2022 Holiday Programming
All Classical Portland is proud to be the soundtrack for your holiday season! Join us for heartwarming, calming, and 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 worldwide via the live player on our website.
Programming Highlights & More
Friday, December 16, 2022 | 5:00 PM PT
- 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.
- Learn more.
Cinnamon Bear on ICAN
November 25, 2022 – January 6, 2023
Daily at 12:00 PM and 6:00 PM PT
- 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.
Hanukkah
Begins Sunday, December 18, 2022, at sundown
- 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.
First Day of Winter
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
- 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
- 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.
All Classical Portland’s Festival of Carols
December 22 – 25, 2022
- 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 A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College, Cambridge, on December 24th at 7:00 AM PT.
- 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).
Classical Countdown
Saturday, December 31, 2022 | Beginning 7:00 AM PT
- Vote now for your favorite classical pieces, and help us craft a celebratory soundtrack for New Year’s Eve! Cast your votes by 11:59 PM PT on December 16, 2022.
- 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 can vote 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
Sunday, January 1, 2023 | 8:00 AM PT
- 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 on January 1, 2023. Under the baton of Maestro Franz Welser-Möst in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, the acclaimed orchestra will share lively and nostalgic music to usher in the New Year.
- Learn more at wienerphilharmoniker.at.
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.
Tune in at 89.9 FM in Portland or from anywhere in the world or through the live player on our website.
