2pm-4pm on Classical HQR 92.7
GIVING THANKS (from MPR) - Giving Thanks sounds the way Thanksgiving feels: inviting, warm, and festive. It’s a contemporary, thoughtful celebration of the spirit of the holiday. Special guests Stanley Tucci and Naomi Shihab Nye join our Thanksgiving table, and music from Eric Whitacre, Bach, Copland and more complete the scene.
7pm-8pm on Classical HQR 92.7
CANDLES BURNING BRIGHTLY (from MPR) - a celebration of the first day of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, with an exploration of Chanukah foods and traditional activities … and plenty of music. Music includes: Dov Frimer; Al HaNissim; and traditional songs, and a candle blessing by Cantor Morton Shames.
8am-12n on Classical HQR 92.7
SUNDAY BAROQUE HOLIDAY SPECIAL I- At the end of every year, host Suzanne Bona compiles the Sunday Baroque Holiday Gift Listof her favorite recent recordings.
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, continues through December 6th this year. George Frideric Handel’s oratorio JUDAS MACCABEUS tells some of the Hanukkah story in music – the victory of the Maccabees, and the rededication of the temple. You’ll hear selections from JUDAS MACCABEUS in the 9 o'clock hour of Sunday Baroque.
2pm-5pm on Classical HQR 92.7
THE THIRD FLOOR – On The Show Before Christmas, host Bill Cromwell features Haydn’s St. Nicholas Mass, along with the usual mix of familiar and unfamiliar concert works.
5pm-6pm on Classical HQR 92.7
CHANUKAH CELEBRATION WITH CHICAGO A CAPPELLA (from WFMT Chicago) - 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. Chicago a Cappella, the virtuoso vocal ensemble now in its 23rd season, performs all selections. Jonathan Miller provides liturgical and cultural background as part of this unique look inside old and newer choral Chanukah traditions.
8pm-10pm on Classical HQR 92.7
EVENING CONCERT (from WHQR) – Pat Marriott presents a number of selections from Handel’s Messiah, sung by great Metropolitan Opera voices of the early 20th Century. You’ll hear the great contralto Louise Homer singing O Thou that tellest glad tidings to Zion, recorded 102 years ago, plus surprises from Mozart and Beethoven.
8am-12n on Classical HQR 92.7
SUNDAY BAROQUE HOLIDAY SPECIAL II- Host Suzanne Bona's Christmas list includes AMERICAN ORIGINALS, a 2021 recording from Agave Baroque. It includes beautiful Christmas music by a Cuban baroque composer, which will be heard during the 10 o'clock hour.
2pm-5pm on Classical HQR 92.7
THE THIRD FLOOR- repeat of December 6
2pm-5pm on Classical HQR 92.7
CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS ON THE THE THIRD FLOOR I- Join host Bill Cromwell for three hours of great sacred and secular Christmas music in the classical tradition on The Third Floor with great choirs and ensembles from around the world.
8pm-10pm on Classical HQR 92.7
EVENING CONCERT HOLIDAY SPECIAL I- As always at this season, Music Director Pat Marriott begins four weeks of large, unusual classical pieces appropriate to the holidays. This evening it's Josef Rheinberger's Star of Bethlehem, a splendid little-known cantata by this splendid little-known composer. We'll also listen to The Christmas Story by Baroque composer Heinrich Schütz, and Poulenc's glorious Gloria.
7am-8am on Classical HQR 92.7
WITH HEART AND VOICE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL- TBA
8am-12n on Classical HQR 92.7
SUNDAY BAROQUE HOLIDAY SPECIAL III- Selections from Messiah, Christmas songs based on popular melodies such as "Greensleeves," a Winter Solstice celebration, and Heinrich Biber's The Nativity will be heard during this four-hour Christmas special.
2pm-5pm on Classical HQR 92.7
CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS ON THE THE THIRD FLOOR I- repeat of December 13
6pm-8pm on HQR 91.3
HOMEMADE HOLIDAY SHORTS - This 2 hour program will compile some of the highlights from our favorite HoHo programs throughout the years. Guests will include Whiskey Creek, Rob Zapple, Big Al Hall, Tony Rivenbark, Aloha U Ukelele Trio, Rhonda Bellamy, Dorothy Rankin, Grenoldo Frasier, Annie Gray Sprunt, Karen Bender, Wiley Cash, Eleanor Stafford, David Vaughn, & Swing Shifters.
2pm-5pm on Classical HQR 92.7
CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS ON THE THIRD FLOOR II- Join host Bill Cromwell for three hours of glorious choral, vocal, and instrumental classical music for the season, including arias and choruses from Messiah, instrumental Christmas favorites with the Empire Brass and LA Guitar Quartet, plus long segments of sacred choral music from across the centuries, from the great choirs of the world.
8pm-10pm on Classical HQR 92.7
EVENING CONCERT HOLIDAY SPECIAL II- Music Director Pat Marriott presents his annual Christmas present to you - a rare treat from Catalonian cellist/composer/conductor Pablo Casals. Every year at this time WHQR presents his absolutely delightful cantata El Pesebre, which in Catalan means "The Manger," sung in Catalan and conducted by Casals himself. It's a re-enactment of the Christmas story using Catalan country folks as characters. If you've never heard this before, Pat envies you this evening! If you have heard it here before, welcome back!
2pm-3pm on Classical HQR 92.7
CLASSICAL GUITAR ALIVE: CHRISTMAS MUSIC - This week’s edition of Classical Guitar Alive features music for Christmas and interviews with American guitarist-composer Mark Cruz and Canadian guitarist Liona Boyd.
