This holiday season, take a moment to look back on the key moments of 2024 and enjoy the sounds of the season with holiday music from a diverse mix of styles. Here are some program highlights from your friends at Boise State Public Radio.
Have a safe and enjoyable holiday season. Remember you can take BSPR with you and listen wherever you are with the Boise State Public Radio App.
Holiday Programming Schedule for Boise State Public Radio Music:
Through Christmas, listen for holiday-themed classical works from each weekday through 6 p.m. from Your Classical - C24. Performance Today 10 a.m. - noon weekdays will serve up holiday-themed episodes with host Fred Child and guests and we’ll have special programs for listeners.
Friday, Dec. 20
8 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Echoes Winter Solstice
Get ready for the big chill on an Echoes’ Winter Solstice. John Diliberto creates a soundscape of snow-shrouded trees, silent saguaro cacti and white-out conditions. It’s a winter fantasy with no Christmas carols, but a sleigh full of music taking you into the celestial and chilled side of the season.
Monday, Dec. 23
8 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Echoes Seasonal Landscape
In an all-instrumental program, we create a soundscape for the season. We play music inspired by the season in all its quiet majesty and interior warmth. Original songs mix with carols from artists like David Arkenstone, George Winston, Ólafur Arnalds, Erik Wøllo and many more. We weave these sounds into a seamless journey for that pause just before Christmas.
Tuesday, Dec. 24
8 a.m. - 10 a.m.: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
This special presents an opportunity to share in a live, world-wide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of Biblical readings, carols and related seasonal Classical music.
Noon - 1 p.m.: All Is Bright
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. Featured artists include Cantus, Chanticleer, Cambridge Singers, Bryn Terfel, Emma Kirkby, Jessye Norman and a variety of choirs.
5 p.m. - 6 p.m.: 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. The music features classical ensembles and soloists like Apollo’s Fire and Bryn Terfel, as well as traditional instruments like harp, fiddle and mandolin.
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.: World Cafe - DJ Robert Drake Xmas Eve Mix
For over 30 years, Radio DJ Robert Drake has been doing a Christmas Eve radio marathon broadcast called “The Night Before” from WXPN in Philadelphia. He joins World Cafe to spotlight the best new Christmas music, including songs from David Shaw of the Revivalists and John C. Reilly, and explore some of the more eccentric holiday offerings from over the years.
8 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Echoes Night Before Christmas
Get the sugar plums dancing with an Echoes Night Before Christmas. It’s a time when life seems suspended between the Christmas build-up and the explosion of Christmas morning. We’ll hear music from the Ornamental and Dark Noel albums, Jeff Johnson’s Winterfold and Smoke Fairies’ Wild Winter, and David Arkenstone's Winterlude. John Diliberto decorates your ears with seasonal music on an Echoes Night Before Christmas.
Wednesday, Dec. 25
Noon - 1 p.m.: A Chanticleer Christmas
The beloved, Grammy-winning men’s chorus brings its “rich, intricately blended sound” (The Washington Post) to its signature holiday celebration. The centuries-spanning program ranges from Renaissance masterworks to roof-raising spirituals.
5 p.m. - 6 p.m.: A Special Thistle & Shamrock Christmas
Join Fiona Ritchie for a winter walk along the banks of the River Tay in Scotland, accompanied by music from the Celtic Christmas repertoire. Among ancient trees and restored riverside woodlands, Fiona finds her favorite bench, and sits there to reflect upon the scenes of Midwinter. The location inspires seasonal tales, joyful songs and tunes of rare beauty, with guitarist Tim Edey, singer-songwriter Sting, singer Emily Smith and multi-instrumental duo Al Petteway and Amy White. Readings from the works of Jon Plunkett, Stephanie Norgate and Robert Frost.
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.: World Cafe - Ben Folds Christmas
Christmas is a holiday full of traditions: you might hang the same decorations, watch the same movies and eat the same food every year. When Ben Folds was making his new Christmas album, Sleigher, he was thinking about the way Christmas is a constant, no matter how much your life changes. He discusses the album and performs songs from it live, as we celebrate Christmas with Ben Folds on the next World Cafe.
8 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Echoes Christmas
A soundscape for that long winter’s nap; or for wrapping presents and putting together those last-minute toys. John Diliberto will bring you music from Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, Kate Bush, George Winston, Loreena McKennitt and the new Winter Tales collection. Hear traditional carols reinvented and new carols for the 21st century.
Friday, Dec. 27
Noon - 1 p.m.: Candles Burning Brightly
A new, 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.
Tuesday, Dec. 31
8 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Echoes Ambient New Year's Eve
Dance in 2025 with an Echoes Ambient New Year’s Eve. All systems are plugged in, and the chill is turned up to 11, as we swing in on electronic sounds old, new and beyond time and space. John Diliberto dials up the best of chilled, downtempo and ambient music from 2024 to kick off the new year.
10 p.m. - Midnight: Toast of the Nation
An NPR tradition every New Year's Eve since the 1970s, Toast of the Nation is the perfect audio complement for the occasion. It's festive jazz you can party to, all night long.
Holiday Programming Schedule for Boise State Public Radio News:
Tuesday, Dec. 24
Noon & 8 p.m.: Selected Shorts: Holiday Hitches
Meg Wolitzer presents writers’ tales of holidays that don’t go as planned.
Wednesday, Dec. 25
Noon & 8 p.m.: Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Favorites
Stories from the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk--these and other NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season.
1 p.m.: BBC Newshour Christmas Quiz
They can ask the tough questions – but do they know the answers? Newshour on BBC World Service Radio puts its hosts to the test in the annual Newshour Christmas Quiz.
James Coomarasamy finds out what his colleagues James Menendez, Tim Franks, Rebecca Kesby and Celia Hatton can remember about the events of the year.
Friday, Dec. 27
Noon & 8 p.m.: Idaho Matters Reporter Roundtable Year in Review
Making sense of the stories from all across Idaho in 2024. Gemma Gaudette and our panel of journalists will chime in on the year that was and what 2025 may have in store.
Wednesday, Jan. 1
Noon & 8 p.m.: Climate One - This Year in Climate - 2024
2024 set new records for extreme heat around the world in what is already the warmest decade on record. According to the World Meteorological Organization, sea-level rise and ocean heating are accelerating along with the loss of ice from glaciers. And we continue to see extreme weather of all kinds wreak havoc on communities across the world.
Climate One hosts Greg Dalton and Ariana Brocious look back upon recent climate progress and pitfalls and revisit some of our most illuminating interviews of 2024.