Press Releases

WCNY invites the community to celebrate the holidays with special TV and radio programming

by Rouhollah Goudarzi

December 20, 2017

WCNY, Central New York’s flagship public broadcaster, invites the community to celebrate the holidays with special programs on TV and radio.

For TV viewing information visit wcny.org/wheretowatch. To listen to Classic FM on WCNY Radio: 91.3 in Syracuse, 89.5 in Utica/Rome and 90.9 in Watertown.

For more shows and details, visit wcny.org/holidayshows.

Featured shows on TV

Dec. 22 at 9 p.m.
“Christmas at Belmont”

Dec. 23
9 p.m.
Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Featuring Rolando Villazon

10 p.m.
Crane Candlelight Concert: Laude

Dec. 24
Noon | Making a New American Nutcracker

1 p.m. | Christmas in Norway with the St. Olaf Choir

2 p.m. | Festival of Carols with Sylvia McNair

4 p.m. | Rick Steves Special – European Festivals

5:30 p.m. | Holidays at Hendricks 2017

7 p.m. | Great British Baking Show – Christmas Masterclass

11 p.m. | Night Before Christmas Carol

Dec. 25
1 p.m. | Holidays at Hendricks 2017

9 p.m. | Call the Midwife Holiday Special

Dec. 26 at 8 p.m.
Sultan and the Saint

Dec. 31
9 p.m. | Live From Lincoln Center – New Year’s Eve: Bernstein on Broadway

11 p.m. | Austin City Limits Hall of Fame New Year’s Eve

Jan. 1, 2018
1 p.m. | Live From Lincoln Center – New Year’s Eve: Bernstein on Broadway

2:30 p.m. | Great Performances – From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2018 (LIVE)

9 p.m. | Great Performances – From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2018

Featured on Radio

Dec. 23
11 a.m.
“Concierto with Frank Domínguez”

Frank will host his annual “Concierto Christmas” show, featuring music for the holiday season from Hispanic composers and performers. Feliz Navidad!

1 p.m.
“Metropolitan Opera with Mary Jo Heath and Ira Siff”

For your family’s holiday enjoyment, The Met presents Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” with Adam Plachetka, Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Christiane Karg, Serena Malfi, and Luca Pisaroni. Harry Bicket conducts. After the Met at about 4:35, Marie Lamb brings you our annual “Christmas with Great Opera Stars.”

6-8 p.m.
“Deck the Concert Hall!”

In this holiday version of “The Concert Hall”, Bruce Paulsen brings you a classic program from the archives of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. Grant Cooper, conductor; Syracuse Children’s Chorus (Barbara Marble Tagg, director). CUSTER: Holiday Medley; Bob CHILCOTT: Three Carols (world premiere); Randol Alan BASS: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (Patrick Mason, narrator) HUMPERDINCK: Excerpts from “Hänsel und Gretel” (Patrick Mason, baritone); RUTTER: Jesus Child/Donkey Carol/Star Carol; GRUBER: Stille Nacht (Silent Night)

Terry MIZESKO: Two movements from “A Chanukah Celebration”; David ELLIOTT: Christmas Lights (arr. Custer); ANDERSON: Sleigh Ride; VARIOUS: Christmas Carol Sing-Along (Recorded December, 1997)

Dec. 24
Midnight–7 a.m.
“Christmas Music with Peter Van de Graaff”

11 a.m.
“Classic Sinatra with Leo Rayhill”

Leo Rayhill and Diane Jones celebrate with Frank Sinatra, plus his family and friends, featuring songs for the season!

Noon
Ciao! with Joey Nigro and Jim Battaglia

Joey, Jim, and Super-Producer John share Italian and Italian-American music and traditions for the holiday season, along with other surprises for the holidays! Buon Natale a tutti!

1 p.m.
Feminine Fusion: Women in Classical Music with Diane Jones

“Holiday Program 2017” Music by women for the winter holiday season.

Dec. 25
6 a.m.
“Christmas Favorites with Diane Jones”

Spend Christmas morning with Diane as she plays two hours of beloved holiday classics!

8 a.m.
“Holidays at Hendricks”

Bruce Paulsen hosts Classic FM’s beloved annual holiday program from Hendricks Chapel at Syracuse University.

9:30 a.m.
“The Nutcracker”

Diane Jones is your host for Tchaikovsky’s complete Nutcracker ballet.

11 a.m.
“A Leroy Anderson Christmas”

Back by popular demand…the WFMT Radio Network invites you to celebrate the holidays with the music of Leroy Anderson! This program is hosted by conductor Leonard Slatkin and the composer’s son Kurt Anderson, and features recorded performances of Leroy Anderson’s Christmas music with Leonard Slatkin conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra, and Leroy Anderson conducting his “Pops” Concert Orchestra. Listeners will also hear Leroy Anderson talking about how he wrote some of his famous Christmas music, and what Christmas meant to him.

Noon

“The Film Score: Music for the Winter Holidays”

Michael Phillips, host of WFMT’s “The Film Score”, presents music of the holidays and wintertime from the silver screen. In addition to beloved standards (“White Christmas,” from “Holiday Inn”), Michael introduces film music, ranging from “It Happened in Sun Valley” (from “Sun Valley Serenade”) to Alexandre Desplat’s wintry, folk-inspired score for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” to Bernard Herrmann’s bracing sleigh ride accompaniment composed for the Orson Welles drama “The Magnificent Ambersons.”

Dec. 31
1 p.m.
“Feminine Fusion: Women in Classical Music with Diane Jones”

“On the Eve” Music by women to bring in the New Year

7 p.m.
“Pipedreams with Michael Barone”

An Organist’s Yearbook…our traditional summing-up of some of the year’s happenings in the world of the King of Instruments.

9 p.m.
“Bill Knowlton’s Bluegrass Ramble”

The New Year’s Eve Ramble takes a look at some of the bluegrass and oldtime country CDs released during 2017. Included are New York’s own Gibson Brothers, Doyle Lawson & Paul Williams, Flashback, and the Molly Rose Band.

Jan. 1, 2018
11 a.m.-1 p.m.
“New Year’s Day from Vienna 2017”

The Vienna Philharmonic presents its ever-popular annual New Year’s Day concert from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. Listen with people in over 90 countries to your favorite waltzes, polkas and more… a festive way to start off the New Year. Riccardo Muti will conduct.