Joyous Celebration 17 Songs

[Keri Gamrath]

December23 (Wed)

7pm-8pm - Joy to the World: A Holiday in Pink

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, and co-produced by OPB and Murray Street Productions.

9pm-10pm -Swinging Holiday Jazz Party with Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis hosts an hour of holiday jazz favorites by Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Ccile McLorin Salvant, Gregory Porter, Ren Marie, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

11pm-12am - An Afro Blue Christmas

Here's a very special holiday concert with Howard University's premiere vocal ensemble Afro Blue, and special guest pianist Cyrus Chestnut. The a-cappela group performs 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 on traditional holiday songs plus new compositions... music perfect for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas. Hosted by Michele Norris.

9am-10am - Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites

This year a radio tradition continues - 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.

December 23 (Wed)

9pm-10pm - A Chanticleer Christmas

This unique, one-hour program of holiday music is presented live in concert by Chanticleer. Hear why this superb 12-man ensemble is known as "an orchestra of voices," as they perform holiday classics and new favorites, with choral commentary by host Brian Newhouse.

10pm-11pm - 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.

11pm-midnight - Vamos a Beln! Christmas with The Rose Ensemble

The acclaimed Rose Ensemble returns with a free one-hour special featuring festive and evocative music from early Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, and beyond. Colonial Latin America was a melting pot of ethnic diversity, when newcomers wrestled with local traditions, and cultural conflict was often reconciled through musical collaboration. Dances from the streets of Mother Spain mingle with African rhythms and indigenous languages, while celebration turns glorious in the pageantry of the Franciscan missions of California and New Mexico. The Rose Ensemble is joined by special guests, Piffaro, The Renaissance Band.

10pm-11pm - La Nochebuena: A Spanish Renaissance Christmas with the Rose Ensemble

The acclaimed Rose Ensemble is back again for another one hour special for the holiday season. This year, the Twin Cities early music ensemble presents a program that is both rhythmic and regal; Spanish song and dance to celebrate Christmas Eve, La Nochebena. In La Nochebuena, The Rose Ensemble explores the great variety of music that filled the royal court of Ferdinand and Isabella, and flooded the chapels and streets of Renaissance Spain.

December 25 (Fri)

9am-10am - St. Olaf Christmas Special

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. SymphonyCast host Alison Young shares the sights and sounds of this choral favorite.

10am- 11am - Christmas w/the Morehouse & 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 year's program 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.

3a8082e126