WKSU CELEBRATES THE HOLIDAYS WITH SPECIAL PROGRAMMING
NEW INSTALLMENT OF FOLK-FLAVORED "ORNAMENTS & ICING" INCLUDED
Monday November 27, 2006

For immediate release
Contact: Robert J. Burford
(330) 672-3114
burford@wksu.org

WKSU adds color to Northeast Ohio's winter holidays with seasonal programming beginning on Sunday, Dec. 10. The mix of offerings provides listeners the best in holiday-themed classical and folk music as well as spoken word presentations. Classical selections chosen specially to reflect the season will also be added to regular WKSU music programming after Thanksgiving, increasing as Christmas and New Year's near. Along with Christmas, seasonal shows will focus on Chanukah, Kwanzaa, the winter solstice and the dawn of 2007. The full schedule is viewable online at WKSU.org.

Across the generations, music has always played an important role in celebrating Christmas and other holidays clustered near the end of the calendar year. Music written specifically for the season is heard for merely a few weeks each year. WKSU searches out programs featuring the finest talents from North America and beyond to create a special treat for listeners. Folk music takes center stage with programs from Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Judy Collins, "World Café," "The Thistle & Shamrock," Peter Oshtrusko, the Helicon Trio, WKSU's own Jim Blum and others.

Blum and producer Joe Gunderman return with a new version of the folk-flavored "Ornaments & Icing: Songs and Stories of the Holidays" on Sunday, Dec. 17 and Saturday, Dec. 23 at 8 p.m. The fourth in the series, "Ornaments & Icing"-2006 includes previously unreleased songs – many of them recorded specifically for the show – from Raul Malo, Adrienne Young, Roger McGuinn, Boulder Acoustic Society, Chad & Jeremy, Peter Yarrow, the Waili' Jennys, Vienna Teng, Rio Neon and others. Peter Schickele (of P.D.Q. Bach fame) introduces a vintage recording by Joan Baez. Also included, the traditional reading by the guest artists of Clement Moore's "The Night Before Christmas." Information on all four "Ornaments & Icing" programs is available at www.OrnamentsAndIcing.com.

Seasonal classical music is equally represented in December's schedule with performances by the Paul Winter Consort, Apollo's Fire, Ensemble Galilei, and the Canton and Akron Symphony Orchestras. Listeners can also enjoy Christmas Baroque with WKSU classical music host David Roden, Handel's "Messiah" from St. Thomas, Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" from Carnegie Hall, the "Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" from King's College Chapel and more.

Other WKSU holiday programming highlights include an encore of Gunderman's "Holiday Stories from The Gundie Journal," "Chanukah: A Time for Superheroes," and the Kwanzaa-centered "A Season's Griot." Garrison Keillor and his crew present a Christmas "A Prairie Home Companion" on Dec. 23 and return on New Year's Eve with a live program from the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. A longtime holiday favorite, "A Christmas Carol" featuring the late Jonathan Winters, returns to WKSU on Christmas Eve at 7 p.m.

WKSU broadcasts NPR & Classical Music at 89.7 FM, and is a service of Kent State University. WKSU programming is also heard on WKRW 89.3 FM in Wooster, WKRJ 91.5 FM in Dover/New Philadelphia, WKSV 89.1 FM in Thompson, WNRK 90.7 in Norwalk, W298BA 107.5 FM in Boardman, and W239AZ 95.7 FM in Ashland. The WKSU web site is www.wksu.org.

PR06.23           ###      11/27/06

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