Good morning!
This weekend, I was on a video call with my family, who asked, "What time does the sun set today?"
"Probably 4:30," I said, and then checked my weather app, only to discover that the sun would actually set at 4:12pm. This is the part of winter I like the least — each day a little darker than the one that came before. It's no wonder, then, that so many of our winter holidays are celebrations of light. It's even less of a wonder that those celebrations, lit by flickering candles or brightly-colored bulbs, are also times of gathering and community, and most importantly for this newsletter, of song.
So many of my glowing holiday memories center around music: caroling parties, with friends and family crowded around a piano; outings to the Holiday Pops, or to A Christmas Celtic Sojourn; evenings curled up at home with a good book and a mug of something warm, a Nat King Cole CD playing in the other room. In these dark and cold midwinter days, music keeps us warm — or, at risk of sounding corny as all get-out, at least it warms our hearts.
With that in mind, it's high time to turn on some holiday tunes! You can find all of our holiday music programming here, including our three 24/7 holiday music streams: Heavenly Holiday Classics, Perfect Holiday Party Soundtrack, and Ultimate Holiday Classical Mix. A neat trick: you can play the holiday streams on your smart speaker, too! Here's how.
What else is happening at CRB? Read on!
EVENTS
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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Saturday at 8pm in an encore broadcast, Dima Slobodeniouk leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in music by Dutilleux and Debussy, as well as Ravel’s “Mother Goose,” and Leonidas Kavakos is the soloist in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.
WCRB IN CONCERT
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On demand on WCRB with the Boston Early Music Festival, sopranos Amanda Forsythe, Teresa Wakim and Danielle Reutter-Harrah, and bass-baritone Douglas Williams anchor the casts of rarely heard dramatic cantatas by a brilliant composer and colorful character of the 17th century, Alessandro Stradella.
THE BACH HOUR
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On The Bach Hour, Riccardo Chailly and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra channel the best of modern and historically informed performance ideas into the composer's Brandenburg Concerto No. 6.
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On The Bach Hour, bassist Edgar Meyer, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and mandolinist Chris Thile bring their distinctive musical voices to a Trio by Bach.
BLOG
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From a Swiftie's lament to a jazzy crossover, and even a dash of singalong social commentary — this month's Instant Replay hits all the right notes.
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From "tree canopy" to "forest bathing," 'tis the season for tree news, but classical has always gone out on a limb for trees!
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The BSO has announced that Chad Smith will be the organization's next President and CEO.
ONE LAST THING
The Note is always free, but this week, it's even freer — we're sharing it online so you can share it with your friends! If you've read this far, first of all, thank you; second of all, share this link on social media so your friends know they can subscribe here.
Have a great week! I'll talk to you soon.
Kendall Todd