There's always so much to prepare for Thanksgiving, but one thing you can check off your "To Do" list is finding just the right music for your holiday celebration. WRTI has that all taken care of. So, relax and be our guest all day long.
Listen all day on WRTI 90.1, streaming at WRTI.org, on the WRTI app, or on your Alexa-enabled smart speaker.
During classical hours, we're dishing out holiday favorites that speak to the season of gratitude and the American experience, including music by Aaron Copland, Florence Price, Antonin Dvorak, Jay Ungar, Percy Grainger, William Billings, John Williams, George Gershwin and more.
As you're setting the table from 6 to 10 a.m., Josh Jackson will be with you, sharing a delightful variety of music — and he'll be conducting his annual Turkey Tally! E-mail Josh in advance about how you'll be preparing your Thanksgiving turkey or about your favorite kind of turkey at josh@wrti.org. Melinda Whiting takes over from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. as you’re warming up those sweet potatoes and stuffing. Just in time for the guests, we’re serving up four hours of Thanksgiving specials from 2 to 6 p.m. to create the perfect musical backdrop for your gathering.
2 to 3 p.m. — Every Good Thing
Host Andrea Blain and classical music fans from around the country take time to give thanks and celebrate one of life's most meaningful gifts: music. Audiences will hear listeners from across America share stories about their favorite classical music pieces.
3 to 5 p.m. — Giving Thanks — 25th anniversary special
Giving Thanks sounds the way Thanksgiving feels: inviting, warm, and festive. No clichés about pilgrims and pumpkin pies. Instead, it’s a contemporary, thoughtful celebration of the spirit of the holiday. great music, truly memorable words and stories that reflect the meaning of gratitude. Giving Thanks celebrates its 25th year on public radio! This year’s show presents the best moments of a quarter century of great guests:
Foodies: Stanley Tucci, Nigella Lawson, Jacques Pepin, Calvin Trillin
Writers: Anne Lamott, Adam Gopnik, Julia Sweeney, Anna Quindlen, Deepak Chopra
Poets: Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Nikki Giovanni, Ada Limon. And classic poems read by Patrick Stewart, Bill Moyers, and Studs Terkel
Musicians: Michael Tilson Thomas, John Rutter, Sir Stephen Hough
In Memoriam: John Updike, Wendy Wasserstein, Nora Ephron, Rabbi Harold Kushner
5 to 6 p.m. — Thanksgiving with The American Sound - Let Us Break Bread Together
On this holiday of family and feasting, we're paying tribute through American music and meaningful stories to the time-honored tradition of breaking bread with others. “Autumn” from Dan Locklair’s Symphony of Seasons and Eric Whitacre’s Lux aurumque bring you the golden hues of autumn through harvest and threshing, all the way to the Spiritual “Let Us Break Bread Together.”
Stay tuned to WRTI at 6 p.m. and treat yourself to a Jazz Thanksgiving family feast with Greg Bryant. Alongside fall favorites, hear from many of jazz’s leading families including The Heaths, The Joneses, The Coltranes and The Marsalises.
Greg will stay with you for a special edition of Late Evening Jazz from 9 p.m. to midnight with sounds to feed your ears and warm your soul. Listen for vintage favorites from Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers alongside new music from Artemis, Brian Blade and Christian McBride.
From all of your friends at WRTI, here's to a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Want more? Here's our Thanksgiving Spotify Playlist!