Tune into WQED-FM's Q the Music station to hear 24/7 local holiday music from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day! We've assembled your commercial free holiday soundtrack featuring a multitude of local ensembles, artists and composers. It’s all local, all the time, and available to you online, on smart speakers and the WQED app.

Listen live to Classical WQED-FM 89.3

A Chanukah Celebration with Chicago A Cappella

6-7 p.m.

This inspiring and informative program features choral music set to Chanukah texts.  Heartfelt original compositions by American and British composers provided added depth of expression to celebrating the holiday.

 

Performance in Pittsburgh

7-8 p.m.

Dr. Susan Medley joins WQED-FM’s Anna Singer to take you through the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale’s 2022 Holiday Concert, recorded at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church.

 

Heinz Chapel Choir Live

8-9:30pm

A live broadcast of the Heinz Chapel Choir Holiday concert from Heinz Chapel, directed by Dr. Susan Rice.

A Taste of Chanukah

6-7pm

Theodore Bikel hosts a joyous Chanukah concert for the whole family, with traditional and contemporary storytelling and music from more than 150 musicians of the New England Conservatory and Boston Community Choir.

 

Tuesday, December 12

Candles Burning Brightly

6-7 p.m.

A delightful hour for everyone to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights! There is lots of music from Jewish communities worldwide, a hilarious lesson on preparing a classic Hanukkah dish, and a timeless and touching holiday story that brings light into every home.

 

Wednesday, December 13

Itzhak Perlman’s Chanukah Radio Party

6-7 p.m.

Join the superstar violinist as he tells the story of the Jewish festival of lights, and shares his favorite recordings for the holiday – some serious, some silly.  This engaging one-hour special includes numbers from Itzhak Perlman’s radio-addicted childhood in Israel; evocative songs in Yiddish and Ladino; classical music that revolves around the Maccabee heroes of the story; and Chanukah gems by American folk singers.

 

Thursday, December 14

Live from Pittsburgh International Airport

7-10am & 2-6pm

We get you ready for your holiday travels with a live broadcast in front of the big Christmas Tree at Pittsburgh International Airport. 

 

Chanukah in Story and Song 2023

6-7 p.m.

Leonard Nimoy and the Western Wind with a musical celebration spanning Ladino songs of Spanish Jews, Yiddish melodies from Europe, and modern Israeli tunes.

 

River City Brass at Carnegie Museum of Art

7-9pm

A broadcast of members of the River City Brass from their performance in the Great Hall at the Carnegie Museum of Art.  Recorded on Saturday December 9, 2023.

 

Friday, December 15

Chanukah Memories and Melodies (new for 2023)

6-7 p.m.

A new special featuring interviews with artists and public personalities about their Chanukah memories grounded in the music tied to their holiday memories. Guests include cellist Alisa Weilerstein, Broadway actress Tovah Feldshuh, Sephardic music expert and flutist Daphna Mor, musician and Yiddish musicologist Henry Sapoznik, poet, musician and author Aaron Dworkin, and Eric Jacobsen, artistic director of The Knights. 

Performance in Pittsburgh

7-9 p.m.

A broadcast of the 2023 Pitt Men’s Glee Club Holiday concert.  Recorded at First Baptist Church on December 9, 2023.

 

The Ballad of the Brown King and Other Music for Christmas by Black Composers

8-9 p.m.

Dr. Louise Toppin, a noted performer and scholar who specializes in the concert repertoire of African American composers, presents the world premiere recording of Margaret Bonds’s The Ballad of the Brown King. With a libretto by Langston Hughes, this Christmas cantata which focuses on Balthazar, the dark-skinned king who journeyed to Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus Christ, is beautifully interpreted by New York City-based The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra, soloists soprano Laquita Mitchell, mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford and tenor Noah Stewart, led by Malcolm J. Merriweather.

Tuesday, December 19

The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays

8-9pm

An hour-long special devoted to holiday and wintertime movie music. In addition to beloved standards (“White Christmas” from “Holiday Inn” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from “Meet Me in St. Louis”), Michael shares an eclectic mix of wintry film scores, ranging from “It Happened in Sun Valley” (from “Sun Valley Serenade”) to Alexandre Desplat’s folk-inspired score for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” to Bernard Herrmann’s bracing sleigh ride accompaniment composed for the Orson Welles drama “The Magnificent Ambersons.” 

