up 2024 on a high note with the latest edition of Holidays By Request. Join hosts Rick Ganley and Emily Quirk for two hours of under-appreciated holiday tunes requested by you! Plus, we'll have live in-studio performances and good cheer from NHPR staff and friends. If you missed the live event on Dec. 13, you can catch it again at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
Saturday, Dec. 14
Check This Out: N.H. Librarians recommend their top picks from 2024
Looking for holiday gift suggestions? Good books to read by the fire? Tune in to hear three N.H. librarians offer recommendations. Catch their takes on their favorite emerging and diverse authors of 2024.
Monday, Dec. 16 - Friday, Dec. 20
NHPR Books: Best of 2024
Join NHPR the week of December 16 for a special NHPR Books literary series showcasing outstanding authors who graced Granite State stages in 2024. Episodes will air at 1 p.m. with a rebroadcast at 9 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 20
NHPR’s Outside/In: “Surthrival” Solstice Special from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Hear ye, hear ye! Winter is fast approaching, and it is time for our fifth annual ‘surthrival’ special, in which the Outside/In team reframes the endurance sport that is winter. We’ve got suggestions for thriving during the cold-season, which we hope will help you positively look forward to dirty snow banks and single-digit temperatures.
Live from the Word Barn with Rick Ganley- Rock My Soul Holiday Edition from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Get ready for an hour of roots-based, raise-the-rafters R&B, pop, and soul-flavored arrangements of Christmas carols and classics from New England’s own Rock My Soul choir and band. This show was recorded LIVE at the Orchard Chapel in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, down the road from the Word Barn. It’s our Christmas gift to you!
Sunday, Dec. 22
A Choral Christmas With Stile Antico from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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.
Jazz Piano Christmas from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Your favorite holiday classics as you’ve never heard them! The Kennedy Center and NPR present A Jazz Piano Christmas, the annual sell-out event featuring jazz-infused renditions of the season’s most-loved music. This year, we spotlight remarkable pianist, vocalist, and actress Melvis Santa—whose eclectic Afro-Cuban style has made her one of the most electrifying artists on the scene—in addition to internationally acclaimed Cuban composer and jazz pianist Alfredo Rodriguez. Hosted by Felix Contreras.
Live from the Word Barn with Rick Ganley - Rock My Soul Holiday Edition (encore) from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 24 - Christmas Eve
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (APM) - from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Listeners are encouraged to join a worldwide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal “classical” music (anthems - both a cappella and with organ accompaniment, and congregational hymns). The broadcast, an NHPR listener favorite, is presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys, and performed in the acoustically and architecturally renowned King’s College Chapel, in Cambridge, England.
NHPR Presents: Yule Log Old Time Radio Show - from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
NHPR's Rick Ganley and Sean Hurley team up for an old-timey hour of Christmas stories and memories. Sean will share his favorite “winter essays” and heartwarming family stories. This special - broadcast each year on NHPR for the holiday season - will become one of your family's favorite holiday listening traditions!
The Big Tiny Desk Concert - from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Celebrate the season with amazing holiday performances from The Tiny Desk Concert series including Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Steve Martin, Hanson, The Polyphonic Spree and more! Hosted by NPR Music frenemies Bob Boilen and Stephen Thompson.
Holidays By Request: Live from Studio D (encore) - from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
NHPR is wrapping up 2024 on a high note with the latest edition of Holidays By Request. Join hosts Rick Ganley and Emily Quirk for two live hours of under-appreciated holiday tunes requested by you! Plus, we'll have live in-studio performances and good cheer from NHPR staff and friends.
The Folk Show - Stocking Stuffers Edition - from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
A Folk Show tradition - “The Stocking Stuffer” edition gives audience members a chance to request songs for their loved ones, with a mix of holiday and listener favorites. Join host Kate McNally and her devoted base of listeners for a holiday special rich in community and connection.
An Afro Blue Christmas - from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Join us for a very special holiday concert with Howard University's premiere vocal ensemble Afro Blue and special guest pianist Cyrus Chestnut. Hear the acappela group perform a variety of holiday songs including African-American spirituals, jazz and pop tunes, and classical repertoire. The joyous celebration includes one of a kind arrangements of traditional holiday songs plus new compositions…music perfect for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas. Hosted by Michele Norris.
