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Holiday Specials 2019

Join Public Radio Tulsa for the 2019 holiday specials. There are the perennial favorites and a few new specials along the way. Tune in to these scheduled dates to KWGS Public Radio 89.5 or KWTU Classical 88.7 for all these can't-miss specials.  Plus, you can even catch a local special filled with festive music on All This Jazz, The Rhythm Atlas, Swing on This, Folk Salad, Wind & Rhythm, and Classical Tulsa, as well as a Hidden Sixties holiday gala with John Wooley and Scott Gregory. LISTEN LIVE NOW

 

Hanukkah Lights 2019
Thursday,  December 19  | Noon - 1:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

A perennial NPR favorite with all new Hanukkah stories. Hosted and read by Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.

 

Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir
Friday, December 20| 1:00-2:00 p.m.
KWTU Classical 88.7 | LISTEN LIVE

 

The world-renowned Mormon 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. 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.

Hidden Sixties Holiday Special
Friday, December 20 | 8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

Get ready for yuletide melodies, seasonal ear candy, and oddball masterpieces galore as KWGS co-hosts John Wooley (from Swing on This) and Scott Gregory (from All This Jazz) present The Hidden Sixties Holiday Special! It'll be one merry ditty after another, from all over the sonic map: pop, rock, jazz, soul, easy listening, etc. Join us for holiday music from the 1960s that you haven't heard since that decade -- if you've ever heard it at all.

 

Paul Winter’s Solstice Celebration
Friday, December 20 | 9:00 -11:00 p.m .
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

Celebrate the return of the sun with an encore performance recorded at the world’s largest Gothic cathedral, New York’s St John the Divine. Musicians include the percussion troupe Forces of Nature, Brazilian singer Fabiana Cozza, gospel singer Theresa Thomason, Procol Harum founder Gary Brooker, double reed wizard Paul McCandless, and the thundering Cathedral Pipe Organ.

 

Jazz Night in America: A Holiday Celebration
Saturday, December 21 | 8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 |LISTEN LIVE

 

Jazz Night in America brings you holiday classics from their past five seasons -- featuring fresh arrangements and entertaining storytelling recorded live in New York City, featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, and guest vocalists Catherine Russell and Kenny Washington.

 

Jazz Piano Christmas
Saturday, December 21 | 9:00 - 10:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

Join the Kennedy Center and NPR Music for this annual holiday tradition highlighting jazz pianists and their favorite seasonal music. 

 

Handel’s Messiah at Saint John’s
Sunday, December  22 | 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
KWTU Classical 88.7 | LISTEN LIVE

 

A stirring expression of faith, George Frideric Handel’s Messiah traces the biblical life of Jesus from prophecy and nativity to death and resurrection. It’s become a holiday staple, but the choir at Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Tulsa offers a performance unlike any other – complete and in baroque style, with an orchestra of period instruments. Join host Jason Heilman for Handel’s Messiah at Saint John’s, with guest conductor Timothy Brown, retired Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge.

 

The Rhythm Atlas Hanukkah & Christmas Music Special
Sunday, December 22| 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

With Hanukkah and Christmas overlapping this year, The Rhythm Atlas will celebrate both holidays on this festive edition of the world music program hosted by Denis McGilvray. You’ll hear some traditional klezmer-styled Hanukkah tunes as well as songs from the Sephardic Jewish culture that has roots in Spain. And you’ll hear familiar, and not-so-familiar, Christmas songs full of musical flavors from all over the globe.

 

Folk Salad Christmas Special
Sunday, December 22| 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

Join hosts Scott Aycock and Richard Higgs for a festive mix of folk, Americana, and Red Dirt Christmas songs.

 

Hidden Sixties Holiday Special
Sunday, December 22| 10:00 - 11:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

An encore broadcast of the holiday music from the 1960s that you haven’t heard since that decade, or ever...with John Wooley (Swing on This) and Scott Gregory (All This Jazz).

 

A Chanticleer Christmas
Monday, December 23| Noon - 1:00 p.m.
KWTU Classical 88.7 | LISTEN LIVE

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."

 

St Olaf Christmas Festival
Monday, December 23| 9:00 - 11:00 p.m.
KWTU Classical 88.7 | LISTEN LIVE

 

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.

 

A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols
Tuesday, December  24 | 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
KWTU Classical 88.7 | LISTEN LIVE

 

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.

Tinsel Tales 1: NPR Christmas Favorites
Tuesday, December 24 | 11:00 a.m, - Noon
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 |LISTEN LIVE

This program features stories from the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. David Sedaris, Bailey White, and John Henry Faulk -- these and other NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. 

Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir
Tuesday, December  24 |5:00 - 6:00 p,m.
KWTU Classical 88.7 | LISTEN LIVE

An encore broadcast of the annual holiday performance by the Tabernacle Choir from Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

 

Tinsel Tales 2: More NPR Christmas Favorites
Tuesday, December 24| 7:00 - 8:00 p.m
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

NPR fills millions of homes each holiday with humor, warmth, and a host of festive voices Joy, hope, and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Highlights include Daniel Pinkwater’s “Wolf Christmas”, historian Douglas Brinkley’s “Christmas Truce” and Claudio Sanchez’s “The Night Before Christmas, Latin Style”.

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Tuesday, December 24| 10:00 p.m. - Midnight
KWTU Classical 88.7 | LISTEN LIVE

 

An encore broadcast of the service in word and music from the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge England.

 

Tinsel Tales 3: More NPR Christmas Favorites
Wednesday, December 25 | 11:00 a.m. - Noon
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

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.

 

Jonathan Winter’s A Christmas Carol
Wednesday, December 25 | Noon - 1:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 |LISTEN LIVE

 

Our version of a “Charlie Brown Christmas”, a public radio tradition hosted by NPR's Susan Stamberg. Master comedian Jonathan Winters presents a distinctive reading of Dickens' holiday classic, with a special performing edition prepared by Dickens for his own presentations. Also featuring Mimi Kennedy.

 

Tinsel Tales 4: So Much More NPR Christmas Favorites 
Wednesday, December 25| 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

This edition of Tinsel Tales include stories of the season told through music with interviews from the NPR Archives. Kenny Rogers, Katie Melua, Amy Grant, Sting, and Jon Batiste talk about the power of music at Christmas.

 

Best of the Best Hour 1
Thursday, December 26| Noon - 1:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

The Third Coast International Audio Festival is back with their annual Best of the Best featuring the top audio stories of the year from your favorite public radio programs and podcasts, as well as a behind the scenes look at making beautiful stories in sound. This broadcast features “The Return” and “Mardi Gras is a State of Mind.”

 

Best of the Best Hour 2
Friday, December 27 | 8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

The Third Coast International Audio Festival is back with their annual Best of the Best featuring the top audio stories of the year from your favorite public radio programs and podcasts, as well as a behind the scenes look at making beautiful stories in sound. This broadcast features “Sense of Quietness” and “This is Not a Drill.”

 

Toast of the Nation
Tuesday, December 31 | 9:00 - 11:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

An NPR tradition since the 1970s, Toast of the Nation is a great way to ring in 2020, with some of the best jazz groups playing today. Enjoy the SFJAZZ Collective in San Francisco and The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in New York City. 

 

All This Jazz New Year’s Party
Tuesday, December  31 | 11:00 p.m. - 12:06 a.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

All This Jazz host Scott Gregory welcomes 2020 to Tulsa with a solid hour of "live" jazz recordings, both recent and classic, and thereby rings in the New Year in style. Join in on the fun! Happy 2020!

 

New Year’s from Vienna 2020
Wednesday,  January 1, 2020 |10:00 a.m. - Noon
KWTU Classical 88.7 | LISTEN LIVE

 

The Vienna Philharmonic presents its ever-popular annual New Year's Day concert from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. This year’s conductor is Boston Symphony and Gewandhaus Orchestra music director Andris Nelson who will be conducting his first New Year’s Day program to an audience of millions around the world. You'll hear your favorite waltzes, polkas and more -- a festive way to start off the New Year.

 

Capitol Steps: Politics Takes A Holiday
Wednesday, January 1, 2020 | Noon - 1:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 |LISTEN LIVE

 

Has it been a rough year? Did you put your savings in Bill DeBlasio’s presidential campaign? Did you tak a job as a pr spokesperson for Rudy Guiliani? Then you may feel the need to laugh at 2019, and the Capitol Steps could not agree more. Now is your chance to finally enjoy the headlines you were too scared to read. No useful information, but the Steps will tell you what rhymes with Pete Buttigieg.

 

2019 Best of the Best Hour 3
Thursday,  January 2, 2020 | Noon - 1:00 p.m.
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

The Third Coast International Audio Festival is back with their annual Best of the Best featuring the top audio stories of the year from your favorite public radio programs and podcasts, as well as a behind the scenes look at making beautiful stories in sound. This broadcast features “He Didn’t have the Death Penalty But That’s What He Got” and “Change Intolerance.”

 

2019 Best of the Best Hour 4
Friday, January 3, 2020 |8:00 -9:00 p.m. 
KWGS Public Radio 89.5 | LISTEN LIVE

 

The Third Coast International Audio Festival is back with their annual Best of the Best featuring the top audio stories of the year from your favorite public radio programs and podcasts, as well as a behind the scenes look at making beautiful stories in sound. This broadcast features “In the Dark” and “No Feeling Is Final.”