2022-23 Holiday Specials on WUOT
Happy Holidays from WUOT! We hope that you have a joyous and safe holiday season, and that you might join us for some holiday cheer throughout December and early January. Below is our holiday program schedule. You are sure to find a few gems to tune in for and enjoy! In addition to these specials, our local programs will offer some holiday morsels throughout the month.
Monday, December 5th
8 p.m. – Christmas with the 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, hosted by Korva Coleman. It's a joyous celebration of the schools' tradition of singing excellence, with their trademark mixture of spirituals and carols.
9 p.m. – Jonathan Winters’ A Christmas Carol
An updated version of a public radio tradition 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.
Thursday, December 8th
9 p.m. – 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.
Monday, December 12th
7 p.m. – An Afro Blue Christmas
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 a-cappela group perform a variety of holiday songs including African-American spirituals, jazz and pop tunes, and classical repertoire. Michele Norris hosts this joyous celebration, which includes one of a kind arrangements on traditional holiday songs plus new compositions…music perfect for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas.
8 p.m. – The Big Tiny Desk Holiday Concert
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.
9 p.m. – Welcome Christmas!
There’s no better way to welcome Christmas than Welcome Christmas!, the VocalEssence holiday concert conducted by Philip Brunelle. 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.
Tuesday, December 13th
8 p.m. – St. Olaf Christmas Festival
The St. Olaf Christmas Festival is a chance for listeners across the country and around the world to participate in one of the nation’s most treasured holiday celebrations. Programming includes sacred choral and instrumental music from many traditions: beloved hymns, classical masterworks, folk songs from around the world, and African-American spirituals.
9 p.m. - A Mexican Christmas with The Newberry Consort and EnsAmble Ad-Hoc
The Newberry Consort and EnsAmble Ad-Hoc present A Mexican Christmas, an album of 17th century traditional music for worship and celebration. The collection features pieces commonly heard in both liturgical service and in the streets, and evoke the solemnity and fanfare heard in Mexico City’s convents and plazas, with jubilant vocals and lively strings, guitars, and percussion.
Wednesday, December 14th
8 p.m. – A Soulful Christmas
A Soulful Christmas is an uplifting, relevant display of Black music in the classical, gospel, spiritual, and jazz-inspired style. This special celebrates the non-idiomatic Black classical music, while exploring non-idiomatic choral traditions.
9 p.m. – Festivo AltLatino with Cantigas
NPR Music’s Felix Contreras hosts this Alt.Latino presentation -- a special holiday concert featuring the 20 piece choral ensemble Choral Cantigas. This musical performance also includes stories about holiday traditions and cultures. Hear a traditional Peruvian Christmas carol, folk music from Brazil, Spain, and Mexico plus Parrandas from Venezuela and Puerto Rico. The many rich styles of Latino choral music will unite listeners through the joyful and trans-formative power of music.
Thursday, December 15th
9 p.m. – 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.
Sunday, December 18th
1 p.m. – Candles Burning Brightly
Mindy Ratner hosts this holiday favorite, in celebration of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. “Candles Burning Brightly” explores Chanukah foods and traditional activities - and plenty of music.
Monday, December 19th
7 p.m. – A Jazz Piano Christmas
Check out your favorite holiday classics as you’ve never heard them! This year, our annual sell-out event spotlights ferociously talented Japanese musical phenom Hiromi, Mountain Stage’s Bob Thompson, and Bolivian prodigy José André Montaño, chosen as one of the Kennedy Center’s “Next 50” leaders.
8 p.m. – Hanukkah Lights
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.
9 p.m. – An Afro Blue Christmas
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 a-cappela group perform a variety of holiday songs including African-American spirituals, jazz and pop tunes, and classical repertoire. Michele Norris hosts this joyous celebration, which includes one of a kind arrangements on traditional holiday songs plus new compositions…music perfect for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas.
Tuesday, December 20th
7 p.m. – Joy to the World: A Holiday in Pink
All Things Considered’s Ari Shapiro hosts this program featuring 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.