 

Wednesday, December 20

Carols as Home with the Imani Winds

6-7pm

Carols as Home features a modern take on classic Christmas carols, hosted by Imani Winds founding oboist, Toyin Spellman-Diaz. Toyin coaxes intimate stories of Christmas memories from the members of the ensemble, and why these classic carols are still essential today.

 

Pittsburgh Symphony Radio

7-9 p.m.

Manfred Honeck conducts the orchestra, soloists and Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh in Handel’s Messiah. 

 

Thursday, December 21

A Dear Friend’s Christmas

6-7 p.m.

 

Polish Christmas Cheer

7-8 p.m

Polish holiday music, hosted by guest announcer Eva Tumiel Kozak.

 

In Winter’s Glow

8-9pm

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.

 

Friday, December 22

A Chanticleer Christmas

6-7 p.m.

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.

 

Performance in Pittsburgh

7-9pm

The 2021 Butler County Symphony Orchestra Holiday concert, with guest conductor Michael Gelfand. 

 

St. Olaf Christmas Festival

6-8 p.m.

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.

 

Sunday, December 24

Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols - Live

Live from Kings College, Cambridge, England

10 am – Noon

An annual and beloved Christmas tradition, “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” is an extraordinary and memorable live service of word and music from the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England.

Your Classical Christmas Favorites

Noon-2pm

Join us this holiday season as we count down the top Christmas songs as voted by you in a two-hour special.

Jim & Rick Play Holiday Classics

2-5pm

Rick Sebak joins Jim Cunningham for 3 hours of holiday music and storytelling.

Pittsburgh Symphony Radio

7-9 p.m.

Manfred Honeck conducts the orchestra, soloists and Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh in Handel’s Messiah.  (repeat)

All Is Bright

9-10pm

Lynne Warfel hosts 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.

 

A Christmas Memory

1pm-midnight

Truman Capote reads this traditional classic.

 

Monday, December 25

Welcome Christmas

5-6am

There’s no better way to welcome Christmas than Welcome Christmas!, the VocalEssence holiday concert. It’s an hour of joyful, classic holiday music from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premiere choral groups, singing traditional carols and new discoveries.

 

Jim & Rick Play Holiday Classics (repeat)

7-10 a.m.

Rick Sebak joins Jim Cunningham for 3 hours of holiday music and storytelling. 

 

Heinz Chapel Choir Holiday Concert (repeat)

10-11:30am

A rebroadcast of the Heinz Chapel Choir Holiday concert from Heinz Chapel

 

Pitt Men’s Glee Club (repeat)

11:30am-1 p.m

A broadcast of the 2023 Pitt Men’s Glee Club Holiday concert.  Recorded at First Baptist Church on December 9, 2023.

 

Pittsburgh Concert Chorale (repeat)

1-2pm

Dr. Susan Medley joins WQED-FM’s Anna Singer to take you through the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale’s 2022 Holiday Concert, recorded at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church. 

 

River City Brass from CMOA (repeat)

2-3pm

A quintet from the River City Brass play holiday favorites, recorded at Carnegie Museum of Art on December 9, 2023.

 

CMU Philharmonic (repeat)

3-5 p.m.

A rebroadcast of the CMU Philharmonic and Chorus December concert – live from Soldiers and Sailors Hall.  Daniel Nesta Curtis conducts Gabrielli’s Canzon Duodecimi Toni; the world premiere of Kate Pukinskis’ Winter: Outside, In; Selections from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio; and Stravinsky’s Suite from Pulcinella.  Thomas Douglas conducts Glen Rudolph’s “The Dream Isiah Saw.”

 

Thiel College Choir Holiday Concert and Harp Society

5-7 pm

Hear the Thiel College Holiday Concert, recorded at First Lutheran Church on Friday November 22, 2019.  Plus hear the Holiday Harp Ensemble concert from the lobby of Carnegie Music Hall from December 10, 2019.

 

River City Brass Live (repeat)

7-9 p.m.

A rebroadcast of the River City Brass Christmas Brasstacular from Bethel Park High School.

New Year’s Day from Vienna

11 – 1 p.m.

The Vienna Philharmonic presents its ever popular annual New Year's Day concert from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. You'll hear your favorite waltzes, polkas and more — a festive way to begin the new year.