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KSUT Holiday 2024 Programming Schedule

We selected a series of great programs for this holiday season. Check out old favorites like the Paul Winter Solstice Concert, Tinsel Tales, Patrick Stewart reading A Christmas Carol, and Toast of the Nation.

We also added some new shows, such as A Mexican Baroque Christmas with the Rose Ensemble, A Chanukah Celebration with Chicago a cappella, and A Latin American Christmas.

Happy holidays from all of us at KSUT!


Friday, December 20

  • 7 PM to 9 PM: kuni Nashwa Holiday Show
  • 9 PM to 12 AM: An Echoes Seasonal Soundscape

Saturday, December 21 (Winter Solstice)

  • 5 PM to 6 PM: American Routes – Sounds of Winter Solstice & The Holidays
  • 7 PM to 9 PM: A Strange Brew Winter Solstice
  • 9 PM to 10 PM: Paul Winter Solstice Concert
  • 10 PM to 12 AM: The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of The Winter Solstice 2024

Selected program descriptions

Paul Winter Solstice Concert - 9 PM to 10PM
Celebrate the return of the sun with an encore performance recorded in the world’s largest Gothic cathedral. Musicians include Noel Paul Stookey, also known as Paul from the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. The Paul Winter Consort Winter Solstice Celebration (its official full title) also featured old friends like gospel singer Theresa Thomason and the Forces of Nature dance and drumming troupe from Harlem. WNYC's John Schaefer hosts.

The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of The Winter Solstice 2024 - 10 PM to 12 AM
A musical celebration of the winter holidays – Advent, Chanukah, the Solstice, Las Posadas, Christmas, New Year’s and Twelfth Night/Epiphany -- featuring traditional carols, wassails, pub songs, hymns, spirituals, children’s singing games, and folk dance-tunes excerpted from live Christmas and Midwinter Revels stage productions presented around the country.

Sunday, December 22

  • 1 PM to 2 PM: Women Be Wise Holiday Show
  • 2 PM to 3 PM: Global Village Holiday Show
  • 3 PM to 4 PM: A Latin American Christmas
  • 4 PM to 5 PM: A Mexican Baroque Christmas with the Rose Ensemble
  • 5 PM to 6 PM: 365 Holidays with the Canadian Brass
  • 7 PM to 9 PM: Close Enough for Jazz Holiday Show
  • 9 PM to 10 PM: Hearts of Space – Starlight North: A Winter Solstice

Selected program descriptions

A Latin American Christmas - 3 PM to 4 PM
Celebrate the holidays with some warm and sunny music of the season and a lot of good cheer from many lands south of the border and even the equator. Feliz Navidad!

A Mexican Baroque Christmas with the Rose Ensemble - 4 PM to 5 PM
This holiday program features over two centuries of festive Christmas dances and songs from the great cathedrals of Puebla and Mexico City. With rich instrumental and percussive accompaniment, solos and choruses burst forth in this program that's a far cry from the same old Christmas show.

365 Holidays with the Canadian Brass
The Canadian Brass play holiday favorites in new and classic arrangements, including their exhilarating "Hanukah Medley", as well as "Joy to the World", "The First Noel", "Silent Night", a new arrangement of "Jingle Bells" in the style of Handel -- and many other tunes for the season.


Monday, December 23

  • 7 PM to 9 PM: Down Home Girl Holiday Show
  • 9 PM to 10 PM: A Special Thistle & Shamrock Christmas
  • 10 PM to 11 PM: A Celtic Christmas
  • 11 PM to 12 AM: An Echoes Seasonal Soundscape

Selected program descriptions

A Celtic Christmas - 10 PM to 11 PM
This holiday special features Irish storyteller Tomáseen Foley and his charming tale "Parcel from America." The program also features music from guitarist William Coulter, fiddler Deby Benton Grojean, and piper Todd Denman, as well as songs from Moira Smiley.

An Echoes Seasonal Soundscape - 11 PM to 12 AM
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, December 24 (Christmas Eve)

  • 7 PM to 9 PM: Barrelhouse Blues Holiday Show
  • 9 PM to 11 PM: A Christmas Carol w/ Patrick Stewart
  • 11 PM to 12 AM: An Echoes Night Before Christmas

Selected program descriptions

A Christmas Carol w/ Patrick Stewart - 9 PM to 11 PM
Patrick Stewart presents a distinctive reading of Dickens’ holiday classic.

