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.
A Chanticleer Christmas
Tuesday December 23rd, 8-9pm
Grammy award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer is known as the “orchestra of voices” for its unparalleled range and abilities. This holiday season, the group brings its brand-new Christmas program including original arrangements of well-known tunes drawn from Classical, Jazz, and Popular traditions. They fluently weave between diverse musical styles to create an evening of wonder and joy.
Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols – Live
Live from Kings College, Cambridge, England
Wednesday December 24th, 10 – noon.
Since 1918, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols has offered listeners an opportunity to share in a live, worldwide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of biblical readings, carols and related seasonal classical music. This special event is presented by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys, and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue, the college’s 500-year-old chapel.
St. Olaf Christmas Festival
Wednesday December 24th, 12-2 p.m.
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, as well as orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians in five choirs and the St. Olaf Orchestra.
Pittsburgh Symphony Radio
Wednesday December 24th, 7-9 p.m.
Leonard Slatkin conducts McTee’s Double Play, Vaughan Williams’ Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus and Britten’s “Young People’s Guide to the Orchestra.” Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida plays the Francaix “Flower Clock.”
A Christmas Memory
Wednesday December 24th, 10-11pm
Truman Capote reads this traditional classic.
Welcome Christmas
Thursday December 25th, 5-6am
Welcome Christmas is a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premier choral ensembles, conducted by Philip Brunelle and G. Phillip Shoultz. Join host Bonnie North for an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries.
Jim & Rick Play Holiday Classics – “There Arose Such a Clatter” (repeat)
Thursday December 25th, 7-10 a.m.
Rick Sebak joins Jim Cunningham for 3 hours of holiday music and storytelling.
Heinz Chapel Choir Holiday Concert (repeat)
Thursday December 25th, 10-11:30pm
A rebroadcast of the Heinz Chapel Choir Holiday concert from Heinz Chapel
Pitt Men’s Glee Club & Treble Choral Ensemble (repeat)
Thursday December 25th, 11:30pm-1p.m
A rebroadcast of the 2025 Pitt Men’s Glee Club and Treble Choral Ensemble Holiday concert. Recorded at First Baptist Church on December 6, 2025.
CMU Philharmonic Live (repeat)
Thursday December 25th, 1-3pm
The CMU December concert, recorded on Friday December 5th, 2025 at Carnegie Music Hall. Daniel Nesta Curtis conducts Respighi’s Fountains and Pines of Rome and Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride. Thomas Douglas conducts the Carnegie Mellon Chorus in Ki Mitzion arranged by Robert Page and a Welsh Lullaby. The Chorus and Philharmonic join forces for Bach’s Magnificat.
River City Brass Live (repeat)
Thursday December 25th, 3-5 p.m.
A rebroadcast of the 2025 River City Brass Christmas Brasstacular from Bethel Park High School.
Pittsburgh Symphony Radio
Thursday December 25th, 5-7 p.m.
Immerse yourself in the majestic sounds of this iconic oratorio. From the powerful “Hallelujah” to the uplifting arias, Handel’s Messiah is a musical journey that transcends time. (repeat)
Home for the Holidays 1
Thursday December 25th, 7-8pm
A holiday special featuring the Eaken Trio.
Cranberry Men’s Chorus Holiday Concert 2025
Thursday December 25th, 8-9pm
The 2025 Holiday concert by the Cranberry Men’s Chorus recorded at First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh on December 11th, 2025.
All Is Bright
Thursday December 25th, 10-11pm
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.
Performance in Pittsburgh
Friday December 26th, 7-9 p.m.
A re-broadcast of the 2025 Holiday concert by the Cranberry Men’s Chorus recorded at First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh on December 11th, 2025. Followed by a re-broadcast of highlights from the 2024 Butler County Symphony Orchestra’s “Holiday Traditions” concert.