Holiday Programming on SDPB

National

Call the Midwife Holiday Special

BBC/Neal Street Productions

The holidays are a busy time for the midwives, and Christmas 1966 promises to be a memorable one. On this year’s Call the Midwife Holiday Special, the Nonnatus House team are faced with their busiest Christmas Day ever as the Maternity Home is filled with expectant moms and challenging cases. Luckily Mother Mildred is on-hand to support the team. SDPB1: Saturday, December 25, 8pm (7 MT)

Brian Stokes Mitchel

Intellectual Reserve Inc.

With 2020 pandemic restrictions in place, three-time Choir guest artist and Academy Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, returned to the Conference Center — without an audience — to film the narration for 20 Years with the Tabernacle Choir, a twenty-year retrospective of the much-heralded Choir Christmas concerts. SDPB1: Monday, December 13, 7pm (6 MT)

Thirteen

From London’s beautifully refurbished Covent Garden Opera House comes this elegant new production with one of Tchaikovsky’s most enduring scores for the ballet. Generations of audiences have enjoyed this perennial Christmas favorite, a charming tale of holiday adventure that follows a little girl’s journey through a fantasy world of fairies, princes, toy soldiers, and an army of mice. The new Royal Ballet production of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King features an acclaimed cast, including Ivan Putrov as the Nutcracker and Alina Cojocaru as Clara. SDPB1: Tuesday, December 14, 8pm (7 MT)

Christmas at Belmont

Thirteen Photo: Sam Simpkins/Belmont University

The 2019 show features Belmont University students along with Michael W. Smith, CeCe Winans and the Nashville Children’s Choir. Christmas at Belmont, taped in Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, includes classic holiday songs and festive tunes. SDPB1: Monday, December 20, 8pm (7 MT)

Local

South Dakota Symphony Orchestra: Messiah - SDPB1: Thursday, Dec. 23, 8pm (7 MT)

SDSO

Featuring the inspiring Hallelujah Chorus, Handel’s Messiah returns to usher in the holiday season. Join your South Dakota Symphony Orchestra & Chorus from First Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls for this divine masterpiece. Watch the presentation streamed live online at SD.net on Friday, December 3 at 7:00pm Central, 6 Mountain. The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Maestro Delta David Gier. Timothy J. Campbell is the director of the chorus. The performance features Kayleen Sánchez, soprano; Daniel Weeks, tenor; Doug Dodson, countertenor; and Ben LeClair, bass. First performed in Dublin on April 13, 1742, Messiah, HWV 56, by George Frederic Handel has become one of the most frequently performed works in Western music.

Laura’s Little Christmas on the Prairie - SDPB1: Thursday, Dec. 30, 8pm (7 MT)

Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant

It is December and Laura Ingalls has already had enough of winter on the wide-open, lonely prairie. The cold days and long nights weigh on her such that even the prospect of a De Smet town Christmas pageant cannot quite lift her spirits. However, stories of the past, joyous music, and a new acquaintance may offer her the perspective and lesson she needs to find warmth and light in even the coldest and darkest of nights on the Dakota prairie. This historical fiction radio production provides an hour of theater, history, music, and drama as we share a Christmas on the Dakota prairie with Laura Ingalls, her family, and her neighbors in Laura’s Little Christmas on the Prairie. Featuring local actors, live music and sound effects, and produced in front of a live audience at the De Smet Event Center theatre.

57th Annual Madrigal Dinner: University of Sioux Falls - SDPB1: Sunday, Dec. 19 & Saturday, Dec. 25, 2pm (1 MT)

USF

Recorded during the 2020 COVID Pandemic, this Renaissance-themed Christmas dinner theatre performance is presented by the Singing Camerata (known during the holiday season as The Madrigal Singers). Established in 1963 by Lois Harchanko, Music Professor Emeritus, the Madrigal Dinners represent one of USF’s longest-standing and strongest traditions. The performances combine vocal and instrumental music, dancing, drama, elegant Renaissance garb and fine dining.

Awake, and Greet the New Morn: Augustana University Christmas Vespers - SDPB1: Thursday, Dec. 16 & Friday, Dec. 24, 8pm (7 MT) & Saturday, Dec. 25, 1pm (noon MT)

Augustana

The Augustana School of Music presents its annual Christmas Vespers 2021 Concert “Awake, and Greet the New Morn,” a celebration of the birth of Christ featuring Augustana’s three choirs, orchestra and band. Dr. Paul Nesheim directs The Augustana Choir and Chamber Choir. The orchestra is led by Dr. Peter Folliard, and Drs. Lisa Grevlos and Russell Svenningsen direct Angelus and the University Chorale. Dr. Christopher Unger directs the band.

Annual Vespers: Mount Marty University - SDPB1: Friday, Dec. 24, 9pm (8 MT) & Saturday, Dec. 25, 3pm (2 MT)

Mount Marty

The Mount Marty Music Department and Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery present Vespers, featuring Scripture reading and prayer in addition to songs and instrumental works of the Advent and Christmas season.