Holiday Programs 2013

KTOO

Monday, December 23
3-4 pm
Writers’ Showcase
A special selection of holiday stories, recorded live in the @360 Studios on December 12th

Tuesday, December 24th

3 -4 pm – A Rochester Festival of Lessons & Carols (replaces Juneau Afternoon)

One of the most beloved traditions of the holiday season is the Festival of Lessons and Carols, a service made famous at King’s College in Cambridge, England. The Festival tells the Christmas story in words and music, and is heard all over the world in many languages and many variations.

Wednesday, December 25th

3-4 pm – Selected Shorts (replaces Juneau Afternoon)
On this program, three stories are presented that each offer a different side of the Christmas experience, as well as a hilarious poem by humorist Calvin Trillin.

The first story narrated is Ron Carlson’s charming and funny, “The H Street Sledding Record,” in which a young family enacts a unique Christmas ritual. What’s not to love in a story that begins with a dad throwing horse dung on his roof on Christmas Eve, to simulate the landing of reindeer?

Frank O’Connor’s “Christmas Morning” gives a richly detailed picture of a family in turn-of-the-century Ireland, and a touching portrait of a mother’s attempt to make things perfect for her young sons one day of the year. Reader Malachy McCourt knows this landscape well—it’s the same emotional world that informs his memoirs A Monk Swimming and Singing My Him Song, and his late brother Frank’s bestselling Angela’s Ashes.

George Shephard’s “Occurrence on the Six-Seventeen.,’ first published in The New Yorker in the 1930s, imagines a small Christmas miracle—sober, self-absorbed commuters, “with necks that know exactly how long they must be pressed against the seat back”, briefly unite in decorating a forlorn tree that has been smuggled on board their train. The reader is Broadway star Tony Roberts.

The “Selected Shorts” Christmas program finishes up with a take-no-prisoners ditty from humorist Calvin Trillin, who imagines a perfect Christmas—anywhere but here. He read his own “Christmas in Qatar.”

Thursday, December 26th

3-4 pm – A Season’s Griot (replaces Juneau Afternoon)

“A Season’s Griot” is public radio’s only nationally syndicated Kwanzaa program. Hosted by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, this annual one-hour special captures the tales and traditions of African-American and African peoples.

Tuesday, December 31st (New Year’s Eve)

9 – 10 pm
Capitol Steps New Year’s Eve Special

KRNN

Thursday, December 19th

9 – 11 pm – A Paul Winter Solstice (NPR replaces SymphonyCast)

The holiday tradition continues with Paul Winter’s Winter Solstice Celebration. A dynamic musical celebration in the extraordinary acoustics of the world’s largest Gothic cathedral – New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Hear a unique exploration of the solstice tradition in cultures near and far. The Paul Winter Consort is joined by musicians from all over the world, including Russia’s Dimitri Pokrovsky Ensemble and gospel singer Theresa Thomasson. John Schaefer hosts the production from Living Music and Murray Street.

Wednesday, December 25th

Tuesday, December 24

5 – 7 pm
Christmas Tideline with Kate Burkhart

7 – 9 pm
Christmas Eve with Shelley

Wednesday, December 25 (Christmas Day)

8 am – 10 am – Christmas Crosscurrents with Libby Stringer
Violinist Libby Stringer will perform holiday-themed music live on the air Christmas morning. While you’re opening your presents, tune in to KRNN for the most authentic of holiday programming.

10 am – Noon – Christmas Soundings with Gale Moses

Noon – 1 – Jazz Piano Christmas XXIX

NPR Music brings you another great concert from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Andy Bey, Stanley Cowell, Sullivan Fortner and Michele Rosewoman perform their favorite holiday songs.

1-3 pm – Performance Today

3 – 5 pm – A Christmas Celtic Sojourn (PRI replaces Afternoon Classics)

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of sold-out concerts around New England, A Christmas Celtic Sojourn host Brian O’Donovan has assembled some of the best musicians, singers, and dancers imaginable from around the Celtic world, and beyond! This year’s live show is again led by music director Seamus Egan, leading his groundbreaking group Solas, along with harpist Catriona McKay, fiddlers Chris Stout and Winifred Horan on fiddle and cellist Natalie Haas. Singers include Chieftains vocalist Alyth McCormack from Scotland, the four-part harmonies of Navan, and the great vocals of Mick McAuley and Eamonn McElholm.

5 – 7 pm – Tideline

7 – 9 pm – Friends & Neighbors with Mike & Anne

Tuesday, January 31 (New Year’s Eve)

5 – 7 pm

New Year’s Eve Tideline Dance Party with Kate Burkhart

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