Throughout the holiday season, WHRO-FM’s regular classical programs take on a festive character, with special editions shaped by the music and traditions of this time of year. Favorites such as "From the Parlor," "This Just In," "En Voyage," "Classical Guitar Alive," and others will feature seasonal repertoire, historical context, and themed selections that reflect how composers and performers have responded to the winter season across cultures and centuries.
Alongside these specially curated editions, WHRO-FM will present a series of landmark holiday broadcasts. These include live performances of "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" from King’s College, Cambridge, and the New Year’s Concert from Vienna, as well as long-standing listener favorites such as "Gaudete! Early Music for the Christmas Season," "Carols, Customs and Candlelight: a Celtic Christmas Celebration," and the locally produced "Christmas in Colonial Virginia," exploring how the season was observed in 18th-century Tidewater Virginia.
Below is a detailed, day-by-day guide to WHRO-FM’s holiday programming.
Thursday, December 18:
- Noon – "Christmas with Madrigalia"
Celebrate the excitement and joy of the holiday season with the chamber choir Madrigalia, in a program of traditional carols, anthems, and new arrangements to celebrate the winter solstice, Chanukah, and Christmas around the world. - 9 PM - "A Jane Austen Christmas Musicale"
Step into the Regency era this Christmas, as book lovers everywhere are also celebrating the 250th birthday of Jane Austen. This immersive program features the carols her heroines would have enjoyed, along with music from Austen’s own collection. Austen’s descriptions of the holiday from her letters and novels will set the scene.
Friday, December 19:
- Noon – "En Voyage: Christmas Around the World"
Pack your bags for a Christmas trip around the world! There will be stops in Latin America, Canada, the Mediterranean, and much of Europe with carols, bells, and songs for the holidays. And as Friday is Pet Pledge Day, we will also have a few Christmas visits from feathered and furry friends from around the world. - 9-11 PM – "The Christmas Revels: In celebration of the Winter Solstice"
Enjoy a musical celebration of the winter holidays – Advent, the Solstice, Christmas, St. Stephen’s Day, New Year’s and Twelfth Night/Epiphany – featuring traditional carols, wassails, pub songs, hymns, spirituals, children’s singing games, and folk dance-tunes from live Christmas and Midwinter Revels stage productions presented around the country.
Saturday, December 20:
- 6 AM – "Harmonia: Drive the Cold Winter Away – Music for the Winter Solstice"
The longest and darkest of nights, the Winter Solstice has been observed across cultures with rituals and feasts celebrating the warmth of community and the return of the light. Nothing drives the cold winter away quite like a rousing tune, so join us this week for music in honor of the Winter Solstice on "Harmonia." - 7 AM-Noon – "Holiday Car Tunes"
- 1-3 PM – The Metropolitan Opera’s holiday presentation of Mozart’s "The Magic Flute"
The Met’s Saturday matinee radio broadcasts continue with a treat for the holiday season: Mozart’s "The Magic Flute." This classic operatic fairy tale, sung in English, is ideal for listeners of all ages. - 3-4 PM – "Holiday Intermezzo"
- 4-6 PM – "Holiday Sing-Along Special"
Join with listeners across the country and beyond as Jennifer Miller Hammel leads you through an hour of favorite carols, plus another hour of selections from Handel’s "Messiah." - 8-11 PM – "This Just In: Holiday New Releases"
It's Bach and Christmas this Saturday evening! Raymond Jones has for you this week Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4; Alex Rowley’s "Christmas Suite" with the London Choral Sinfonia; Benedict Sheehan’s setting of Charles Dickens’s "A Christmas Carol" featuring narrator Sarah Walker and the Skylark Ensemble; the "Christmas Choral Symphony" by Dr. Robert Burns Arnot; and Ensemble Altera with Benjamin Britten’s "A Ceremony of Carols." - 11 PM – Harmonia: Drive the Cold Winter Away – Music for the Winter Solstice
Sunday, December 21: Winter Solstice
- 7 AM-Noon – "Holiday Musical Brunch"
- Noon – "With Heart and Voice"
As we prepare for the eve of Christmas, we’ll begin the festivities with music to celebrate the arrival of the Holy Child on this edition of "With Heart and Voice." Tune in as Peter DuBois shares sacred choral and organ treasures of the season. - 3 PM – "From the Parlor"
This Sunday we will re-create Christmastime from a century ago, with songs about toys, music played on Victorian music boxes, a reading of Mr. Pickwick’s Christmas and the original version of “The One Horse Open Sleigh”. We’ll also hear the answer to eight-year-old Virginia Hannon’s searching question about Santa Claus. - 4-7 PM – "Holiday Sunday Classics"
- 7-8 PM – "Classical Guitar Alive: Music for Christmas"
This week’s edition features music for Christmas, from traditional Christmas carols to contemporary works, including Tchaikovsky’s "Nutcracker Suite" and Czech composer Otmar Mácha’s "Christmas Concertino." - 8-10 PM – "Pipedreams: Portraits for the Nativity"
A collection of choral and solo organ works that inspire imaginative images for the Christmas festival. - 10 PM-Midnight – "Holiday Evening Classics"
Monday, December 22:
- Noon – "Welcome Christmas"
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. - 9 PM – "In Winter’s Glow"
A winter solstice program, with modern and ancient classical music chosen especially to complement the chilly, starry nights of the season.
