2021 Holiday Program Schedule
Monday, 11/29/21
8 p.m. to 9 p.m. WSHU-FM
Candles Burning Brightly
A one-hour celebration of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights with an exploration of Chanukah foods and traditional activities … and plenty of music.
Wednesday, 12/1/21
9 p.m. to 10 p.m. WSHU-FM
A Chanukah Celebration with Chicago a cappella
Jonathan Miller, artistic director of Chicago a cappella and a longtime champion of Jewish choral music, leads an inspiring and informative show featuring choral music set to Chanukah texts.
Friday, 12/3/21
9 p.m. to 10 p.m. WSHU-FM
Hanukkah Lights 2021
This NPR favorite returns with the best of the best Hanukkah Lights stories from the last 30 years. Authors TBA. Hosted by Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.
Monday, 12/13/21
8 p.m. to 9 p.m. WSHU-FM
Gaudete! Early Music for the Christmas Season
In this 1-hour holiday special, you’ll hear Byzantine chant by Kassiani, and selections from Missa Puer natus est nobis by Thomas Tallis, plus hymns and motets from Spain, Germany, and France. Performers include The Cardinall’s Musick, Theatre of Voices, Cappella Romana, and Oltremontano.
Tuesday, 12/14/21
9 p.m. to 10 p.m. WSHU-FM
Welcome Christmas!
An hour of joyful, classic holiday music from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premiere choral groups, singing traditional carols and new discoveries.
Wednesday, 12/15/21
8 p.m. to 9 p.m. WSHU-FM
An Afro Blue Christmas
A very special holiday concert with Howard University's premiere, a-cappela vocal ensemble Afro Blue and special guest pianist Cyrus Chestnut. They perform a variety of holiday songs including African-American spirituals, jazz and pop tunes, and classical repertoire.
9 p.m. to 10 p.m. WSHU-FM
The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays
A 1-hour special devoted to holiday and wintertime movie music, including beloved standards like “White Christmas” from “Holiday Inn” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from “Meet Me in St. Louis,” as well as an eclectic mix of wintry film scores, from “It Happened in Sun Valley” from “Sun Valley Serenade” to the folk-inspired score for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” to the sleigh ride accompaniment composed for the Orson Welles drama “The Magnificent Ambersons.”
Thursday, 12/16/21
8 p.m. to 10 p.m. WSHU-FM
Music of the Baroque: Brass and Choral Holiday Concert
This 2-hour special features great works from composers like Samuel Scheidt, Giovanni Gabrieli, William Billings, Claudio Monteverdi, and many more.
Friday, 12/17/21
8 p.m. to 9 p.m. WSHU-FM
Christmas with Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs
The choirs of Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, two of the most prestigious historically black institutions in the nation, get together to present 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.
9 p.m. to 10 p.m. WSHU-FM
Mark O’Connor’s An Appalachian Christmas
The famous bluegrass fiddler and respected American composer, leads the O’Connor Band and special guest Nancy Ives, principal cellist of the Oregon Symphony, in An Appalachian Christmas.
Sunday, 12/19/21
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. WSHU-FM
A Victorian Christmas with David Bouchier
Join David Bouchier for the annual Victorian Christmas Show -- an afternoon of seasonal music and stories about the traditions, myths and entertainments of Christmas a century and more ago.
10 p.m. to 11 p.m. WSHU-FM, WSUF
A Paul Winter Solstice
Celebrate the return of the sun - and the warming of the heart with Paul Winter's Winter Solstice Celebration. On the darkest night of the year, we head back to New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine to hear a performance of The Paul Winter Consort and the glorious Cathedral Pipe Organ.
Monday, 12/20/21
8 p.m. to 9 p.m. WSHU-FM
A Mexican Baroque Christmas with the Rose Ensemble (Rose Ensemble/PRX)
This holiday program features over two centuries of festive Christmas dances and songs from the great cathedrals of Puebla and Mexico City.
