Poster The Christmas tree (1911) painting by Albert Chevallier Tayler
The Christmas tree (1911) painting by Albert Chevallier Tayler
Public Domain, painting by Albert Chevallier Tayler
Performance Today®

Happy Holidays!

For Christmas Day, we're playing some of the best holiday music... you might even find yourself joining the chorus. Tune in for Christmas and holiday music from concerts around the world. Happy Holidays from all of us at Performance Today!

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Traditional Basque, arr. Jim Clements: Gabriel's Message
Voces8 | Voces8 Foundation Choir | Voces8 Foundation Orchestra | Jack Liebeck, conductor
Album: A Choral Christmas
London/Decca

Antonio Vivaldi: Flute Concerto in F, RV 433 ('La tempesta di mare')
Il Giardino Armonico | Giovanni Antonini, flute and conductor
EBU, Actus Humanus Festival, Artus Court, Gdansk, Poland

Tarquinio Merula: Canzon 'La Lusignola'
Il Giardino Armonico | Giovanni Antonini, conductor
EBU, Actus Humanus Festival, Artus Court, Gdansk, Poland

Francesco Onofrio Manfredini: Concerto Grosso in C ('Con una Pastorale per il Santissimo Natale')
Il Giardino Armonico | Giovanni Antonini, conductor
EBU, Actus Humanus Festival, Artus Court, Gdansk, Poland

Piano Puzzlers
Contestants: Nicholas & Scott Meyer calling from Portland, Oregon

Rebecca Dale: Winter
Voces8
Album: Winter
London/Decca 25736

Traditional English, arr. Barnaby Smith: Coventry Carol
Voces8 Scholars
APM, Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Recording Studio, St. Paul, MN

Traditional German, arr. Robert Pearsall: In Dulci Jubilo
Voces8
APM, Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Recording Studio, St. Paul, MN

Mykola Leontovych, arr. Peter Wilhousky: Carol of the Bells
Voces8 and Voces8 Scholars
APM, Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Recording Studio, St. Paul, MN

Hour 2

John Rutter: Nativity Carol
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge | Dmitri Ensemble | Graham Ross, conductor
Album: Lux De Caelo: Music For Christmas
Harmonia Mundi 907615

Randol Bass: Joy to the World Fanfare
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus | JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra | JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY

Emil Waldteufel: The Skaters Waltz
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra | JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Album: Favorite Holiday Classics
SELF PROD 266

Traditional, arr. Randall Reese: I Saw Three Ships
Judy Mason, piano | Spivey Hall Tour Choir | Martha Shaw, conductor
Spivey Hall, Clayton State University, Morrow, GA

Traditional Finnish, arr. Michael Neaum: Gaudete
Judy Mason, piano | Spivey Hall Tour Choir | Martha Shaw, conductor
Spivey Hall, Clayton State University, Morrow, GA

John Rutter: Angel's Carol
Judy Mason, piano | Spivey Hall Children's Choir | Martha Shaw, conductor
Spivey Hall, Clayton State University, Morrow, GA

Benjamin Britten: A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: Movements 1-3
Judy Mason, piano | Spivey Hall Children's Choir | Martha Shaw, conductor
Spivey Hall, Clayton State University, Morrow, GA

Arcangelo Corelli: Concerto Grosso, Op. 6 No. 8, "Christmas Concerto"
Geoff Nuttall and Karen Gomyo, violins | Nina Lee, cello | Owen Dalby, violin | Daniel Phillips and Meena Bhasin, violas | Christopher Costanza, cello | Doug Balliett, double bass | Paul Holmes Morton, theorbo | Pedja Muzijevic, organ
Spoleto Festival USA Chamber Music Series, Dock Street Theater, Charleston SC

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Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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