The Jewish High Holidays, beginning with Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and extending through Yom Kippur, is a time of celebration, reflection, and renewal. This year those qualities are deepened through the release of Eternal Echoes - Songs and Dances for the Soul on Sony Classical.

Three living legends came together to create Eternal Echoes: the renowned classical violinist Itzhak Perlman; Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, who keeps the ancient cantorial tradition alive from his pulpit at Manhattan's Park East Synagogue; and Hankus Netsky, a pioneer in the revival of klezmer music. Their musical common ground finds its roots in the Ashkenazi tradition, the Jewish culture of Central and Eastern Europe.

Like Yiddish, the language common amongst the Jewish populations of Eastern Europe, the musical language of the Ashkenazi is a fusion of modern European and ancient Middle Eastern styles. It expresses the full range of human emotions, from exuberant joy to deep introspection to heart-wrenching sorrow.

Those emotions come through in the music the same way they exist in life itself, occupying the same space almost simultaneously: the harmonies switch constantly from minor to major, the rhythms from straightforward to syncopated, and a tune that starts out slow and sad is likely to end fast and happy.
As Hankus Netsky, the founder of the Klezmer Conservatory Band and the Contemporary Improvisation Chair at the New England Conservatory explains, "I liken it to the blues. When Jews prayed, they cried. We have a word, krehts, meaning to groan - like the blues have a moan or a wail. The Jews have a sobbing kind of feeling, even when they're happy. That's why this music is universal."

You’ll hear that on Eternal Echoes, which brings in yet another dimension: a tune that starts out with a solemn prayer frequently ends in a joyous dance. While many traditional cantorial melodies and klezmer dance tunes have common folk sources, the connection between them has never before been made this explicit.

Netsky, the album's musical director, freely admits that bringing together different strains of Jewish music is an "agenda" of his and is in line with his idea that klezmer is not just a re-creation of music from the past, but a "living tradition."

Join me for conversations with Itzhak Perlman and Hankus Netsky, along with excerpts from Eternal Echoes, all this week on Classical New England. See the schedule and listen on-demand above, and to purchase Eternal Echoes, visit ArkivMusic.
 

One of China's most prominent musicians and the New York Philharmonic celebrate the Year of the Dragon. Join Classical New England this evening at 8pm.

Pianist Lang Lang has come to represent the surging growth of classical music in China. A hero to millions of his countrymen, he performed last night at Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic and conductor Long Yu, artistic director and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, music director of the Shanghai and Guanzhou Symphony Orchestras, and artistic director of the Beijing Music Festival. They were joined by New York Philharmonic Principal Oboist Liang Wang, bamboo flute soloist Junqiao Tang, and the Quintessenso Mongolian Children's Choir.

On the program:

Li Huanzhi: Spring Festival Overture
Bao Yuankai: China Air Suite
Traditional, orch. Zou Ye: Mongolian Folk Song Suite
Chen Qigang: Extase for oboe and orchestra
Zhou Chenglong: Raise the Red Lantern
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major

Meet New York Philharmonic Principal Oboist Liang Wang:
 

Martin Pearlman, founder and director of Boston Baroque, conducts a concert that features music by Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, and Corelli, with stellar soloists to bring the music to life.

To hear the program, click on "Listen" above.




On the program:

Arcangelo Corelli - Concerto Grosso in C Major, op.6, no.10

J.S. Bach - Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043
Christina Day Martinson and Julie Leven, violins

G.F. Handel - Concerto for Harp in B-flat, Op. 4, No. 6
Barbara Poeschl-Edrich, harp

Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto in A minor for sopranino recorder, RV 445
Aldo Abreu, recorder

Antonio Vivaldi - Motet: Nulla in mundo pax sincera
Mary Wilson, soprano

Program Notes:

In the opera Giulio Cesare and in the oratorio Saul, Handel calls for a harp to lend its color to special dramatic moments. But it is in the "pure music" of his concerto that the harp shines as a virtuosic solo instrument. The pedal mechanism on the modern harp allows the player to raise and lower notes to create sharps and flats. In Handel's time, there was no such mechanism, yet the music of the day required chromatic notes and changes of key. To accomplish this, the triple harp—similar to what became known as the Welsh harp—used three rows of strings. The outer two rows, one played by the right hand, the other by the left, generally had the natural notes, equivalent to the white keys on the piano. Running down the middle was a third row of strings containing the chromatic notes, equivalent to the black keys on the piano. The sharps or flats could thus be played by either hand reaching to the inside.

