Just like baking cookies, wrapping gifts and hanging lights, holiday programming on KSKA is a time honored tradition and it starts this Saturday, Dec. 17. In addition to all of your holiday favorites from NPR, PRI and American Public Media, we’re excited to bring you Cyrano’s production of It’s a Wonderful Life – A Live Radio Play this Christmas Eve on KSKA. You can watch Mon. Dec. 19 at 8:00 PM on KAKM Channel 7 TV
Photo by Jonathan McIntosh: Wikimedia Commons
Here’s the full KSKA holiday programming line up:
Saturday, Dec. 17
- 6:30pm A Closer Look – “Anchorage’s Hidden Homeless” hosted by KSKA’s Len Anderson.
- 9:00 pm Jazz Piano Christmas – on stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, features jazz greats Monty Alexander, Helio Alves, Freddy Cole, Renee Rosnes, and Jessica Williams. (repeats 12/25 at 9:00 pm)
Sunday, Dec. 18
- 2:00 pm Christmas Revels Encore (repeats 12/25 at 12:00 pm)
Hanukkah begins at sundown
Tuesday, Dec. 20
Winter Solstice
Wednesday, Dec. 21
- 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm Paul Winter Solstice Concert – a dynamic musical celebration in the extraordinary acoustics of the worlds largest Gothic cathedral – New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Thursday, Dec. 22
- 2:00 pm Chanukah in Story and Song – narrated by Leonard Nimoy and sung by the acclaimed vocal sextet The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble, “Chanukah in Story and Song” is a unique holiday program created especially for public radio listeners.
- 7:00 pm Hanukkah Lights – this perennial NPR favorite, Hanukkah stories and memoirs, written by acclaimed authors expressly for Hanukkah Lights, are read by NPR’s Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.
Friday, Dec. 23
- 2:00 pm A Chanticleer Christmas – this one-hour celebrates 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 1300’s to new arrangements of classic and contemporary carols.
- 7:00 pm Putumayo Holidays
- 8:00 pm Echoes of Christmas – moving selections of choral classics celebrating Christmas. The Dale Warland Singers provided magical performances to listeners across the country for over 30 years and were acclaimed as America’s premiere choir.
Christmas Eve
Saturday, Dec. 24
- 5:00 pm It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play – a co-production of Cyrano’s Theater Company and KAKM. Recorded in the studios of KAKM Channel 7 TV. Adapted for radio and TV broadcast by Joe Landry.
- 6:00 pm Christmas with the Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs – 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. (repeats 12/25 at 6:00 pm)
- 7:00 pm A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols -hosted by Michael Barone, music and spoken-word 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. (repeats 12/25 at 7:00 pm)
- 9:00 pm Joy To The World – a live performance holiday jazz program hosted by pianist Bob Thompson. Produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting in Charleston, West Virginia.
- 10:00 pm Soul To Soul Christmas with the Marvelous Marvel Johnson
Christmas Day
Sunday, Dec. 25
- 8:00 am St Olaf’s Christmas – 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, and orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians who are members of five choirs and the St. Olaf Orchestra.
- 10:00 am A Prairie Home Companion
- 12:00 pm The Christmas Revels Encore
- 2:00 pm The Annie Moses Band – touching the depths of your listeners hearts with the message of Christmas with this remarkable mix of Jazz, Classical and Celtic sounds, this all-sibling group will inspire your listeners.
- 3:00 pm A Carolina Christmas – a festive celebration of Appalachian folk traditions and other styles native to the Carolinas. Center stage will be two-time female vocalist of the year Kathy Mattea.
- 4:00 pm All Things Considered
- 5:00 pm A Chanticleer Christmas – this one-hour celebrates 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 1300’s to new arrangements of classic and contemporary carols.
- 6:00 pm Christmas with the Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs
- 7:00 pm A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
- 9:00 pm Jazz Piano Christmas
- 10:00 pm Echoes of Christmas – moving selections of choral classics celebrating Christmas. The Dale Warland Singers provided magical performances to listeners across the country for over 30 years and were acclaimed as America’s premiere choir.
- 11:00 pm Tinsel Tales – this year a radio tradition continues with the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk– and other s, past and present, tell stories of the season.
- 12:00 am BBC World News
Kwanzaa begins
Monday, Dec. 26
- 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm A Season’s Griot – public radio’s only nationally syndicated Kwanzaa program. Hosted by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, this annual one-hour special captures the tales and traditions of African-American and African peoples.
Tuesday, Dec. 27
- 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm Kid These Days! – “Family Vacations”
Wednesday, Dec. 28
- 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm Hometown, Alaska – Peter Dunlap Shohl hosts a big Thank You to the Volunteers
Thursday, Dec. 29
- 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm Radio Lab – Cool People with Cool Books
Friday, Dec. 30
- 2:00 pm All Songs Considered Year in Review (repeats 12/31 at 6:00 pm)
New Year’s Eve
Saturday, Dec. 31
- 6:00 pm All Songs Considered Year in Review
- 8:00 pm – 12:00 am Toast of the Nation (live NPR) – to celebrate 2011 and ring in 2012, Toast of the Nation is music all night from coast to coast, with midnights in the four continental U.S. time zones.
Tuesday, Jan. 3
- 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm Conversations That Matter: Teen Suicide in Alaska – produced by Townsquare49 in partnership with the Alaska Community Foundation in the studios of KAKM Channel 7 TV.
Regular programming resumes on Wednesday, January 4. Click on the Schedule page up top to view a complete broadcast schedule anytime.Thanks for making 2011 an outstanding year and happy holidays from everyone at KSKA!
