This holiday season, turn on your radio, pour yourself a hot cup of cocoa, and cozy up with the sounds of ClassicalNH!
Starting Monday, Dec. 18 enjoy festive music programming to liven your evenings during these dark days of winter --and into the warm glow of the New Year.
You can find the full list of special programming below.
Monday, Dec. 18, 2023
All Is Bright at 5:00 p.m.
All Is Bright, with host Lynne Warfel, offers an hour of gorgeous, contemplative choral music that tells the traditional Christmas story with songs about angels, the star and the manger scene.
Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023
Anticipation and Celebration: Advent with the Montserrat Boy Choir at 5:00 p.m.
Perched atop the mountains near Barcelona, the choir of the Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat is one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious boy choirs. For the first time in their 800-year history, the choir made its Midwest premiere. Bringing with them a message of peace, the choristers will use music to transcend borders and speak directly to your heart.
In this special the ensemble sings a wide range of works.
Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023
Your Classical Christmas Favorites at 5:00 p.m.
Join us this holiday season as we count down the top Christmas songs as voted by you in this special with host Tom Crann.
Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023
In Winter’s Glow at 5:00 p.m.
Join us for a winter solstice program with modern classical sounds, for the longest night of the year, chosen especially to compliment the chilly, starry nights of the season.
Friday, Dec. 22, 2023
Carols as Home with the Imani Winds at 5:00 p.m.
Carols as Home features a modern take on classic Christmas carols, hosted by Imani Winds founding oboist, Toyin Spellman-Diaz. Toyin coaxes intimate stories of Christmas memories from the members of the ensemble, and why these classic carols are still essential today. You’ll hear many of your favorite carols updated with the ensembles’ own imaginative take.
Monday, Dec. 25, 2023
Ballad of the Brown King and Other Music for Christmas by Black Composers at 9:00 a.m.
Dr. Louise Toppin, a preeminent performer and scholar specializing in the concert repertoire of African American composers, presents the world premiere recording of Margaret Bonds’s The Ballad of the Brown King (Avie Records, 2018). With a libretto by Langston Hughes, this Christmas cantata focuses on Balthazar, the dark-skinned king who journeyed to Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus Christ.
This gorgeous work is beautifully interpreted by New York City-based The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra, soloists soprano Laquita Mitchell, mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford, and tenor Noah Stewart with Malcolm J. Merriweather at the podium.
St. Olaf Christmas Festival at 10:00 a.m.
The St. Olaf Christmas Festival has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. The festival includes hymns, carols, choral works and orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity. It features the St. Olaf Choir, the St. Olaf Orchestra, the St. Olaf Cantorei, the St. Olaf Chapel Choir, the Manitou Singers and the Viking Chorus, performing as individual groups and as a massed ensemble.
Classical Music from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Join Melissa Ousley for back to back Christmas music through Christmas Day beginning at noon.
Welcome Christmas at 4:00 p.m.
There’s no better way to welcome Christmas than by listening to Welcome Christmas!, the VocalEssence holiday concert. It’s an hour of joyful, classic holiday music from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premiere choral groups, singing traditional carols and new discoveries.
Chanticleer Christmas at 5:00 p.m.
This program of holiday favorites, new and old, will be presented live in concert by Chanticleer, the superb 12-man ensemble known as "an orchestra of voices." Chanticleer is one of the premiere vocal ensembles in the nation. The ensemble has won two Grammys and is a member of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.
Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023
Winter Holidays Around the World at 5:00 p.m.
Winter holidays are celebrated around the world, and their music is wonderful to hear, regardless of which tradition you observe. Spirited selections start in the 12th century with Nova Stella, medieval Italian Christmas music from Saint Francis of Assisi’s staging of the nativity; jazz pianist Dave Brubeck’s classical composition La Fiesta de la Posada, evoking a Mexican Christmas celebration; and Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Turn on your radio, pour a cup of tea, and cozy up to a warm fire with host Bill McGlaughlin.
Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023
The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays at 5:00 p.m.
The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays is an hour-long special devoted to holiday and wintertime movie music. In addition to beloved standards (“White Christmas” from “Holiday Inn” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from “Meet Me in St. Louis”), Michael shares an eclectic mix of wintry film scores, ranging from “It Happened in Sun Valley” (from “Sun Valley Serenade”) to Alexandre Desplat’s folk-inspired score for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” to Bernard Herrmann’s bracing sleigh ride accompaniment composed for the Orson Welles drama “The Magnificent Ambersons.”
Monday, Jan. 1, 2024
Minnesota Orchestra New Year’s Celebration at 4:00 p.m.
Ring in the new year with the Minnesota Orchestra! The program opens with Bernstein’s animated Overture to Candide. Awadagin Pratt performs the Minnesota premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds for Piano and Orchestra, a work written for him. A New Year’s celebration wouldn’t be complete without adventure and passion, and the Orchestra brings that in multitudes in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s beloved Scheherazade.
