Where can you hear a full hour of Baroque Christmas music by Manuel de Sumaya - the greatest Mexican composer of the era? And the St. Olaf Christmas Festival? And Handel's Messiah led by one America's foremost choral conductors, Betsy Burleigh? (That's her picture.) You got it - on IPR Classical! Here's our Christmas Day classical schedule:
A Chanticleer Christmas: 8 - 9 am
A celebration of the season as told through the glorious voices of Chanticleer, the 12-voice San Francisco-based men's choir. The program spans the globe and the centuries - from England in the 1300s to new arrangements of classic and contemporary carols to Chanticleer's popular Gospel medley of Christmas tunes.
St. Olaf Christmas Festival: 9 - 11 am
A service in song and word that has become one of the nation's most cherished
holiday celebrations. Tickets to the event, which takes place at St. Olaf College
in Northfield, Minnesota, are always gone months in advance. 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.
A Baroque Christmas in the New World: 11 am - 12 noon
In celebration of the holiday season, A Baroque Christmas in the New World
brings you music from 17th- and 18th-century Mexico, Peru and
Bolivia, including a cantata and three free-standing works by
Manuel de Sumaya - the greatest Mexican-born composer of the Baroque era.
Music of the Baroque: Brass and Choral Holiday Concert:
12 noon - 2 pm
Tune in to the great works of composers like Giovanni Gabrieli,
Johann Sebastian Bach, Francis Poulenc, Samuel Scheidt, and John Tavener
among others in this broadcast from Chicago.
Messiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra: 2 - 4 pm
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra celebrates the season with a
performance of Handel's Messiah. Betsy Burleigh conducts the orchestra,
soloists and Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh.
Valparaiso University Christmas Concert: A Carol Festival:
4 - 5 pm
The Valparaiso University Christmas concert “A Carol Festival” is a musical
celebration that has been delighting audiences for nearly 90 years. It is presented in
the spectacular Valparaiso University Chapel of the Resurrection, one of the finest
collegiate chapels in the United States.