Holiday Programming 2020
A Chanukah Celebration with Chicago a cappella
Listen Sunday, Dec. 13 at 3 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
Join Jonathan Miller, artistic director of Chicago a cappella and a longtime champion of Jewish choral music, for an inspiring and informative show featuring choral music set to Chanukah texts. Familiar tunes include "I Have a Little Dreidel" (both in its original Yiddish form and in a neo-funk Hebrew/English setting), a swing version of "S'vivon" by Steve Barnett, and a lively setting of the traditional melody for "Al-Hanissim" ("For the Miracles") by Elliot Levine.
Candles Burning Brightly
Listen Sunday, Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
Candles Burning Brightly is a one-hour radio show that celebrates Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. Enjoy an exploration of Chanukah foods and traditional activities, and plenty of music. The program is hosted by Minnesota Public Radio’s Mindy Ratner.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Watch Sunday, Dec. 13, at 7:30 p.m. on NEPM TV
Concern over the commercialization of Christmas goes way back and was the theme of the classic 1965 Christmas TV special wherein, feeling down about the commercialism of Christmas, Charlie Brown becomes the director of the gang's holiday play. Can he find the “perfect” tree, and discover the true meaning of Christmas?
Christmas With the Tabernacle Choir Featuring Kelli O'hara And Richard Thomas
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Watch Monday, Dec. 14 at 9 p.m. on NEPM TV
The Grammy and Emmy Award winning Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Orchestra at Temple Square, and Bells at Temple Square join Tony Award winning star Kelli O'Hara and renowned actor Richard Thomas to celebrate the holidays with a nostalgic program that exudes the warmth and peace that the season can bring. Set against a backdrop of a country farmhouse and church, the visual and musical spectacle is distinctly different from those of years past and serves as a soulful tribute to the holiday traditions, songs, stories and individuals that have contributed to the rich cultural fabric that is uniquely American.
Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas With Vanessa Williams
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Watch Tuesday, December 15 at 8 p.m. on NEPM TV
In partnership with The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, Vanessa Williams and the American Pops Orchestra presents a new take on Ella’s classic 1960 holiday album, Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas, performed in its entirety by a stellar lineup of artists. One of the most celebrated holiday albums of all time, it featured classic American songs of the season, including “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “The Christmas Song,” “Sleigh Ride” and “Winter Wonderland.”
Christmas at Belmont
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Watch Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 9 p.m. on NEPM TV
Christmas at Belmont features Belmont University Music Department students along with Michael W. Smith, CeCe Winans and the Nashville Children’s Choir. Taped in 2019 at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, the show includes classic holiday songs and festive tunes.
Watch anytime
A Christmas Celtic Sojourn with Brian O'Donovan
Watch Thursday, Dec. 17 at 10 p.m. on NEPM TV
A Christmas Celtic Sojourn is an on-stage gathering to celebrate light in Celtic style during the darkest time of the year. Each December, the show draws on Celtic, Pagan, and Christian traditions to celebrate the season. Hosted by Brian O'Donovan, and featuring some of finest singers, dancers, and musicians from around the Celtic World, this television program was recorded in 2019 in front of a sell-out audience at the historic Cutler Majestic Theatre in downtown Boston.
Metropolitan Opera: Hansel and Gretel
Listen Saturday, Dec. 19 at 1 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
Based on a Grimm Brothers fairy tale, Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel is a perennial holiday favorite in the world of opera. Listen to a 2018 broadcast, conducted by Donald Runnicles, with rising Met Opera star Lisette Oropesa as Gretel and Tara Erraught as Hansel.
Christmas with the Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs
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Listen Sunday, Dec. 20 at 6 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
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.
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Listen Thursday, Dec. 24 at 10 a.m. on NEPM 88.5
The audience will share in a live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal ‘classical’ music (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.
Jazz à la Mode: A Night Before Christmas
Listen Thursday, Dec. 24 from 8–11 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
Join Peter Sokolowski this evening for two special renditions of “A Night Before Christmas.” In the first hour, we’ll hear Louis Armstrong’s reading of the poem and, in the final hour, Wynton Marsalis’ musical interpretation of the Clement Moore classic.
Lucy Worsley's 12 Days of Tudor Christmas
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Watch Thursday, Dec. 24 at 9 p.m. on NEPM TV
Join Lucy Worsley on a 12-day extravaganza as she discovers that much of what we enjoy in contemporary Christmas — from carols to turkey, gift-giving to mistletoe and mulled wine — has surprising Tudor origins, rooted in devotion and charity.
Handel's Messiah for Our Time
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Watch Thursday, Dec. 24 at 11:30 p.m. & Sunday, Dec. 27 at 7 p.m. on NEPM TV
Since 1854, the Handel and Haydn Society has performed Messiah for 166 straight years, in spite of a Civil War, two World Wars, the Great Depression, and the 1918 pandemic. This year, in light of COVID-19, GBH and Handel and Haydn Society join forces to bring alive this beloved holiday tradition. The program was recorded at GBH’s Brighton Studio while closely adhering to Massachusetts COVID-19 protocols.
Christmas Day Classical
Listen Friday, Dec. 25 from 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Celebrate Christmas with NEPM with a special day of holiday music. From traditional carols, to sacred music and pops performances, we’ll celebrate the day with a lively fare of special music as our holiday gift to you.
Call the Midwife Holiday Special (2020)
Watch Friday, Dec. 25 at 9 p.m. on NEPM TV
Everyone at Nonnatus House looks forward to a traditional holiday, but nothing goes quite to plan. Meanwhile, the Circus arrives in Poplar, bringing new friendships, new experiences and an exciting adventure for Nurse Crane.
A Season's Griot
Listen Sunday, Dec. 27 at 6 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
A Season's Griot is public radio's only nationally syndicated Kwanzaa program. Hosted for 25 years 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 Burnette, and other members of the Season’s Griot family return with familiar and favorite elements of Griot.
United in Song: Celebrating the Resilience of America
Watch Thursday, Dec. 31 at 8 p.m.
Join Joshua Bell, Renee Fleming, Denyce Graves, Patti LaBelle, Yo-Yo Ma, Audra McDonald and more as they encourage our nation to come together on New Year’s Eve to celebrate our irrepressible strength as Americans.
Toast of the Nation
Listen Thursday, Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. on NEPM 88.5
This NPR tradition has been providing an upbeat soundtrack for New Year’s Eve since the 1970s. It's festive jazz you can party to, all night long, even on lockdown. Enjoy performances recorded this year by Kokoroko at Royal Albert Hall in London, The Catherine Russell Trio at Dizzy Club at Jazz At Lincoln Center in NYC, The Jazz Gallery All Stars, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and Pink Martini, recorded in Portland, Oregon.
Vienna New Year’s Day
Listen Friday, Jan. 1 at 11 a.m. on NEPM 88.5
New Year’s morning, you can waltz in 2021 with the annual New Year’s Day concert from Vienna performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Maestro Riccardo Muti. From the Golden Hall at the Musikverein , we’ll hear waltzes, polkas and more from the Strauss family in this annual holiday tradition celebrating the new year. Listen in the morning, then watch in the evening (see below).
Great Performances
From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2021
Watch Friday, January 1 at 9 p.m. on NEPM TV
As the world bids farewell to 2020, Great Performances continues its beloved tradition of ringing in the New Year with the Vienna Philharmonic at the world-famous Musikverein. PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville returns as host for a fourth year with Riccardo Muti as guest conductor for the sixth time. The Vienna Philharmonic orchestra performs favorite waltzes by Strauss, and the celebration features the Vienna State Ballet dancing on location from notable Vienna landmarks.