8 p.m. – Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra’s November 2022 Classical Christmas Concert. Performed in the Bijou Theatre.
Wednesday, December 21st
8 p.m. – 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 with host John Schaefer.
9 p.m. – 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.
Thursday, December 22nd
8 p.m. - UT Concert Hall - Winter Choral Concert
Performed November 29th, 2022 at 7:30pm in UT's Cox Auditorium
Celebrate the season with the annual UT Winter Choral Concert. Tune-in to hear all four major choral ensembles, as well as UT Singers, perform holiday favorites such as "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "Sussex Carol", "Christmas Bells", "Winter White Hymnal", Bernice Johnson Reagon's "Seven Principals" in celebration of Kwanzaa, and the Hanukkah song, "Borukh Ate, Zingt Der Tate." Melony Dodson hosts this beautiful performance that's sure to put you in the holiday spirit.
9 p.m. – Welcome Christmas!
There’s no better way to welcome Christmas than Welcome Christmas!, the VocalEssence holiday concert conducted by Philip Brunelle. 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.
Saturday, December 24th
6 a.m. - A Mexican Christmas with The Newberry Consort and EnsAmble Ad-Hoc
The Newberry Consort and EnsAmble Ad-Hoc present A Mexican Christmas, an album of 17th century traditional music for worship and celebration. The collection features pieces commonly heard in both liturgical service and in the streets, and evoke the solemnity and fanfare heard in Mexico City’s convents and plazas, with jubilant vocals and lively strings, guitars, and percussion.
7 a.m. – St. Olaf Christmas Festival
The St. Olaf Christmas Festival is a chance for listeners across the country and around the world to participate in one of the nation’s most treasured holiday celebrations. Programming includes sacred choral and instrumental music from many traditions: beloved hymns, classical masterworks, folk songs from around the world, and African-American spirituals.
10 a.m. – A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols LIVE
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols presents your audience with an opportunity to share in a live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal Classical music. This special will be presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue, the 500-year-old Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England.
4 p.m. – Christmas with the 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, hosted by Korva Coleman. It's a joyous celebration of the schools' tradition of singing excellence, with their trademark mixture of spirituals and carols.
10 p.m. – A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (Recorded)
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols presents your audience with an opportunity to share in a live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal Classical music. This special will be presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue, the 500-year-old Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England.
Sunday, December 25th
7 a.m. – 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.
7 p.m. - UT Concert Hall - Winter Choral Concert
Performed November 29th, 2022 at 7:30pm in UT's Cox Auditorium
Celebrate the season with the annual UT Winter Choral Concert. Tune-in to hear all four major choral ensembles, as well as UT Singers, perform holiday favorites such as "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "Sussex Carol", "Christmas Bells", "Winter White Hymnal", Bernice Johnson Reagon's "Seven Principals" in celebration of Kwanzaa, and the Hanukkah song, "Borukh Ate, Zingt Der Tate." Melony Dodson hosts this beautiful performance that's sure to put you in the holiday spirit.
Monday, December 26th
8 p.m. – The Sounds of Kwanzaa
During the aftermath of the Watts Uprisings in the 1960s, Dr. Maulana Karenga decided to create a special December holiday designed for Black people to celebrate themselves, their culture, and their future liberation. Today, Kwanzaa is still celebrated by not only Afro-Americans, but Black people around the globe!
In this broadcast, Garrett McQueen offers a background on the history of Kwanzaa and its guiding principles, alongside musical selections that highlight the spirit of the celebration. The show features the compositions of Florence Price, Duke Ellington, Sean O’Loughlin, and special performances by Imani Winds.
Saturday, December 31st
10 p.m. – Toast of the Nation
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 Ibrahim Maalouf, Lizz Wright, Ranky Tanky and Chucho Valdés.
Sunday, January 1st
11 a.m. – New Year’s Day from Vienna 2023
Lisa Mullins hosts this ever-popular annual New Year’s Day Concert, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Franz Welser-Most. 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.