Barbara Poeschl-Edrich, who now teaches harp at Boston University, studied the Baroque harp while a student in the Historical Performance Department at BU, the program in which Boston Baroque is in residence. She has performed on Baroque harp with Boston Baroque, the Boston Camerata, Handel and Haydn Society, and other ensembles. As a modern harpist, she has played with the Boston Symphony and was a soloist in an orchestral work written by Martin Pearlman.
Soloists

Mary Wilson has become a favorite of Boston Baroque audiences, having performed with us in operas and in concert, including a stunning appearance in Boston Baroque's concert at the Casals Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Of her appearance this past March in our concert of "Jewels and Discoveries," the Hub Review wrote, "Ms. Wilson's voice is just about perfect for Handel—her tone is ripe with sun, and her phrasings so flexible they seem to almost ripple…"

BOSTON —  ‘Tis the season for holiday gift guides. This is not one of those — not exactly. WGBH News’ Bob Seay spoke to David Freudberg, the host of public radio's “Humankind,” to get some ideas for taking the "stuff" out of giving.

In an era of economic and environmental stress, some people are interested in finding alternatives to the big pile of gifts that can, he said, “recklessly turn the holidays into a buying spree.”

Public radio host David Freudberg examines ways to un-commercialize the holidays. (Gary Mott/WGBH)

But what’s Christmas without any presents? (With apologies to Jo March.)
 
Freudberg acknowledged, “It truly is one of the most enchanting things to watch a child rip open the packaging and take delight in something that they might forget about 5 minutes later.”

Still, there are other possibilities.
 
“Another approach to the holidays is simply to give the gift of time. We are all desperately time-starved in this culture,” Freudberg said.
 
He suggested, for instance, cooking dinner for a loved one every Thursday for a month. “Believe me, that's a truly treasured gift to show people that we care, and it doesn’t cost anything to your budget, or to the planet.”
 
“Humankind” covers the subject on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 6:00 p.m. on Boston Public Radio.

What are your ideas for un-commercialized holiday gifts? Tweet them @wgbhnews or post in the comments.

Books

Jared Bowen, Arts & Culture contributor on 89.7 WGBH; reporter, Greater Boston

Life
Keith Richards
Little, Brown and Co., May 2011
“I’ve been dying to sink my teeth into the drug-addled, rollicking and surreal world of Rolling Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards, courtesy of his recently released memoir. I’ll never strut the stadium stage so Richards can help me fantasize. Without the heroin.”
 


Callie Crossley, The Callie Crossley Show, 89.7 WGBH
“Every year I promise I’ll head to Cape Ann or Maine, but then I find myself once again on my two-step jaunt via Peter Pan bus and Woods Hole Ferry to Martha’s Vineyard. In my beach bag, I’ll have the latest In Death mystery from J.D. Robb, and a new novel from Lorene Cary, If Sons, Then Heirs, a fictionalized story about the great migration North so well told in the nonfoction The Warmth of Other Suns by Boston University professor Isabel Wilkerson. And any day I’m ‘on island,’ you can find me admiring the sunset on a pal’s porch and sipping my favorite summer adult beverage: Vinho Verde, the green Portuguese wine with a touch of fizz. Cheers!”
 
Treachery in Death
J.D. Robb
(Putnam, Feb 2011)
 
If Sons, Then Heirs: A Novel
Lorene Cary
(Atria, Apr 2011)
 
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration
Isabel Wilkerson
(Random House, Sep 2010)
 
Cathy Fuller, 99.5 All Classical
Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer
Wesley Stace
(Picador, Feb 2011)
“It’s not every summer that you can find a thriller with as much stylish and sophisticated musical intrigue as Wesley Stace’s Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer. A composer murders his wife, her lover and himself on the eve of his new opera’s premiere. The opera’s plot is an echo of the triple murder and never gets staged. Highly praised by The New Yorker’s Alex Ross!”
 


