Celebrate this holiday season with 90.3 KEDM Public Radio as we air NPR and APM holiday specials and count down to 2020.
Thursday, Dec. 19
- 9 a.m. Tinsel Tales 2. NPR fills millions of homes each holiday with humor, warmth, and a host of festive voices. Continuing with the tradition of the first Tinsel Tales program, this is another collection of the best and most requested holiday stories. Joy, hope, and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
- 2 p.m. Holidays at ULM. The University of Louisiana Monroe School of Visual and Performing Arts Wind Ensemble, Choir, and small ensembles are featured in this festive holiday program hosted by KEDM News Director Cory Crowe. The performance includes traditional and non-traditional holiday tunes, featuring two unique arrangements by Monroe native composer Julie Giroux and an old-fashioned Christmas sing-a-long.
Friday, Dec. 20
- 9 a.m. Tinsel Tales 3. In keeping with a well-loved NPR holiday tradition, hear the third collection of extraordinary Christmas stories that will transport you to unexpected places. Audie Cornish, Ken Harbaugh, Nina Totenberg and other voices from NPR's past and present tell stories of the season in this hour-long special. Some tales are funny; some are touching; some are insightful or irreverent or nostalgic or surprising. You might recognize them from our broadcast archives — or you might fall in love with them for the first time. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
- 10 a.m. St. Olaf Christmas Festival. This service in song and word has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. The festival includes hymns, carols, choral works, as well as orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians in five choirs, and the St. Olaf Orchestra. Valerie Kahler shares the sights and sounds of this choral favorite.
- 12 p.m. An Afro Blue Chistmas. 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. The joyous celebration includes one of a kind arrangements on traditional holiday songs plus new compositions…music perfect for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas. Hosted by Michele Norris.
- 10 p.m. Jazz Night in America: A Holiday Special. Jazz Night in America brings you holiday classics from their past five seasons – featuring fresh arrangements and entertaining storytelling recorded live from Rose Theater in New York City. You'll hear the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, plus special guest vocalists Catherine Russell and Kenny Washington. Christian McBride hosts.
- 11 p.m. Jazz Piano Christmas 35. Join the Kennedy Center and NPR Music for this annual holiday tradition highlighting jazz pianists and their favorite seasonal music. The line-up will be announced soon. Felix Contreras hosts.
Saturday, Dec. 21
- 2 p.m. Paul Winter's 38th Annual Winter Solstice Celebration. Celebrate the return of the sun - and the warming of the heart with Paul Winter's Annual 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 an encore performance of The Paul Winter Consort and the glorious Cathedral Pipe Organ. The performance brings traditional holiday favorites and sounds from around the world with special guests Fabianna Cozza, Gary Booker, Theresa Thomasson, Paul McCandless, Eugene Freisen and the percussion troupe Forces of Nature. WNYC's John Schaefer hosts.
Sunday, Dec. 22
- 5 p.m. Candles Burning Brightly. Mindy Ratner hosts this 2017 encore celebration of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. "Candles Burning Brightly" explores the meaning and traditions of Chanukah, including holiday foods and Sephardic and Ashkenazi music.
- 6 p.m. Hanukkah Lights 2019. The NPR favorite returns with all new Hanukkah stories. Authors TBA. Hosted by Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.
Monday, Dec. 23
- 9 a.m. Tinsel Tales 4. In keeping with a well-loved NPR holiday tradition, hear the fourth collection of extraordinary Christmas stories that will transport you to unexpected places. NPR's past and present tell stories of the season in this hour-long special. Some tales are funny; some are touching; some are insightful or irreverent or nostalgic or surprising. You might recognize them from our broadcast archives — or you might fall in love with them for the first time. Hosted by Lynn Neary
- 10 a.m. Hygge Holiday: Cozy Classics. Join host Elena See as she plays a a mix of wintry and nostalgic classical pieces designed to accompany listeners as they enjoy cozy wintertime activities.
