
Our winter mascots, Woofgang and Poochini, are back to wish you a happy and healthy holiday season! All Classical Portland is proud to be the soundtrack for the season, and all year round. Join us for heartwarming, calming, festive music and more throughout the winter.
Warm up on the radio with holiday favorites and new treasured classics. Listen at 89.9 FM in Portland or world wide via the live player on our website.
2022 Holiday Programming
Classical Countdown
December 31, 2022 | Beginning 7:00 AM PT
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All Classical Portland will close out the year in style with its annual Classical Countdown, beginning at 7:00 AM PT on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, December 31st, right up to midnight! Listeners voted for their favorite classical pieces, doing their part to craft a celebratory soundtrack for New Year’s Eve. The top 100 pieces will be revealed throughout the day on the 31st, leading up to the #1 piece before midnight.
Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Concert
January 1, 2023 | 8:00 AM PT
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Connecting communities through music locally and globally, All Classical Portland will kick off 2023 with a live morning broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Concert. The acclaimed orchestra will share lively and nostalgic music to usher in the New Year, under the baton of Maestro Franz Welser-Möst in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna.
The program consists of the lively and at the same time nostalgic music from the vast repertoire of the family of Johann Strauß and their contemporaries. Learn more at wienerphilharmoniker.at.

ICAN
The Cinnamon Bear
on the International Children’s Arts Network (ICAN)
November 25, 2022 – January 6, 2023
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First aired in Portland in November 1937, the six-week-long series tells the tale of Paddy O’Cinnamon (the Cinnamon Bear), as he prepares and counts down to Christmas. Narrated by Bud Hiestand, with songs composed by Don Honrath and conducted by Felix Mills, lyrics by Glanville Heisch, and vocals by the Paul Taylor Quartet.
Listen at ICANradio.org.
PAST PROGRAMS
Holiday Happy Hour
Hosted by Warren Black & Christa Wessel
Listen on demand until Friday, December 30, 2022.
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Returning after its phenomenal debut summer season, Happy Hour returns with a special edition for the holiday season, co-hosted by Warren Black and Christa Wessel.



First Day of Winter
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
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- Each of our hosts will welcome in the season of winter on the Winter Solstice, with music evoking the shortest day of the year, and the promise of the return of the light.
- Our sister station the International Children’s Arts Network will air a 2 hour Winter Solstice Special from 1:00 – 3:00 PM PT. Your hosts Sarah Zwinklis, Steven Joinson, and Youth Roving Reporter Elaina Stuppler, will share music that illustrates the perfect Winter day, and also give a shout-out to our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, celebrating the Summer Solstice.

Handel’s Messiah
Wednesday, December 21, 2022 | 8:00 PM PT
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- Portland Baroque Orchestra and the Cappella Romana chorus present the only period instrument performance of George Frideric Handel’s beloved oratorio in the region. Enjoy a performance from the 2016 season, with Gary Thor Wedow conducting.
- With celebrated vocal soloists Nathalie Paulin, soprano; Abigail Levis, mezzo-soprano; Aaron Sheehan, tenor; and Dashon Burton, bass-baritone.
- Following the PBO Messiah, enjoy a curated collection of some of the region’s best soloists and ensembles perform favorite seasonal music, leading up to the official start of the Festival of Carols at midnight PT.
- Learn more in our program notes.


Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College, Cambridge
December 24, 2022 | 7:00 AM PT
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Join us on the radio for Nine Lessons and Carols, broadcasting LIVE from King’s College, Cambridge in England. This program was first introduced to King’s College on Christmas Eve 1918 to offer solace to people who were distressed, exhausted, and bereaved at the end of the First World War. Though not invented at King’s College, it was introduced by then Dean, Eric Milner-White, who wrote his own intro to set the scene for the reading of the lessons and singing of the carols.
This live broadcast of Nine Lessons and Carols is part of All Classical Portland’s beloved Festival of Carols.

All Classical Portland’s Festival of Carols
December 22 – 25, 2022
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- Four days of cherished seasonal music from cultures around the world, woven in a beautiful way with works of music’s great composers, curated with care by your All Classical Portland hosts.
- Listeners can expect programming unlike any that you will find anywhere else, including beloved Christmastime classics, excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker and Handel’s Messiah, alongside new releases, and all-time favorite carols.
- Festival of Carols also includes a live broadcast of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College, Cambridge, on December 24th at 7:00 AM PT.
- Learn more about some of the music you will hear in our blog post: The Stories of Twelve Carols: 2022 Edition, by Rebecca Richardson, All Classical Portland’s Music Researcher & Digital Producer.

All Classical Portland’s Festival of Carols is generously sponsored by Albina Holdings, IBEW Local 48, Oregon Cultural Trust, and Our Just Future (formerly known as Human Solutions).




Hanukkah
December 18 – 26, 2022
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All Classical Portland’s hosts will share musical favorites for Hanukkah, also known as “The Festival of Lights.” Keep your ears tuned for familiar traditional songs and dances, sprinkled here and there across the eight days.
- Enjoy traditional Hanukkah music including I Have a Little Dreydle, Maor Tzur (Rock of Ages), Chanukkah, Oy Chanukkah (Chassidic Melody for Hanukkah), and more.
- You will also hear works by classical Jewish composers including David Weintraub‘s 8 Bright Candles (Hanukkah melody), Hugo Adler‘s Hannerot Hallalu (Hanukkah song), Leo Low‘s Likhtelekh (Hanukkah song), and more.
- Learn more about two of the pieces you will hear in our blog post: The Stories of Twelve Carols: 2022 Edition, by Rebecca Richardson, All Classical Portland’s Music Researcher & Digital Producer.

ON DEMAND
Karaoke Carols
Sing along to some of your favorite holiday hits with family and friends and pianist David Saffert! Visit singalong.allclassical.org for lyrics and music, all season long.