Cristina Quinn, Weekend Edition, 89.7 WGBH
First Family: Abigail and John Adams
Joseph J. Ellis
(Knopf, Oct 2010)
“This is a great read that gives us a comprehensive look at the lives of John and Abigail Adams during monumental times in history through the intimate letters they wrote to each other. They were a fascinating couple with a bottomless well of embarrassingly adorable pet names for one another. It’s also really neat reading about local landmarks and events in firsthand detailed accounts. First Family has been my bedside table book for a couple months now, but I’m looking forward to finishing it up at the beach!”
 

Emily Rooney, The Emily Rooney Show, 89.7 WGBH

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Eric Larson
(Vintage Books, Feb 2004)
“Last summer I got off my usual track and wound up reading the Stieg Larsson Dragon Tattoo series, but this summer I’m back with my usual nonfiction indulgence and am about to dig into Eric Larson’s The Devil in the White City.”


 
Andrea Smarden, Reporter, 89.7 WGBH

The Imperfectionists: A Novel
Tom Rachman
(The Dial Press, Jan 2011)
“This story of people who work at a fictional English-language newspaper in Rome weaves together the perspectives of characters at the paper—from its heyday of clacking typewriter keys through the Internet age. Rachman’s book is a great contemplative read for summer. It’s moving, funny, and—as a journalist—it rings uncomfortably true.”
 

Mindy Todd, The Point, WCAI

Caleb’s Crossing
Geraldine Brooks
(Viking, May 2011)
“Geraldine Brooks is one of my favorite authors, so I always look forward to her books. This one is based on the true story of the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College in 1665. Little is known about him, but Brooks weaves a tale that not only honors this Wampanoag from Martha’s Vineyard, but also gives insight into what an amazing accomplishment this was.”

 

Festivals

Laura Carlo, 99.5 All Classical 
Newport Music Festival
Thursday, July 7 – Sunday, July 24
Newport, RI
“Less than a tank of gas away is the Newport Music Festival. Make a full day of it by flying kites at Adams State Park, having lunch overlooking the ocean, and then heading over to hear amazing performers from around the world at one of those exquisite ‘summer cottages’ built by the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers. This year, be sure to catch the 13-concert miniseries in honor of Liszt in his 200th anniversary year.”



Brian O’Donovan, A Celtic Sojourn, 89.7 WGBH
Lowell Folk Festival
Friday, July 29 – Sunday July 31
Boarding House Park, Lowell, MA
“Now in its 25th year, this free festival celebrates all the diversity of traditional music, from Irish to Ethiopian to Louisiana Zydeco to Québécois. Not to be missed. Three bands alone are worth the trip: Dervish, a supergroup from Ireland, La Vent du Nord from Canada and Shemekia Copeland. Wow! If you can’t make it to Lowell, listen to WGBH on Saturday afternoon at 3pm for a live broadcast, which I will host.”

 
The Boston Irish Festival
Friday, June 17 – Sunday, June 19
Canton, Mass
“The Boston Irish Festival, produced by the Irish Cultural Centre of New England, offers a great weekend of Irish sports, music, dancing, ?lm, art, food, song and history.’
 
The Blackstone River Theatre Summer Solstice Festival
Saturday, June 18
Cumberland, RI
“The Blackstone River Theatre Summer Solstice Festival presents a day of great artists like Annalivia, Robbie O’Connell, and The Gnomes.”
 
Bob Seay, Morning Edition, 89.7 WGBH 
Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals
Newport, RI
“For me, summer means a chance to enjoy the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals, the granddaddies of all summer music festivals. Newport is legendary for good reason. Founder George Wein, now 86 and still running the show, always is able to get the very best in talent—many of whom feel it’s an honor to be invited. Hear great music in an unforgettable setting at Fort Adams State Park overlooking beautiful Newport Harbor. Well into their sixth decade, both festivals are well run and world renowned.”
 

Events/Venues

Jared Bowen, Arts & Culture contributor on 89.7 WGBH; reporter, Greater Boston 
Porgy and Bess
Wedneday, August 17 – Monday, October 3
Loeb Drama Center, American Repertory Theater
Cambridge, Mass
“Diane Paulus and the A.R.T. have scored a major coup in landing the rights from the Gershwin estate to stage the iconic piece Porgy and Bess.It’s a little known fact that Porgy and Bess premiered here in Boston at the Colonial Theatre. With the ever-inventive Paulus directing and Broadway icon Audra McDonald starring, Porgy and Bessshould be the summer’s sublime show.”
 
