WCQS is running special programming for the season from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. Be sure to check back often for updates.
From all of us at WCQS, have a happy and healthy holiday season.
Saturday – 12/28
3 pm: A SEASON'S GRIOT 2013
This one-hour celebration in story and song is public radio's only nationally syndicated Kwanzaa program. Hosted for nearly 20 years by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, this annual special captures the tales and traditions of African American and African peoples. This year’s program will celebrate Family with familiar and favorite elements of Griot, and plenty of music.
Sunday – 12/29
3 pm: L’ENFANCE DU CHRIST
Hector Berlioz’s sacred oratorio about the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt to avoid persecution. Charles Munch directs the Boston Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
6 pm: A SEASON'S GRIOT 2013
This one-hour celebration in story and song is public radio's only nationally syndicated Kwanzaa program. Hosted for nearly 20 years by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, this annual special captures the tales and traditions of African American and African peoples. This year’s program will celebrate Family with familiar and favorite elements of Griot, and plenty of music.
Ring in 2014 with WCQS!
Tuesday – 12/31
7 pm – THE PAUL WINTER SOLSTICE CONCERT
It’s an encore broadcast on New Year’s Eve of The Paul Winter Consort Solstice Concert! A holiday celebration on a spectacular scale -- Music, dance and renewal of spirit at the great turning point of the year.
One of NPR's most popular holiday specials returns with new talent and old friends. Malian singer Abdoulaye Diabate joins The Paul Winter Consort with Paul McCandless, the Drummers of The Fores of Nature, Gospel vocalist Theresa Thomason, and the historic reassembly of the Paul Winter Sextet in the World's Largest Gothic Cathedral -- New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine. WNYC'S John Schaefer hosts this NPR holiday broadcast favorite.
The Winter Solstice Celebration is a contemporary take on ancient solstice rituals, when people came together during the longest night of the year to celebrate the return of the sun, as the Earth begins its rotational cycle back towards summer. (Program runs two hours)
9 pm - TOAST OF THE NATION
An NPR tradition every New Year's Eve, Toast of the Nation is perfect for the occasion. It's jazz that you can party to, from coast to coast, with a countdown to midnight. Spirited, improvised, grooving and swinging, each segment is a stop in a sequence of celebrations and contributing something new to the musical feast. Our night includes performances from the Donald Harrison Quintet live at Berklee College of Music , The Wynton Marsalis Septet live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center and Paquito D'Rivera with Strings and More at Mayne Stage in Chicago. (Program runs until 1:15 a.m.)
Wednesday – 1/1
11 am: NEW YEAR’S DAY FROM VIENNA 2014
Get ready to pop the New Year's Day champagne! The Vienna Philharmonic presents its annual salute to the waltz on New Year's Day 2014. The orchestra has invited Daniel Barenboim to welcome 2014 by conducting the annual New Year's year's concert, honoring his 25 years of musical collaboration with the orchestra, and his efforts to bring peace to the world through music.
7 pm: CAPITOL STEPS NEW YEAR’S SPECIAL
Help roast 2013 to a crisp with the Capitol Steps and the annual year-in-review awards ceremony. It's the hour-long special, "Politics Takes a Holiday!" This year will feature all-new awards, such as: "Best Moment in Senator Ted Cruz's 21-hour Filibuster" "Most 'icky' Tweet from Carlos Danger" "Best Thigh-Reducing Exercises to do While Waiting for Healthcare.gov" and, of course "Best Reason to Spy On the American Public — Because You Can!" Go ahead, tweet it on Twitter (but please, please don't attach any photos!!!) It's been a great year for job creation...although of course many of the jobs created were for comedians!
Tuesday – 1/7
7 pm: BOSTON BAROQUE GALA FIRST DAY CONCERT 2014
Join us for a Boston New Year’s Tradition, now shared with the nation! Martin Pearlman leads Boston Baroque, now in its 40th Anniversary Season as America’s oldest “period-instrument” orchestra in a festive All-Bach New Year’s Day concert live from Sanders Theatre in Harvard Square.
