Beethoven Birthday Bash

We celebrate the birthday of the larger-than-life composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, on December 16! Tune in throughout the day to hear his masterpieces, big and small!

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Beethoven

Home for the Holidays

If you need a respite from the overplayed music for the holidays, tune into WETA Classical for our "Home for the Holidays"! Starting on December 17, our playlist will be filled with holiday favorites in the classical style, the perfect companion to get you in the festive spirit from the station that brings you joy and peace!

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Christmas Music

American visitors on Front Row Washington

Front Row Washington presents The National Orchestral Institute, one of America's premier summer music festivals bringing together some of the most talented college-age musicians for a month of music-making and study. On this program, NOI presents music by composers who has been musically impacted by their visit to America - Ballade by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and the beloved Symphony No. 9 by Dvořák. Monday night at 9PM ET.

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National Orchestral Institute
National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic under the direction of James Ross at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

An American Christmas treasure on Classical Breakdown

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Bonds

John Banther and Evan Keely discuss an American Christmas treasure, The Ballad of the Brown King by Margaret Bonds on the newest Classical Breakdown. It tells the story of Three Kings from the story of the birth of Jesus using European, Jazz and Calypso idioms. This work is sure to become a new holiday favorite!

A Verdi Masterpiece on Opera Matinee

Opera Matinee presents the Metropolitan Opera in a live broadcast of Rigoletto, one of Verdi's masterpieces of Verdi's middle-to-late career, and an eternal favorite.  A desire for revenge and a curse that lead to tragic consequences for the court jester Rigoletto and his beloved daughter, Gilda.  Singers include Luca Salsi in the title role, with Lisette Oropesa and Stephen Costello, led by Speranza Scappuzzi. Saturday at 1PM ET.

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Verdi

A Tchaikovsky Trio on Center Stage from Wolf Trap

Center Stage from Wolf Trap presents the Montrose Trio this Saturday at 9PM ET. ​Formed in 2013, the Montrose Trio is a collaboration stemming from a long and fruitful relationship between pianist Jon Kimura Parker and the Tokyo String Quartet. The trio performs Tchaikovsky's Trio in A minor.

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Montrose

Celebrate Christmas in Latvia, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic on Choral Showcase

Christmas traditions from Latvia, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic this weekend on Choral Showcase! We'll hear an old favorite, the Czech Christmas Mass, "Hail, Master!" by Jakub Jan Ryba, and a contemporary Christmas Cantata by Latvian-American composer Andrejs Jansons. We'll conclude with music for Ukraine, with a collection of carols by Ukrainian composers. Sunday night at 9PM ET.

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Christmas village

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