Laura Carlo, 99.5 All Classical 
Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular
Monday, July 4
Boston Esplanade
“A Boston native, I remember heading out to the Esplanade with my friends when Arthur Fiedler conducted that amazing concert in 1976, the bicentennial year. We were just kids but we knew that an amazing Boston tradition was being launched and we were thrilled that we got to be part of it. I love broadcasting from the scene even though my voice has to compete with flyovers, Howitzers and fireworks!”
 
The Boston Landmarks Orchestra Summer Concert Series
Wednesdays at 7pm, July 13 – August 31
“99.5 All Classical is so pleased again to be the media partner of this free summer concert series. Pack some munchies and a blanket, and gather with your family at the Hatch Shell to hear gorgeous music under the stars. Landmarks welcomes new conductor Christopher Wilkins.” 
 
Brian McCreath, 99.5 All Classical 

Calmus Ensemble at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival
Friday, July 15
Rockport, Mass
“On July 15, two of my favorite places come together when the Calmus Ensemble brings the amazing choral tradition of Leipzig, Germany, to the Rockport Chamber Music Festival’s gorgeous Shalin Liu Performance Center. A spectacular seaside setting, stellar acoustics and a cappellafrom Brahms to Sting: A definite winner.”
 


Emily Rooney, The Emily Rooney Show, 89.7 WGBH 
Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Saratoga Springs, New York
“As for summer concerts, I like to take in an event or two at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center as I have a summer place at nearby Lake George. They have several events I’m looking forward to in July, including performances by the New York City Ballet, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Opera Saratoga throughout the month.”
 
Tennis Hall of Fame
Newport, RI
“Tennis is my real passion, and I’ll take a day off from playing Saturday, July 9, to attend the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport for the annual inductees ceremony.”
 
Mindy Todd, The Point, WCAI
Cape Cod Melody Tent
Hyannis, MA
“This intimate venue doesn’t have a bad seat in the house (tent): every seat is within 50 feet of the stage! Concerts this summer range from The Wiggles to Chris Botti to Tony Bennett.”

They say everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day. This may or may not be true, but whats certain is that Massachusetts -- and Boston in particular -- gets especially decked out for St. Patrick's Day weekend. Enter our St. Patrick's Day weekend guide o' fun, which will help you and your family decide how to spend this lucky weekend.

Friday, March 18

Irish band Téada. (WGBH: A Celtic Sojourn)

WGBH's St. Patrick's Day Celtic Sojourn
Friday at 8 p.m. in Cambridge; Saturday, Mar. 19 at 8 p.m. in New Bedford

Mark the "high holidays" of Irish music with WGBH's own Brian O'Donovan, a variety of musicians, dancers, and surprise guests. Featuring the young Irish band Téada, singer and accordion player Séamus Begley from the Dingle Peninsula and the Tiperarry-born uillean piper Michael Cooney -- playing the Irish form of the bag pipes.

Celtic Music Weekend in Norwell
9 p.m. Friday

The Norwell pub and music venue The Tinker's Son is carrying today's celebration over to the rest of the weekend with even more of Celtic-rock acts, headlined on Friday by Dublin Free Press.

Sunday, March 20

Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade,
Sunday, Mar. 20 at 1 p.m.   

The annual tradition brings bag-pipers, step-dancers and Bostonites of all stripes to the streets of Southie. It's one of the country's largest events of its type, with some estimates of up to 1,000,000 viewers in past years.

South Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade, 2009. (RacelVoorhees/Flickr)

South Boston Road Race
Starts at 11 a.m.

Whether to work off some corned beef- or Guinness-related calories or just to contribute to the local Boys and Girls Club, you can spend the couple of hours preceding Sunday's parade running the length of Southie and back.

Holyoke Parade
Starts at 12 p.m.

This 60th annual parade is likewise one of the largest in the country, with elaborate floats and all sorts of other spectacles. The town also holds a ten-kilometer road race on Saturday, which is followed by a ceremony to lay a wreath at a memorial to John F. Kennedy and a mass in the evening. The parade will feature the presentation of an award to Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and notable Irish-American David McCullough.