Tuesday, December 23:
- Noon – "Gaudete! Early Music for the Christmas Season"
Join Sara Schneider, host of "Early Music Now," for joyful and contemplative sounds of the season. We’ll hear Byzantine chant by Kassiani and selections from “Missa Puer natus est nobis” by Thomas Tallis, plus hymns and motets from Spain, Germany, and France. Our performers include The Cardinall’s Musick, Theatre of Voices, Cappella Romana, and Oltremontano. - 9 PM – "Carols, Customs and Candlelight: a Celtic Christmas Celebration"
The Celtic lands of Northwestern Europe have an especially rich musical heritage, and many Christmas songs and carols come from places like Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and other Celtic nations. Listen as host Andrea Blain explores music and customs that have roots in ancient winter celebrations and traditional Christmas festivals.
Wednesday, December 24: Christmas Eve
- 5-10 AM – "Holiday Morning Classics"
- 10 AM-Noon – "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (Live Broadcast)"
An annual and beloved Christmas tradition, "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" is an extraordinary and memorable service of word and music from the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England. Share in this live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal music, presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue. - 12-2 PM – "Holiday Midday Classics"
- 2 PM – "Christmas in Colonial Virginia"
Step back in time to the Tidewater of the 1700s, when Christmas looked and felt very different from today. This program explores how the season was observed across colonial Virginia…from candlelit homes and twelve days of Christmastide to taverns, plantation gatherings, and the ways the coming Revolution reshaped the holiday in Hampton Roads. And of course, we’ll sample a variety of music to evoke the sound of those 18th-century celebrations. - 3-6 PM – "Holiday Afternoon Classics"
- 6 PM – "Christmas with Madrigalia"
- 7-9 PM – "St. Olaf Christmas Festival"
A service in song and word that has become one of the nation’s most cherished holiday celebrations. The festival includes hymns, carols, and choral works, as well as orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity, and features more than 500 student musicians in five choirs and the St. Olaf Orchestra. - 9 PM-Midnight – "Christmas Eve Classics with A Local Touch"
As you finish wrapping those presents, enjoy an array of holiday music from across the Old Dominion, featuring the US Air Force Heritage of America Band with "A Local Touch" host Raymond Jones as narrator; the Virginia Symphony with JoAnn Falletta conducting; Virginia Choral Society; Virginia Chorale; the 2025 Festival of Lessons and Carols from Christ and St. Luke’s Church in Norfolk, led by Kevin Kwan; and much more!
Thursday, Dec. 25: Christmas Day
As always, WHRO-FM will offer joyous and beautiful music for your celebrations throughout the day. Here are some highlights:
- 8 AM – "Welcome Christmas"
- 10 AM – "St. Olaf Christmas Festival"
- 3-5 PM – "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (Rebroadcast)"
- 7 PM – "Carols, Customs and Candlelight: a Celtic Christmas Celebration"
Wednesday, December 31: New Year’s Eve
- Pop the champagne and tune in for a New Year’s Eve party hosted by Raymond Jones. It’s the gala performance of "Die Fledermaus" by Johann Strauss II with the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Chorus plus a galaxy of great voices, all conducted by Herbert von Karajan.
Thursday, January 1: New Year’s Day
- 11 AM-1 PM – "New Year's Day from Vienna 2026 (Live Broadcast)"
Ring in 2026 with our live broadcast of the annual New Year’s Day Concert from the Vienna Philharmonic. This year’s concert will be conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and hosted by WBUR's Lisa Mullins. Tune in for your favorite waltzes and more to get your New Year off to a festive start!
*Please note: program times and details may be subject to change.
