WRR101 celebrates the season again as Your Home for the Holidays! Join us as we play old and new classical favorites to bring joy and warmth to the season.
Holiday Program Highlights:
Christmas and Sounds of the Season
The day after Thanksgiving, WRR101 transitions to its classical holiday offerings. This will continue through New Year’s Day with holiday music reflecting Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Solstice celebrations offered through Dec. 31.
Yuletide Countdown
In November, WRR audiences vote online for their favorite holiday selections. After tabulating the results, WRR will air the Top 15, as chosen by listeners each weekday at 8:30 a.m. from December 3-23. Then, on December 24, we’ll air all fifteen of the countdown selections together starting at 6:00 p.m.
DECEMBER
Sounds of the Season continues all-month long!
The day after Thanksgiving, WRR101 transitions to its classical holiday offerings with All Holiday, All the Time. This will continue through New Year’s Day with holiday music offered through Dec. 31.
Solstice
As autumn changes to winter on the evening of December 21, WRR will usher in the season with programs to celebrate the longest night of the year.
Christmas Day
Throughout the day on the 25th, WRR will offer its warm, cozy seasonal music mix. From 3-3:30 we’ll feature Dallas musicians playing Christmas music. At 3:30, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. At 6:00, we’ll offer one of the most loved of all choral holiday concerts, the St. Olaf Christmas Festival.
Hanukkah on WRR101
Starting the evening of December 14, celebrating the Festival of Lights, WRR will provide music and programs that honor the Jewish experience.
Kwanzaa
WRR will feature a special program at 1:00 p.m. from December 26 through January 1 focusing on the specific principle of each day and elements of the celebration. The segments are hosted by acclaimed soprano Kearstin Piper Brown, and baritone Eric Logan, with music by Valerie Coleman. There will also be a special hour-long program on December 31 at 7:00 p.m. in which Garrett McQueen offers a background on the history of Kwanzaa and its guiding principles, alongside musical selections that highlight the spirit of the celebration.
New Year’s Celebration
The final week of the year will continue holiday music and begin transitioning to music that celebrates the New Year!
Listeners will continue to hear seasonal music the week after Christmas and leading up to the New Year. In addition, between Saturday, December 27 and Wednesday, December 31, we will broadcast listener-selected favorites of classical music as determined in the WRR101 Classical Countdown that we held over Labor Day Weekend. We also urge listeners to become WRR Members or to enhance their previous contribution as we celebrate our successful second year as a listener-supported nonprofit radio station.
- WRR 101 will air holiday episodes of audience-favorite programs:
- Classics for Kids – special programs for Hanukkah and Christmas
- Performance Today
- Concierto
- Pipedreams
- With Heart and Voice
Holiday-Specific Radio Specials on WRR
As part of the holiday celebration, WRR 101 will broadcast seasonal radio programs that celebrate the diversity of our holiday traditions, families and region:
Thu 11/27/2025
Every Good Thing
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
This Thanksgiving, host Andrea Blain and classical music fans from all around the country take time to give thanks and celebrate one of life’s most meaningful gifts: music. It’s Every Good Thing — an hour of stories and music to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Thu 11/27/2025
Shadowglow: Thanksgiving with the American Sound
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
This Thanksgiving enjoy an hour of music celebrating the special radiance of autumn and the richness of the holiday—music inspired by the uncanny fire of starlight, the hopeful warmth of luminaria, the lamps of gratitude we light within ourselves, even the golden glow of beloved Thanksgiving treats fresh from the oven. Michael Torke’s Appalachian-inspired Spoonbread is a scrumptious soundtrack for puttering in the kitchen, and Peter Boyer’s Radiance, the incandescent “Choose Something Like a Star” from Randall Thompson’s Frostiana, Michael Whalen’s nostalgic Shadows of October, Kenji Bunch’s contemplative Luminaria and Craig Hella Johnson’s affirming The Song That I Came to Sing fill the holiday with shimmering nuances of gratitude and hope.
Thu 11/27/2025
Cantus: Songs of Thanks
9:00 PM-10:00 PM
Join us for “Songs of Thanks,” an innovative new production by Cantus, presented exclusively by Minnesota Public Radio. Through their signature narrative programming, the acclaimed octet will weave together stories and songs celebrating gratitude and community. Don’t miss this special broadcast, designed to uplift the human spirit and honor the season.
Mon 12/1/2025 – Fri 12/5/2025
Caroling in the Arts District
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
The beloved holiday tradition continues! This series of five hourlong programs featuring local music groups broadcasts live from the Moody Performance Hall in the Dallas Arts District.
Mon 12/1/2025 – Booker T. Washington HS Choir & Verdigris Ensemble
Tue 12/2/2025 – Arts District Chorale, Shelton Upper School Choir, and Concert Bells of Fort Worth
Wed 12/3/2025 – The Women’s Chorus and Turtle Creek Chorale
Thu 12/4/2025 – Orpheus Chamber Singers & South Dallas Concert Choir
Fri 12/5/2025 – TX Boys Choir & Singing Girls of TX
Wednesday, 12/3/2025 – Wednesday, 12/24/2025
Yuletide Countdown
In November (11-27), WRR audiences vote online for their favorite holiday selections. After tabulating the results, WRR will air the Top 15, as chosen by listeners each weekday at 8:30 a.m. from December 3-23. Then we’ll air all fifteen of the countdown selections together starting at 6:00 p.m. on December 24.
