Poster Musical trio
Revien trio
Photo: Jamie Derevere
Performance Today®

Revien

We share highlights from winter concerts and new holiday releases every year on PT. Join us today for a wide range of seasonal music, and hear the trio Revien play gorgeous versions of the Coventry Carol and Vince Guaraldi's Christmas Time is Here.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Richard Willis: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Leontyne Price, soprano | Vienna Philharmonic | Herbert von Karajan, conductor
Album: Leontyne Price: Christmas Songs
London/Decca 421103

Damien Escobar & Darren Jenkins: 25 Days of Christmas
Damien Escobar, violin | Darren Jenkins, keyboard | Evan Rainey, bass | Derick Mcelveen, drums | Kristine Kruta & Molly Fletcher, strings | Quennel Gaskin, organ | Gil Defay, horns
Album: 25 Days of Christmas
Phoenix Lane Entertainment

Mykola Leontovich: Carol of the Bells
Black Violin: Kevin Marcus Sylvester & Wilner Baptiste violins
Album: Give Thanks
Di-Versatile Music Group

Traditional, Vince Guaraldi, arr. Brian Smith: Coventry Carol, Christmas Time is Here
Revien
University of Georgia Performing Arts Center, Hugh Hodgson Hall, Athens, GA

Eric Whitacre: little tree
Elora Festival Singers | Noel Edison, conductor
Album: Eric Whitacre Choral Music
Naxos 559677

John Henry Hopkins Jr.: We Three Kings of Orient Are
Leontyne Price, soprano | Vienna Philharmonic | Herbert von Karajan, conductor
Album: Leontyne Price: Christmas Songs
London/Decca 421103

Piano Puzzler
Contestant: Colleen Stadnick from Katy, TX

Randall Thompson: Alleluia (Live)
The Morehouse College Glee Club | Dr. David Morrow, conductor
Album: IMC Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses Inc. 2012 National Seminar: The Morehouse College Glee Club (Live)
Soundwaves Recording

Via Olatunji: Betelehemu (Live)
The Morehouse College Glee Club | Dr. David Morrow, conductor
Album: IMC Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses Inc. 2012 National Seminar: The Morehouse College Glee Club (Live)
Soundwaves Recording

Traditional, arr. Kevin Marcus Sylvester & Wilner Baptiste: Noel
Black Violin: Kevin Marcus Sylvester & Wilner Baptiste violins
Album: Give Thanks
Di-Versatile Music Group

Felix Bernard, arr. Joey Sellers: Winter Wonderland
Doug Tornquist, tuba | The Hollywood Tuba 12 | Jim Self, conductor
Los Angeles Tuba Christmas, Hall of Liberty, Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, CA

Felix Mendelssohn: Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
Canadian Brass
Album: Christmas Time Is Here
Steinway & Sons 30027

Hour 2

Adhamhnán & Uinseann Mac Domhnaill: Cro na Nollag (The Christmas Stable)
Kiri O'Neill, soprano | Emily Doyle, soprano | The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin | Desmond Earley, conductor
Album: Be All Merry
Signum 643

Traditional English, arr. John Hoybye: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin | Desmond Earley, conductor
Album: Be All Merry
Signum 643

Gabriel Faure, arr. Christina Courtin: Requiem: Pie Jesu
Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor | The Knights | Eric Jacobsen, conductor
Album: THE KNIGHTS BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Bright Shiny Things 159

Gustav Holst, arr. Michael P. Atkinson: In the Bleak Midwinter
The Knights | Eric Jacobsen, conductor
Album: THE KNIGHTS BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Bright Shiny Things 159

Rebecca Dale: Winter
Voces8
Album: Winter
London/Decca 25736

Traditional, arr. Snorri Sigfús Birgisson: Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming / Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen
Ane Brun, vocals
Album: Winter Tales
DG 28948615049

Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio: Sinfonia
Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra | Michael Davis, conductor
Album: Festival of Carols
Naxos 579065

Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Joep Beving: Sinfonia (After Bach, BWV 248)
Joep Beving, electronics
Album: Winter Tales
DG 28948615049

Eoghan Desmond: Be All Merry
Katherine Hunka, violin | The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin | Irish Chamber Orchestra | Desmond Earley, conductor
Album: Be All Merry
Signum 643

Andrej Makor: O Magnum Mysterium
Eleanor Coleman, soprano | Maximilian O'Neill, tenor | The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin | Desmond Earley, conductor 
Album: Be All Merry
Signum 643

Howard Blake, arr. Ronn McFarlane: Walking in the Air
Ronn McFarlane, lute
Album: Imagine Christmas
Sono Luminus DSL-92216

Elaine Agnew: Curoo Curoo
The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin | Irish Chamber Orchestra | Desmond Earley, conductor
Album: Be All Merry
Signum 643

Linda Kachelmeier: We Toast the Days
Ciaran O'Donovan, tenor | Ivan O'Neill, baritone | The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin | Desmond Earley, conductor
Album: Be All Merry
Signum 643

Love the music?

