Christmas week and New Year Specials
December 20
8pm St. Olaf Christmas
The St. Olaf Christmas Festival has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. Started in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, founder of the St. Olaf College Music Department, the festival includes hymns, carols, choral works and orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity. It features the St. Olaf Choir, the St. Olaf Orchestra, the St. Olaf Cantorei, the St. Olaf Chapel Choir, the Manitou Singers and the Viking Chorus, performing as individual groups and as a massed ensemble.
December 21
9am Classical Christmas Favorites
Join us this holiday season as we count down the top Christmas songs as voted by you in a two-hour special.
7pm In Winter’s Glow
A winter solstice program, with modern classical sounds for the longest night of the year, chosen especially to compliment the chilly, starry nights of the season.
December 22
11am Sharing Traditions and Carols of Christmas
The holiday season is a time spent with family and friends – making memories and starting traditions.
Join us for Sharing traditions and carols of Christmas – a local favorite featuring music of the season along with delightful conversation between award winning songwriter of contemporary Christian Music, the late Kurt Kaiser – and his daughter Kris.
8pm SHOUT! Black Gospel Christmas
Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments host Robert Darden hosts this holiday program highlighting some of the best in black gospel Christmas music.
9pm David and Art Jazz Holiday Jazz 2023
David Smith, host of David and Art, has pulled together an hour of spectacular jazzy holidays tunes. In addition to great music, David will share stories and fun facts about the music that will put a pep in your step this holiday season.
December 24
9am LIVE – FESTIVAL OF 9 LESSONS AND CAROLS
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols presents your audience with an opportunity to share in a live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols, and related seasonal Classical music. This special will be presented by one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue, the 500-year-old Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England.
11am KWBU ADAPTATION OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL
A Christmas Classic produced for radio by KWBU’s Beth Richards with the cast featuring voices you know from KWBU – both staff and volunteers. See if you recognize David Smith, Bob Darden, Ross Burns and others in the holiday special.
5pm David and Art Holiday Holiday Jazz 2023
6pm SHOUT! Black Gospel Christmas
7pm Sharing Traditions and Carols of Christmas
8pm Travel with Rick Steves Holiday
9pm I Hear American Singing Holiday program
10pm All is Bright
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.
11pm Chanticleer Christmas
This one-hour program of holiday favorites, new and old, will be presented live in concert by Chanticleer, the superb 12-man ensemble known as "an orchestra of voices." Chanticleer is one of the premiere vocal ensembles in the nation. The ensemble has won two Grammys and is a member of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. Encore from 2022
December 25
12am Classical Christmas
12pm Your Classical Christmas Favorites
2pm An Afro Blue Christmas
3pm SHOUT! Black Gospel Christmas Special
4pm Jazz Piano Christmas 39
5pm Jazz Happening Now - Holiday Edition
6pm Jazz Night in America: A Holiday Celebration
7pm David and Art Holiday Jazz 2023
8pm KWBU ADAPTATION OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL
9pm Sharing Traditions and Carols of Christmas
Dec 30
7pm 2023 Remembered from the Current (1hr)
Join The Current in honoring the life, music, and legacy of artists we lost this year with 2023 Remembered from The Current. This two-hour musical tribute is a celebration of all sounds - from indie to influential - and the perfect way for music lovers to unite in paying homage to the artists who have shaped music history.
Dec 31
9pm 2023 Remembered from the Current (2hr)
From musicians and producers to industry icons, the playlist will feature legends like Tina Turner, David Crosby (CSNY, Byrds), Sinéad O'Connor, Tony Bennett, Jane Birkin, Astrud Gilberto, Burt Bacharach, Jeff Beck (The Yard Birds), Harry Belafonte, Andy Rourke (The Smiths), Gordon Lightfoot, and many more. Host Jill Riley will highlight milestones in each artist's life and career, explore their lasting impact on the music world, and spin their most beloved songs.