Fri 12/12/2025
A Chanticleer Christmas
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Grammy award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer is known as the “orchestra of voices” for its unparalleled range and abilities. This holiday season, the group brings its brand-new Christmas program includes original arrangements of well-known tunes drawn from Classical, Jazz, and Popular traditions. They fluently weave between diverse musical styles to create an evening of wonder and joy.
Sun 12/14/2025
Eternal Echoes for Hanukkah with Itzhak Perlman
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Itzhak Perlman, universally recognized as one of the world’s greatest classical violinists, has in also devoted himself to serious study of traditional Jewish music. Hankus Netsky teaches at the New England Conservatory and is a pioneer in the revival of Klezmer music. Both Perlman and Netsky join host James David Jacobs for an hour of songs and stories for Hanukkah, which includes four selections from their album as well as clips of the historical recordings that influenced them.
Sun 12/14/2025
La Nochebuena: A Spanish Renaissance Christmas with the Rose Ensemble
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
The acclaimed Rose Ensemble is back again for another one hour special for the holiday season. In La Nochebuena, Twin Cities early music group The Rose Ensemble explores the great variety of music that filled the royal court of Ferdinand and Isabella and flooded the chapels and streets of Renaissance Spain. Listeners will be transported to a time and place when the sacred met the earthy in celebration of the season.
Wed 12/17/2025
A Choral Christmas with Stile Antico
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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.
Thu 12/18/2025
Welcome Christmas with VocalEssence
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Welcome Christmas is a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premier choral ensembles, conducted by Philip Brunelle and G. Phillip Shoultz. Join host Bonnie North for an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries, including including the world premiere of three beloved Latvian carols by composer Ēriks Ešenvalds.
Fri 12/19/2025
Candles Burning Brightly
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
A delightful hour for everyone to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights! Lots of music from Jewish communities around the world, plus a hilarious lesson on how to prepare a classic Chanukah dish, and a timeless and touching holiday story that brings light into every home.
Sun 12/21/2025
Carols, Customs and Candlelight: A Celtic Christmas Celebration
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Host Andrea Blain explores music and customs that have roots in ancient winter celebrations and traditional Christmas festivals. The music features classical ensembles and soloists like Apollo’s Fire and Bryn Terfel, as well as traditional instruments like harp, fiddle and mandolin.
Sun 12/21/2025
In Winter’s Glow: A Winter Solstice Program
9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
A winter solstice program, with modern classical sounds for the longest night of the year, chosen especially to complement the chilly, starry nights of the season.
Mon 12/22/2025
Christmas at the Meyerson with the Dallas Winds – A Special WRR Concert Hall Presentation
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
A stocking full of holiday favorites from the leading professional civilian wind band in the United States today. Featuring special guests baritone Donnie Ray Albert and organist Bradley Hunter Welch.
Tue 12/23/2025
Christmas with Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
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.
Thu 12/25/2025
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Pipedreams host Michael Barone presents this live service of spoken-word and music (choral and organ) broadcast from the chapel of King’s College in Cambridge, England. The 30-voice King’s College Choir performs the legendary Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service of Biblical readings and music.
Thu 12/25/2025
Sounds of the Holidays
3:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Quin Mathews presents a seasonal music program, Texas-style, featuring local performances and North Texas musicians playing in other parts of the world. Long-time listeners will remember Quin for his in-depth local arts reporting on WRR’s Art Matters.
Thu 12/25/2025
Joy, Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir and Michael Maliakel & Lesley Nichol
3:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Broadway star Michael Maliakel joins The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for a heartwarming Music & the Spoken Word Christmas special. Experience the magic of the season with cherished carols, timeless hymns, and holiday classics — including “Joy to the World,” “Angels from the Realms of Glory,” and “I Wonder as I Wander.” Plus, acclaimed actor Lesley Nicol brings the Nativity to life with a moving reading of the Luke 2 story. A Christmas celebration you won’t want to miss.
Thu 12/25/2025
St. Olaf Christmas Festival 2025
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
A service in song and word that 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.
12/26/2025 until 1/1/2026, daily
The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa
1:00 PM to 1:03 PM
The Pan-African festival of Kwanzaa celebrates family and community, and is observed every December 26 to January 1. This series of seven short features, one for each day of Kwanzaa focuses on the specific principle of each day and elements of the celebration. The goal of these segments is to introduce listeners to the celebration and to encourage an understanding of inclusion and diverse perspectives. The segments are hosted by acclaimed soprano Kearstin Piper Brown, and baritone Eric Logan. The music in the segments is Valerie Coleman’s Umoja, based on the first principle of Kwanzaa – Umoja, or Unity, performed by the Imani Winds.
Wed 12/31/2025
The Sounds of Kwanzaa
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Garrett McQueen offers a background on the history of Kwanzaa and its guiding principles, alongside musical selections that highlight the spirit of the celebration. The show features the compositions of Florence Price, Duke Ellington, Sean O’Loughlin, and special performances by Imani Winds.
Thu 1/1/2026
New Year’s Day from Vienna
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
The ever popular annual New Year’s Day Concert will be performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Yannick Nezet-Seguim in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. Hosted by Lisa Mullins.