Donate by phone
1-800-562-8440

Show your support by making a gift to YourClassical.

Each day, we’re here for you with thoughtful streams that set the tone for your day – not to mention the stories and programs that inspire you to new discovery and help you explore the music you love.

YourClassical is available for free, because we are listener-supported public media. Take a moment to make your gift today.

More Ways to Give

Your Donation

$5/month
$10/month
$15/month
$20/month
$

Latest Performance Today® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Performance Today® Episodes

Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos

Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos blended European classical traditions with Brazilian folk music in his celebrated collection, Bachianas Brasileiras. We'll hear the famous Aria from No. 5, which pairs a soaring, lamenting melody with rich accompaniment. Flutist Alice K. Dade and guitarist Colin McAllister perform the piece live at Packard Performance Hall as part of the Colorado College Summer Music Festival.

1:59:00
PT Weekend: Hindemith's Metamorphosis

PT Weekend: Hindemith's Metamorphosis

In 1940, Paul Hindemith composed a piece of music based on themes Carl Maria von Weber wrote more than a century earlier. He kept Weber's basic ideas intact but added some inventive 20th-century twists. Hear that piece on today's show: Paul Hindemith's ‘Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber,’ from a concert in Taipei, Taiwan.

1:59:00
Andrea Casarrubios and the Atlanta Chamber Players

Andrea Casarrubios and the Atlanta Chamber Players

To celebrate their milestone 50th-anniversary season, the Atlanta Chamber Players commissioned a new sextet from composer Andrea Casarrubios, who designed the work as a reflection on what it means to dedicate decades to an artistic life. In today's episode, we'll hear members of the Atlanta Chamber Players give the world premiere of Casarrubios's Sextet (for clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello, and piano) at a recent concert in Atlanta.

1:59:00
Reena Esmail: The Light is the Same

Reena Esmail: The Light is the Same

Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music. In 2017, Esmail drew inspiration from the words of Rumi, a 13th-century Sufi poet: "Religions are many, but God is one. The lamps may be different, but the light is the same." On today's episode, we'll take you to a concert at the University of Georgia to hear the Imani Winds play Reena Esmail's 'The Light is the Same.'

1:59:00
Arnold Schoenberg: Transfigured Night

Arnold Schoenberg: Transfigured Night

Like any good story, music can express many emotions: moments of tenderness, passion, fear, and frustration. All those emotions shared without a single word...that's the power of music. Today we'll hear Arnold Schoenberg's Transfigured Night from a concert presented by the Kingston Chamber Music Festival in Philadelphia.

1:59:00
Nielsen's squabbling Clarinet Concerto

Nielsen's squabbling Clarinet Concerto

Danish composer Carl Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto features one of classical music's most famous instrumental rivalries. While the concerto is a dazzling showcase for the woodwinds, a snarky, belligerent snare drum repeatedly intrudes into the music, needling and interrupting the soloist like a sibling looking for a fight. On today's show, Paavo Järvi conducts the North German Radio Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, with clarinetist Martin Fröst, in a performance of Carl Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto.

1:59:00
Hindemith's Metamorphosis

Hindemith's Metamorphosis

In 1940, Paul Hindemith composed a piece of music based on themes Carl Maria von Weber wrote more than a century earlier. He kept Weber's basic ideas intact but added some inventive 20th-century twists. Hear that piece on today's show: Paul Hindemith's ‘Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber,’ from a concert in Taipei, Taiwan.

1:59:00
PT Weekend: Barber's 'Adagio' Quartet

PT Weekend: Barber's 'Adagio' Quartet

We often hear Samuel Barber's Adagio as a standalone piece for string orchestra, but it began as the slow movement of a string quartet. Alone, the Adagio feels simple, profound, and somehow more poignant in the context of the full quartet. Hear the Viano String Quartet perform Barber's Adagio at a concert presented by Music@Menlo in Menlo Park, California.

1:59:00
Gabriela Montero's Latin Concerto

Gabriela Montero's Latin Concerto

In 2016, pianist and composer Gabriela Montero wrote a concerto that reflects how people perceive Latin America. She says it's not overtly political, but it does express the light and dark sides of the subject. Today, we'll hear Gabriela Montero perform her “Latin Concerto” at a recent concert in Gstaad, Switzerland.

1:59:00
PT Young Artist: Sean Terada Yang

PT Young Artist: Sean Terada Yang

We're excited to introduce our first 2026 PT Young Artist in Residence: Pianist Sean Terada Yang. In today's episode, Sean joins Valerie Kahler for music and conversation at our studio in Saint Paul.

1:59:00
VIEW ALL EPISODES

About Performance Today®

To find a station near you on our Stations Listings page, click here.

American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Hosted by Valerie Kahler, Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country.

How do I leave a comment?

Send us a comment here.

About Performance Today®
YourClassical Radio
00:00
Infinity:NaN