- 11 a.m. An Afro Blue Chistmas. 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. The joyous celebration includes one of a kind arrangements on traditional holiday songs plus new compositions…music perfect for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas. Hosted by Michele Norris.
- 12 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. Hosted by Cathy Fuller of WGBH. Presented by NPR Music.
- 1 p.m. Hollywood Holiday. Join Lynne Warfel, host of APM’s Saturday Cinema and Flicks in Five, for a festive one-hour musical retrospective of some of Hollywood's most cherished films inspired by Dickens' classic character, Ebenezer Scrooge.
- 2 p.m. A Chanticleer Christmas. Celebrate the season with song! Brian Newhouse hosts this one-hour program of a cappella holiday favorites, new and old, presented live in concert by Chanticleer, the superb 12-man choral ensemble known as "an orchestra of voices."
Tuesday, Dec. 24
- 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. An annual and beloved Christmas tradition, “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” is an extraordinary and memorable live service of word and music from the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England. Audiences will share in a live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal 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.
- 11 a.m. All is Bright. Lynne Warfel hosts an hour of gorgeous, contemplative choral music that tells the traditional Christmas story with songs about angels, the star and the manger scene. Featured artists include Cantus, Chanticleer, Cambridge Singers, Bryn Terfel, Emma Kirkby, Jessye Norman, and a variety of choirs.
- 12 p.m. Hygge Holiday: Cozy Classics. Join host Elena See as she plays a a mix of wintry and nostalgic classical pieces designed to accompany listeners as they enjoy cozy wintertime activities.
- 1 p.m. Christmas with The Tabernacle Chior and Orchistra at Temple Square. The world-renowned Tabernacle Choir continues its tradition of great artistry this holiday season, with touching arrangements of familiar carols, and lesser-known melodies that are fast becoming the new classics. Julie Amacher hosts this annual favorite. Audiences will enjoy a warm, nostalgic holiday celebration featuring a choir of 360 voices, a 150-piece orchestra at Temple Square, the 32-member Bells on Temple Square, along with other artists and special guests. A 600-person cast will share a stunningly beautiful mix of carols in various unique arrangements.
- 2 p.m. Christmas with 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. It's a joyous celebration of the schools' tradition of singing excellence, with their trademark mixture of spirituals and carols. Korva Coleman hosts.
Wednesday, Dec. 25
- 9 a.m. St. Olaf Christmas Festival. This service in song and word has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. The festival includes hymns, carols, choral works, as well as orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians in five choirs, and the St. Olaf Orchestra. Valerie Kahler shares the sights and sounds of this choral favorite.
- 12 p.m. Welcome Christmas! Welcome Christmas! is a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premiere choral groups. John Birge hosts an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries, including the world premiere of two carols from the annual Christmas Carol Contest. For 2019, hear the world premiere of Nico Muhly's "The Faire Starre," a nativity cantata that draws on 17th century metaphysical poets and is set in the unique, eclectic style that has earned Nico Muhly raves from the Metropolitan Opera.
- 1 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. Hosted by Cathy Fuller of WGBH. Presented by NPR Music.
- 2 p.m. Holidays at ULM. The University of Louisiana Monroe School of Visual and Performing Arts Wind Ensemble, Choir, and small ensembles are featured in this festive holiday program hosted by KEDM News Director Cory Crowe. The performance includes traditional and non-traditional holiday tunes, featuring two unique arrangements by Monroe native composer Julie Giroux and an old-fashioned Christmas sing-a-long.
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2019
- 12 a.m. - 4 a.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. This year we are featuring some of the best jazz collectives playing today. We'll hear the Baltimore Collective recorded live at The Keystone Korner, The Michael Leonhart Orchestra at The Jazz Standard, The SFJAZZ Collective in San Francisco and The Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra in New York City.
- 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. New Year's Day From Vienna 2020. The Vienna Philharmonic presents its ever popular annual New Year's Day concert from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna with Boston Symphony Music Director Andris Nelsons conducting. You'll hear your favorite waltzes, polkas and more -- a great way to start off the New Year. Hosted by WBUR's Lisa Mullins.