NPR plans special holiday programming
December 15, 2008
Northern Public Radio’s classical WNIU (90.5) and news station WNIJ (89.5) will offer special holiday programming in December.
WNIU
- 10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 21, “Magnificat,” an American broadcast debut, features the Yale Schola Cantorum in a period-style performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s setting of the text directed by Simon Carrington.
- 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 22, “A Choral Christmas Card,” a coast-to-coast sampler of the country’s best choirs singing carols for the season.
- 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 22, “Welcome Christmas!” featuring the Minneapolis-based ensemble, VocalEsssence, recognized internationally as one of America’s premier choral arts organizations and led by the visionary Philip Brunelle.
- 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, “St. Olaf Christmas Festival,” a service in song and word celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians who are members of five choirs and the St. Olaf Orchestra.
- 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, “Echoes of Christmas,” moving selections of Christmas choral classics presented by the Dale Warland Singers, acclaimed as America’s premier choir.
- 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 24, “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols,” legendary service of Biblical readings and music performed by the 30-voice King’s College Choir live from the chapel of King’s College in Cambridge, England.
- 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 24, “Christmas with the Philadelphia Singers,” an hour-long concert of traditional and contemporary holiday music performed by the renowned choral group and hosted by Ed Cunningham.
- 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 1, “New Year’s Day From Vienna,” a sparkling celebration including favorite waltzes and polkas broadcast live from the Golden Hall at Vienna’s Musikverein by the Vienna Philharmonic and conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
WNIJ
- 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20, “American Routes,” featuring jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall recalling her childhood on Vancouver Island and Jimmy and Tootie Heath of the Heath Brothers reminiscing about life in jazz and late brother, Percy.
- 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 21, “Hanukkah Lights,” acclaimed authors exploring Hanukkah traditions in original stories written expressly for Hanukkah Lights and hosted by Murray Horwitz and Susan Stamberg.
- 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 21, “A Paul Winter Solstice Concert,” the extraordinary acoustics of New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine highlight the music of Eugene Friesen, Paul Sullivan and Brazilian percussionist Cafè leading us through the longest night of the year, with singer/guitarist Renato Braz and “Icarus” double-reed man Paul McCandless.
- 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, J.R. Sullivan’s “Hometown Holiday” featuring Rockford native Jim Sullivan and guests for two hours of seasonal stories, comedy and music.
- 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 24, Jonathan Winters’ “A Christmas Carol,” a distinctive reading of Dickens’ holiday classic with a special performing edition prepared by Dickens for his own presentations.
- 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 28, The Capitol Steps presents “Politics Takes a Holiday” featuring Barack Obama, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, FEMA and many more in this hour-long year in review.
WNIJ and WNIU are the stations of Northern Public Radio, the broadcast service of Northern Illinois University.