An Echoes Night Before Christmas - 11 PM to 12 AM
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. It’s not your shopping mall Christmas carols. 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 that's cool and chilled on an Echoes Night Before Christmas.


Wednesday, December 25 (Christmas Day)

  • 9 AM to 12 PM: Tinsel Tales
  • 12 PM to 1 PM: Here & Now
  • 1 PM to 2 PM: A Jethro Tull Christmas
  • 2 PM to 4 PM: A Hip Holiday Mix with Paul Ingles
  • 7 PM to 9 PM: Tales of the New West – Top 25 Albums of 2024
  • 9 PM to 10 PM: Mark O’Connor’s Appalachian Christmas
  • 10 PM to 12 AM: Echoes Christmas Concert with Trevor Gordon Hall

Selected program descriptions

Tinsel Tales - 9 AM to 12 PM
NPR fills millions of homes each holiday with humor, warmth, and a host of festive voices. Continuing with the tradition of first Tinsel Tales program, this is another collection of the best and most requested holiday stories. Joy, hope, and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season.

A Jethro Tull Christmas - 1 PM to 2 PM
Multi-instrumental musician, prolific writer, distinctive singer and conspicuous flutist Ian Anderson of the British band Jethro Tull shares colorful Christmas memories and presents tracks from the "cynical and grumpy" Jethro Tull Christmas Album. Anderson talks about his relationship with the flute and relearning to play the instrument properly after three decades of recording and touring. Broadly classified at times as Progressive Rock, Jethro Tull's music spans many genres including Jazz, Folk, Classical and Blues, in ways that are as rich and brilliant as they are unique.

A Hip Holiday Mix with Paul Ingles - 2 PM to 4 PM
Music History Producer Paul Ingles hosts two hours of pop, rock and soul holiday music. Paul Simon, Otis Redding, Charles Brown, Pretenders, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Kinks, Shawn Colvin, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Beatles, and more.

Friday, December 27

  • 7 PM to 8 PM: The Sounds of Kwanzaa
  • 8 PM to 9 PM: Hanukkah Lights 2024
  • 9 PM to 10 PM: Candles Burning Brightly
  • 10 PM to 12 AM: A Chanukah Celebration with Chicago a cappella

Selected program descriptions

The Sounds of Kwanzaa - 7 PM to 8 PM

During the aftermath of the Watts Uprisings in the 1960s, Dr. Maulana Karenga decided to create a special December holiday designed for Black people to celebrate themselves, their culture, and their future liberation. Today, Kwanzaa is still celebrated by not only Afro-Americans, but Black people around the globe! In this broadcast, Garrett McQueen offers a background on the history of Kwanzaa and its guiding principles, alongside musical selections that highlight the spirit of the celebration. The show features the compositions of Florence Price, Duke Ellington, Sean O’Loughlin, and special performances by Imani Winds

Hanukkah Lights 2024 - 8 PM to 9 PM

This NPR favorite returns with some of our favorite stories from the archives. We’ll hear “Gifts of the Last Night” by Rebecca Goldstein, “Hanukkah Gelt, Hanukkah Money” by Sholem Aleichem, “Gifts of the Jewish Magi” by Allegra Goodman, How to Spell the Name of God” by Ellen Orleans, and “Geek Week by Rebecca O’Connell.

Candles Burning Brightly - 9 PM to 10 PM

A 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.

A Chanukah Celebration with Chicago a cappella - 10 PM to 12 AM

Join Jonathan Miller, artistic director of Chicago a cappella and a longtime champion of Jewish choral music, for an inspiring and informative show featuring choral music set to Chanukah texts. Familiar tunes include "I Have a Little Dreidel" (both in its original Yiddish form and in a neo-funk Hebrew/English setting), a swing version of "S'vivon" by Steve Barnett, and a lively setting of the traditional melody for "Al-Hanissim" ("For the Miracles") by Elliot Levine. Heartfelt original compositions by American and British composers provide added depth of expression to celebrating the holiday.


Tuesday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve)

  • 7 PM to 9 PM: Barrelhouse Blues New Year’s Eve Party
  • 9 PM to 1 AM: NPR’s Toast of the Nation