Three Tales of Christmas with Cantus - from 11:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.
In Christmas with Cantus, Cantus weaves together three holiday stories with time-honored carols and new classics. Blending narration and song, the program features Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Christine Lê’s The Hawai’i Snowman, alongside Mark Twain’s “A Letter from Santa Claus,” offering an opportunity to reflect on the meaning and joy of the holiday season.
Wednesday, Dec. 25 - Christmas Day & First Day of Hanukkah
An Exchange Tradition: Gerald Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' - from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
On Christmas Day, we listen back to a seasonal favorite, our 2005 conversation with Gerald Charles Dickens, Charles Dickens's great-great-grandson and an actor. He toured America with his one-man performance of "A Christmas Carol," and we speak with him about the legacy of his namesake and the magic of "A Christmas Carol." He also performs a handful of scenes from his show.
The New London Barn Playhouse Presents: 'A Miracle On 34th Street' - from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Miracle on 34th Street is based on the classic 1947 film starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne and Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle. When a department store Santa claims he’s the real Kris Kringle, his case gets taken all the way to the Supreme Court, and one little girl’s belief makes all the difference in the “miracle.” Recorded live with Foley effects (sound reproductions) and holiday carols, this special radio rebroadcast of Miracle on 34th Street will melt even the most cynical of hearts. Produced by the New London Barn Playhouse - the oldest, continuously operating Summer Stock theater in New Hampshire, and a longtime NHPR trade partner.
Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice 2024 - from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The twenty-eighth CHRISTMAS REVELS holiday broadcast draws on musical and spoken-word performance materials excerpted from live CHRISTMAS REVELS stage productions that took place last year in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Canaan, New Hampshire; Washington, D.C.; Boulder, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Santa Barbara, California; Portland, Oregon; and Tacoma, Washington.
NPR Tinsel Tales: Episodes 1 through 4 - from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Christmas is a time of traditions, and over the years, NPR has created a few traditions of its own. In this hour-long special: Wistfulness, joy, doubt, hope, all the emotions we feel at this time of year, all summoned up in memorable stories from the NPR broadcast archives.
David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk — these and other NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. It may be you'll remember these tales fondly, or it may be you'll fall in love with them for the first time.
Lynn Neary hosts NPR's Tinsel Tales.
Civics 101 - Is Santa a Criminal? from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00p.m.
Today on Civics 101 from NHPR, we answer this question from a listener, "Is Santa a criminal?"
We get to the bottom of the myriad actions of the jolly old elf, and whether he could reasonably be tried for civil and criminal violations, including but not limited to trespassing, breaking and entering, voyeurism, stalking, surveillance, burglary, tax evasion, bad labor practices, emotional distress, and (in one instance) involuntary manslaughter.
Taking us through this complex web of charges is Colin Miller, professor at University of South Carolina School of Law.
Hanukkah Lights 2024 - from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
NPR presents Hanukkah Lights, an hour-long special celebrating the Jewish festival of lights through original stories read by Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz. Now in its 34th year, this NPR holiday tradition will brighten the season by revisiting four favorites from the archives and presenting a new story that feels both timely and timeless.
Joy To The World: A Holiday in Pink - from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
The internationally acclaimed “little orchestra" Pink Martini bedecks the airwaves with festive holiday songs from across the globe. From timeless classics to rarely heard gems, hear a multi-denominational, multi-cultural jubilee, overflowing with enough holiday spirit to warm your entire family. Hosted by All Things Considered’s Ari Shapiro.
A World Cafe Holiday - from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
World Cafe is celebrating 30 years by revisiting special holiday performances from Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Los Lobos, Andrew Bird, The Bird and The Bee, Pink Martini, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and more. Hosted by Raina Douris, this musical gift will provide a full hour of hip holiday cheer.