Over the Weekend and Next Week

Other Parades around Massachusetts
Other notable parades are happening around the Boston area and across the state, as well as in Manchester. Some took place in the weeks leading up to the holiday, but there are still parades to come in Abington, Scituate (both this Sunday) and elsewhere.

A float at the 2009 parade in Scituate, said to be the most heavily Irish community in the state. (Chris Devers/Flickr)

Irish Film Festival
Thursday, Mar. 24 to Sunday, Mar. 27

Decelerate from all of this weekend's festivity with this 12th annual sampling of new and notable Irish films and documentaries, showing at Boston's Stuart Street Playhouse and the Somerville Theater in Davis Square.

Year-Round

Irish Heritage Trail
After St. Patrick's Day has stimulated your interest, expand on your appreciation for the state's largest ethnic community by exploring these landmarks and neighborhoods. The trail designates sites significant to Irish-American culture and history around the city and throughout Massachusetts.

Saturday, Dec. 11 at 7pm
Holiday Pops Live!

Keith Lockhart, the Boston Pops, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus take the stage for one of Boston's most cherished traditions. Tune in for favorite carols, a few suprises, and a visit from a certain fellow in a red suit, live from Symphony Hall in Boston! WGBH members, for discounted tickets to the Dec. 22 shows, visit The Boston Pops!


Sunday, Dec. 12 at 2pm
Act II of The Nutcracker

The Boston Symphony Orchestra and conductor Seiji Ozawa perform Tchaikovsky's magical ballet score, with the Spanish Dance, Dance of the Mirlitons, Trepak, and the Waltz of the Flowers.

Saturday, Dec. 18 at 7pm
Best of Holiday Pops

Ron Della Chiesa hosts an evening of the best of the Boston Pops holiday recordings, beginning with Arthur Fiedler in 1937, the "Skater's Waltz" by Waldteufel, through the tenure of John Williams all the way to the latest download conducted by Keith Lockhart, the "12 Days of Christmas" by David Chase.  (Repeats Saturday, Dec. 25 at 7pm.)

Sunday, Dec. 19 at 2pm
Messiah

Join Ron Della Chiesa for one of Boston's most cherished holiday traditions as Music Director Harry Christophers leads the Handel & Haydn Society Orchestra and Chorus in Handel's Messiah, recorded in concert on Dec. 5 at Symphony Hall in Boston with soprano Sophie Bevan, alto Catherine Wyn-Rogers, tenor Allan Clayton, bass Sumner Thompson.  (Repeats Friday, Dec. 24 at 8pm.)


Sunday, Dec. 19 at 8pm
Bach's Magnificat

The Bach Hour features one of J.S. Bach's most glorious creations, the Magnificat, in a performance by conductor Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale that includes the rarely heard "Christmas interpolations."

Monday-Friday, Dec. 20-24, 5am-9am
Classical Christmas Carols

Did you know that some popular Christmas carols were composed by "classical" composers?  Felix Mendelssohn, Samuel Wesley, George Frederic Handel, Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams all contributed to our Christmas bounty.  Laura Carlos shares these and more with you through the season.

Friday, Dec. 24 at 10am
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Continuing a broadcast tradition begun in 1928, the 30-voice King's College Choir performs the legendary Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service of Biblical readings and music, live from the chapel at King's College, Cambridge, with host Michael Barone.

Friday, Dec. 24 at 3pm, Saturday, Dec. 25 at 10am, & Sunday, Dec. 26 at 10am
J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Parts I, II, & III

Just as Handel's Messiah has become a holiday tradition in this country, Bach's Christmas Oratorio is a touchstone of the season in Europe.  Made up of six separate parts for specific days during the Christmas season, Parts I, II, & III tell the Christmas story from a festive announcement of the birth of Christ through the angel's appearance before shepherds in the field, and on to the adoration of Christ by the shepherds.

Sunday, Dec. 24 at 8pm
Messiah

Join Ron Della Chiesa for one of Boston's most cherished holiday traditions as Music Director Harry Christophers leads the Handel & Haydn Society Orchestra and Chorus in Handel's Messiah, recorded in concert on Dec. 5 at Symphony Hall in Boston with soprano Sophie Bevan, alto Catherine Wyn-Rogers, tenor Allan Clayton, bass Sumner Thompson.

