Holiday

Packed with classic carols, holiday favorites and an inspirational portrait of real life, this 90-minute concert features songs and stories of hope.

Hope of the Season: Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir airs Monday, December 15 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streaming live on the WXXI and PBS apps

This Christmas, the world-renowned Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square joins with Tony Award®-winner Ruthie Ann Miles and Hollywood veteran Dennis Haysbert in the unforgettable holiday spectacular, “Hope of the Season.” Packed with classic carols, holiday favorites and an inspirational portrait of real life, this 90-minute concert features songs and stories of hope for audiences of all ages.

Host Geoffrey Baer takes you on a fun exploration of the time-honored traditions of this joyous Jewish holiday.

Great Performances: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 80th Anniversary airs Thursday, December 11 at 8 p.m. WXXI-TV

Geoffrey shares how Hanukkah came to be, the significance of the season’s cherished dishes, and the ways families continue to celebrate together across generations. Along the way, Geoffrey provides an overview of Hanukkah in popular culture, weaving in his holiday memories through childhood home movies. And, because food plays such a meaningful part of every Hanukkah observance, he also heads into the kitchen with experts to try his hand at creating seasonal culinary delights – including latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (filled donuts) – while explaining how these dishes connect to Hanukkah’s history.

Follow this ailing professor and magician named Ed Coleman during the holidays. 

Ball and Vase airs Friday, December 5 at 10:30 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams live on the PBS app and the WXXI app.

Ed is a 92-year-old, widowed World War II veteran who lives alone in a small apartment in Hoboken, N.J. He has been all but forgotten, but Ed has one thing that keeps him going – an upcoming visit by his grandson on Christmas. When a change in those plans finds Ed alone at a local pub he used to visit with his late wife, he discovers one last opportunity to reconnect with the world. 

Repeats December 13 at 5:30 p.m., December 21 at 5:30 p.m., and December 27 at 10:30 p.m.

Experience this annual beloved concert from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Johann Strauss.

Great Performances “From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2025” airs Wednesday, January 1 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

Ring in 2025 with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in this beloved annual concert. PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville hosts the traditional concert for the eighth consecutive year, commemorating the 200^th birthday of Johann Strauss. Showcasing the talents of the orchestra accompanied by on-location dance sequences with the Vienna State Ballet, the program also takes audiences on a tour of The Leopold Museum, the grand Südbahn Hotel, the mountains of the Semmering Hirschenkogel ski resort and more. Conducted by Riccardo Muti for the seventh time, PBS favorite Hugh Bonneville returns to host.

It’s Christmas 1969, and the funfair and carol concert add color to frosty Poplar. 

Call The Midwife Holiday Special 2024 airs Wednesday, December 25 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

Yet, the festive spirit at Nonnatus House is dampened by the spread of influenza alongside growing fears of an escaped prisoner after a spate of break-ins.

Handel’s 18th-century masterpiece “The Messiah” is reimagined and infused with Gospel, Jazz, and R&B.

Too Hot to Handel: The Gospel Messiah airs Sunday, December 22 at 1 p.m. on WXXI-TV

Handel’s 18th-century masterpiece “The Messiah” is reimagined by Conductor Marin Alsop and colleagues Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson. Handel’s arias, choruses, and orchestration are infused with Gospel, Jazz, and R&B, creating an uplifting reinterpretation of this seasonal favorite. “Too Hot To Handel: The Gospel Messiah” has been seen regularly across the United States since its premiere in New York in 1993. This performance in front of nearly 5,000 people at London’s Royal Albert Hall marks its European premiere. Presented by choirmaster and broadcaster Gareth Malone, the program sees The BBC Concert Orchestra joined by The BBC Symphony Chorus and The London Adventist Chorale, along with soloists Vanessa Haynes and Zwakele Tshabalala.

Photo: Singer Vanessa Haynes on stage/Credit: Michael O’Halloran, BBC Studios