9 p.m. to 10 p.m. WSHU-FM
Hygge Holiday: Cozy Classics
An hour-long program of nostalgic favorites for the winter season. Programming includes favorites from Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Debussy and Blake.
Tuesday, 12/21/21
8 p.m. to 10 p.m. WSHU-FM
Handel’s Messiah
Lauren Rico presents a wonderful performance of Handel’s Messiah with John Rutter conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cambridge Singers and soloists.
Wednesday, 12/22/21
8 p.m. to 9 p.m. WSHU-FM
A Chanticleer Christmas
This one-hour 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.
Thursday, 12/23/21
8 p.m. to 10 p.m. WSHU-FM
Bach’s Christmas Oratorio
Kate Remington presents Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in a stellar performance with the Dresden Chamber Choir, soloists and the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig conducted by Riccardo Chailly.
Friday, 12/24/21
10 a.m. to 12 p.m. WSHU-FM
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
A live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal ‘classical’ music including anthems a cappella and with organ accompaniment, and congregational hymns, presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue. The 2021 edition of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is currently scheduled to be live and in-person.
8 p.m. to 10 p.m. WSHU-FM
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (rebroadcast)
Saturday, 12/25/21
9 a.m. to 10 a.m. WSHU-FM Holiday music from WSHU
Selections made by WSHU’s music staff.
10 a.m. to 12 p.m. WSHU-FM
Music of the Baroque: Brass and Choral Holiday Concert
This 2-hour special features great works from composers like Samuel Scheidt, Giovanni Gabrieli, William Billings, Claudio Monteverdi, and many more.
12 p.m. to 1 p.m. WSHU-FM
Holiday music from WSHU
Selections made by WSHU’s music staff.
1 p.m. to 3 p.m. WSHU-FM
Handel’s Messiah
Lauren Rico presents a wonderful performance of Handel’s Messiah with John Rutter conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cambridge Singers and soloists.
3 p.m. to 5 p.m. all stations
A Christmas Carol (parts 1 & 2)
(Westport Country Playhouse)
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. WSHU-FM
An Afro Blue Christmas
A very special holiday concert with Howard University's premiere, a cappella vocal ensemble Afro Blue and special guest pianist Cyrus Chestnut. They perform a variety of holiday songs including African-American spirituals, jazz and pop tunes, and classical repertoire.
7 p.m. to 8 p.m. WSHU-FM
Mark O’Connor’s An Appalachian Christmas
The famous bluegrass fiddler and respected American composer, leads the O’Connor Band and special guest Nancy Ives, principal cellist of the Oregon Symphony, in An Appalachian Christmas.
Sunday, 12/26/21
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. WSHU-FM
A Victorian Christmas with David Bouchier
Join David Bouchier for the annual Victorian Christmas Show -- an afternoon of seasonal music and stories about the traditions, myths and entertainments of Christmas a century and more ago.
Monday, 12/27/21
8 p.m. to 9 p.m. WSHU-FM
A Season’s Griot Not yet confirmed
This one-hour celebration in story and song is public radio's only nationally syndicated Kwanzaa program. Hosted by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, this annual special captures the tales and traditions of African American and African peoples.
Tuesday, 12/28/21
8 p.m. to 9 p.m. WSHU-FM
A Handel & Haydn Society Christmas
Celebrate the season with this hour-long special featuring Christmas choral music from America’s oldest continuously performing ensemble, Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society
Wednesday, 12/29/21
9 p.m. to 10 p.m. WSHU-FM
The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays
A 1-hour special devoted to holiday and wintertime movie music, including beloved standards like “White Christmas” from “Holiday Inn” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from “Meet Me in St. Louis,” as well as an eclectic mix of wintry film scores, from “It Happened in Sun Valley” from “Sun Valley Serenade” to the folk-inspired score for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” to the sleigh ride accompaniment composed for the Orson Welles drama “The Magnificent Ambersons.”