3pm-4pm on Classical HQR 92.7
A CHANTICLEER CHRISTMAS - Steve Staruch hosts this one-hour program of holiday favorites, new and old, presented live in concert by Chanticleer, San Francisco's superb 12-man a cappella ensemble known as "an orchestra of voices."
4pm-5pm on Classical HQR 92.7
CHRISTMAS WITH THE TABERNACLE CHOIR AT TEMPLE SQUARE- The choir continues its tradition of great artistry with touching arrangements of familiar carols from around the world, and surprises with lesser-known melodies that are fast becoming the new classics.
9am-10am on Classical HQR 92.7
WELCOME CHRISTMAS - Welcome Christmas is a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world's premier choral ensembles, conducted by Philip Brunelle. Join host John Birge for an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries, including the world premiere of two carols from the annual Christmas Carol Contest.
10am-12n on Classical HQR 92.7
A FESTIVAL OF NINE LESSONS AND CAROLS - One boy steps forward, unaccompanied, singing the perennial opening tune, "Once in Royal David's City." For many listeners, this is the moment Christmas begins. The beloved service, dating back to 19th-century England, has been on the radio for many decades. More than 30 million people are expected to tune in. Broadcast live from King's College, Cambridge.
2pm-3pm on Classical HQR 92.7
HOLIDAY LIGHT: SINGING ANGELS, SILVER BELLS - Holiday Light is a wonderfully diverse collection of holiday music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance to the present, sung by The Western Wind - one of America's preeminent vocal ensembles. The music includes medieval carols, Spanish Renaissance motets, early American church and folk songs, and contemporary carols. Guest host Roma Downey weaves together the music with a narrative that is informative, witty, fresh and moving. The narration was written by Reverend James "K" Karpen, the spiritual leader of the Church of Saint Paul and Saint Andrew in New York City. He takes a relevant and charming approach to the themes and stories of Christmas that makes the events seem like they happened just yesterday.
7pm on HQR 91.3
HOMEMADE HOLIDAY SHORTS- repeat of December 19
8am- 9am on Classical HQR 92.7
ALL IS BRIGHT: CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC FOR CHRISTMAS - All Is Bright, with host Lynne Warfel, offers 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.
9am-10am on Classical HQR 92.7
THE CHRISTMAS STORY THROUGH CAROLS OLD AND NEW - The Christmas story is told through a variety of carols, ranging from medieval times to ones written in the last few decades. Each set of carols focuses on a different part of the story, from the angels, to Mary and the baby, the shepherds, and all of the joyous message.
10am-12n on Classical HQR 92.7
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.
8pm-10pm on Classical HQR 92.7
A FESTIVAL OF NINE LESSONS AND CAROLS - repeat of December 24 program
8am-12n on Classical HQR 92.7
SUNDAY BAROQUE HOLIDAY SPECIAL IV - On the second day of Christmas, Johann Sebastian Bach gave to us … the second of Six Cantatas that make up the composer’s CHRISTMAS ORATORIO. The Holiday Cheer continues on Sunday Baroque this weekend with highlights from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, straight from the little town of Bethlehem. That's during the 10 o'clock hour. At 11 o'clock, we will listen to classical Christmas music from around the world.
1pm on HQR 91.3
A SEASON'S GRIOT- 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 Fields Burnette, and other members of the Season’s Griot family return with familiar and favorite elements of Griot.
2pm-5pm on Classical HQR 92.7
CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS ON THE THIRD FLOOR II- repeat of December 20
2pm-5pm on Classical HQR 92.7
CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS ON THE THIRD FLOOR III - Heavenly choirs, lush instrumentals, and warm voices from around the world and across the centuries for your holiday season.
8pm-10pm on Classical HQR 92.7
EVENING CONCERT HOLIDAY SPECIAL III - Music Director Pat Marriott continues his traditional holiday presentation of large, unusual works appropriate to the season. We'll listen to composer/pianist Dave Brubeck's Mexican-flavored Christmas cantata, Fiesta de la Posada. We'll also hear Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Midnight Mass, and music by Gabrieli, Malcolm Arnold, and Cincinnati composer Rick Sowash.
2pm-3pm on Classical HQR 92.7
CLASSICAL GUITAR ALIIVE: A WINTER'S TALE - This week’s edition of Classical Guitar Alive features music about Winter, and more, including works by Vivaldi, Piazzolla, and the young Polish guitarist-composer Marek Pasieczny’s piece for guitar and clarinet, titled Winter’s Tale.
8pm-10pm on Classical HQR 92.7
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY: Handel's Messiah - The Christmas portion of Handel's oratorio masterpiece - plus, of course, the famous Hallelujah Chorus! - is a perennially inspiring holiday favorite.
11am-1pm on Classical HQR 92.7
NEW YEAR'S DAY CONCERT IN VIENNA - Take an iconic orchestra (the Vienna Philharmonic), a famous venue (the Musikverein), and a world-class conductor (Daniel Barenboim). Put them all together (on New Year's Day) and what have you got? Waltz time with a capital W at the legendary New Year’s Concert in Vienna! Aired live from Vienna.
1pm on HQR 91.3
A SEASON'S GRIOT- repeat of December 26
2pm-5pm on Classical HQR 92.7
CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS ON THE THIRD FLOOR III- repeat of December 27
8pm-10pm on Classical HQR 92.7
EVENING CONCERT NEW YEAR SPECIAL - Music Director Pat Marriott rings in the New Year with WHQR's traditional all-Beethoven program. We'll start the year as we always do with that great testament to the human spirit and to peace, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, in the historic performance in Berlin right after the fall of the Wall in 1989. Leonard Bernstein leads musicians from all the European countries that fought in World War II. This is the performance that officially ended the Cold War!