Jazz Piano Christmas 2024 - from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Your favorite holiday classics as you’ve never heard them! The Kennedy Center and NPR present A Jazz Piano Christmas, the annual sell-out event featuring jazz-infused renditions of the season’s most-loved music. This year, we spotlight remarkable pianist, vocalist, and actress Melvis Santa—whose eclectic Afro-Cuban style has made her one of the most electrifying artists on the scene—in addition to internationally acclaimed Cuban composer and jazz pianist Alfredo Rodriguez. Hosted by Felix Contreras.
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Wednesday, Dec. 26 - Monday, Jan. 1
The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa
The first of seven 2 1/2 minute segments produced by WXXI to air on each day of Kwanzaa. Each segment focuses on the specific principle of that day, and sheds a bit of light on either the principle itself, or some element of the celebration. Segments will air at 7:30 a.m. during Morning Edition, and at 7:04 a.m. during Weekend Edition.
Tuesday, Dec. 31 - New Year’s Eve
A Season’s Griot 2024 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
A Season's Griot is public radio's only nationally syndicated Kwanzaa program. Hosted by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, this annual one-hour special captures the tales and traditions of African American and African peoples. The show’s poet laureate, Beverly Fields Burnette, and other members of the Season’s Griot family return with familiar and favorite elements of Griot.
Live From the Word Barn mini-marathon from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Dead to the Core Pt. I at 7 p.m.
This is part one of a special two hour celebration of the legacy of the Grateful Dead with a collective of singer-songwriters and acoustic musicians called Dead to the Core. They’re brought together by their shared love and reverence for the original band, and they celebrate the music by playing the songs their own way letting them grow and evolve in the true spirit of the Dead.
Dead to the Core Pt. II at 8 p.m.
This is the second of a special two hour celebration of the legacy of the Grateful Dead with a collective of singer-songwriters and acoustic musicians called Dead to the Core.
Soggy Po' Boys with Celia Woodsmith at 9 p.m.
New England's Soggy Po' Boys are ambassadors for horn-fueled jazz and traditional New Orleans music. This sold-out show from February 2024 features the band on stage at The Word Barn with Grammy-nominated Celia Woodsmith on vocals.
Toast of the Nation from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. An NPR tradition every New Year's Eve since the 1970s, Toast of the Nation is the perfect audio complement for the occasion. It's festive jazz you can party to, all night long. Hear sets from Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, Hiromi, Sunny Jain and Lizz Wright.
Wednesday, Jan.1
New Year's Day From Vienna 2024 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The ever popular annual New Year’s Day Concert will be performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Maestro Daniel Barenboim. With this concert it is not only the desire of the Vienna Philharmonic to provide musically definitive interpretations of the masterworks of this genre, but also, as musical ambassadors of Austria, to send people all over the world a New Year's greeting in the spirit of hope, friendship and peace. Hosted by WBUR's Lisa Mullins.
NHPR Books: Best of 2024 Marathon from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Jodi Picoult - By Any Other Name at 1:00 p.m.
In this edition of Authors on Main, NHPR’s Casey McDermott talks with New York Times bestselling Jodi Picoult about her latest work, “By Any Other Name.” This is a novel about two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—who are both forced to hide behind another name. Authors on Main is a partnership between Gibson's Bookstore, Capitol Center for the Arts, and New Hampshire Public Radio.
Julia Alverez - The Cemetery of Untold Stories at 2:00 p.m.
This past April, NHPR’s Julia Furukawa sat down with best-selling author Julia Alvarez to discuss “The Cemetery of Untold Stories.” This sweeping novel focuses on Alma Cruz, who after inheriting a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and revisions, and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her. Authors on Main is a partnership between Gibson's Bookstore, Capitol Center for the Arts, and New Hampshire Public Radio.
Ariel Lawhon - Frozen River at 3:00 p.m.
Our final Writers on a New England Stage of 2024 features Ariel Lawhon, author of “When We Had Wings,” “I Was Anastasia.” On Nov. 6 she sat down with NHPR’s Rebecca Lavoie to discuss her latest novel “The Frozen River,” a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.
The Folk Show - Auld Lang Syne Edition from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
On New Year's Day Kate will feature gems from our 2024 Folk Show Playlists with a spotlight on Kate's many in-studio visits this year.
