Houston Public Media Produces Nationally-Distributed Holiday Special

A highlight of Houston Public Media's holiday programming for more than 20 years, The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice is a two-hour radio program that features narration and seasonal music of several cultures and eras – all expressing themes associated with Winter Solstice festivals: peace, love, celebration, brotherhood, fellowship, and the idea that, even when things look their worst, the light will always return to triumph over the darkness. Our troubled times have intensified the urgency of those simple but profound messages.

"I’ve had the joy of working with an absolutely amazing and incredibly beautiful collection of recorded performances. I have by turns tapped my foot, hummed along, chuckled, felt my spirits soaring, and wiped a tear from my eye," said Producer Bob Stevenson.

For the 2017 Christmas Revels broadcast, Stevenson has drawn on musical and spoken-word performances excerpted from live Christmas Revels stage productions from seven cities, including Houston. The broadcast features singing, dancing, storytelling, poetry, and more performed by Revels companies in Hanover, New Hampshire; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; Houston, Texas; Santa Barbara, California; Portland, Oregon; and Tacoma, Washington.

From solemn carols, hymns, and lullabies to rollicking country dances, fiddle and bagpipe tunes, and drinking songs, the music represents the traditions of Medieval England; Renaissance Italy; French Canada; the Celtic lands of Galicia, Scotland, and Wales; the Scandinavian nations of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark; and the Acadian-Cajun people of eastern Canada and Louisiana.

Produced at Houston Public Media, the holiday special is hosted by Catherine Lu and engineered by Audio Producer and Technical Director Mark DiClaudio. The program is distributed nationally by PRI (Public Radio International). Last year's program aired on 99 public radio stations across the country from Alaska to Hawaii, Florida to Massachusetts.

Tune in for The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice 2017 on Houston Public Media's stations on the following dates and times:

News 88.7 (radio and streaming) – Sunday, December 24 at 10pm

HPM Classical (HD-2 and streaming) – Saturday, December 23 at 10pm; Sunday, December 24 at 2pm; and Monday, December 25 at 8pm

You can also listen via iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and Stitcher.