Saturday, Dec. 25 at noon
A Leroy Anderson Christmas

Hosted by conductor Leonard Slatkin and the composer's son Kurt Anderson, enjoy performances of Leroy Anderson’s Christmas music with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin, and Leroy Anderson conducting his “Pops” Concert Orchestra.  Also, Leroy Anderson talks about how he wrote some of his famous Christmas music and what Christmas means to him.

Saturday, Dec. 25 at 1pm
A Chanticleer Christmas

A celebration of the season as told through the glorious voices of Chanticleer, the 12-voice San Francisco-based men's choir, the program spans the globe and the centuries — from England in the 1300s to new arrangements of classic contemporary carols. And no Chanticleer program would be complete without Joseph Jenning's patented Christmas spirituals arrangements. Recorded in the gorgeous acoustic of Memorial Church, on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, California.

Saturday, Dec. 25 at 2pm
Music of the Baroque

Brass instruments have long been associated with ceremony and celebration. Ubiquitous in Renaissance court pageantry, their connection to royalty and wealth lent an air of respectability to any occasion.  Courts and churches capitalized upon the exalted status of brass instruments, flaunting their virtuoso players and composers in order to enhance their reputations.  Diverse in nationality, temporality and musical style, these stories told through music are nonetheless similar in their message. Many are related to the Christmas narrative, shedding light on different facets of the tale, while others offer a timely reminder that the wonder and awe the season inspires can last the entire year.

Jane Glover conducts Chicago's Music of the Baroque with music of the 16th and 17th centuries by composers such as Johann Vierdanck, Michael Praetorius, Thomas Tallis, Heinrich Schütz, Giovanni Gabrieli, Jacob Handl and John Francis Wade, among others.

Saturday, Dec. 25 at 4pm
An Elizabethan Christmas with the Rose Ensemble

Grand candlelit halls, lavish feasts, and stately dances: the regal elegance of the Elizabethan era.  The time and culture of Elizabeth I also contained tension and intrigue, dark and light.  And it’s all evident in the music of their Christmas celebrations.  The Rose Ensemble captures those contrasting shades in concert, as they reawaken the ancient with medieval carols, and motets and anthems by the beloved English Renaissance composers Robert Parsons, William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons, accompanied by lute and viola da gamba.  The Rose Ensemble is also joined by special guests Voces8, the vibrant young a capella group from London, for a glorious, soaring sound.

Saturday, Dec. 25 at 5pm
Carols for Dancing

In the Middle Ages, lauda, villancicos, noëls and carols— all popular forms of dance song—became part of innovative celebrations of Christmas and then flowered during the Renaissance.  At Christmastime, these cheerful songs accompanied joyful dancing at home and in the streets, in churches and cathedrals. Showcasing vigorous performances by Renaissonics, an award-winning improvisatory Renaissance dance band that produced new arrangements for this special, the program also tells the story of the mid-winter holiday dance tradition with brief, intriguing narratives by Ellen Kushner.

Saturday, Dec. 25 at 6pm
Noël - A Christmas from Paris

The celebrated Westminster Choir from Princeton takes listeners on a musical Christmas tour, from medieval Paris to the present day, with host Bill McGlaughlin.

Saturday, Dec. 25 at 7pm
Best of Holiday Pops
Ron Della Chiesa hosts an evening of the best of the Boston Pops holiday recordings, beginning with Arthur Fiedler in 1937, the "Skater's Waltz" by Waldteufel, through the tenure of John Williams all the way to the latest download conducted by Keith Lockhart, the "12 Days of Christmas" by David Chase.

Saturday, Jan. 1 at 11am & Sunday, Jan. 2 at 3pm
New Year's Day from Vienna
This annual celebration concert by the Vienna Philharmonic features the waltzes, marches, gallops  of the Strauss family and much more.  This year, following in the steps of fellow Austrians Clemens Krauss, Josef Krips, Willi Boskovsky, Herbert von Karajan and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the conductor is the Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra, Franz Welser-Möst.  Join host Cathy Fuller for a festive entry into 2011!