Holidays 2011 : NPR

Ringing In The New Year With Double Octaves

Pablo Helguera

Deceptive Cadence

Ringing In The New Year With Double Octaves

December 30, 2011 • Fridays are funnier with a classical cartoon at noon, from Deceptive Cadence.

Truth And Beauty: 2011's Best American Poetry

Priscilla Nielsen for NPR

Best Books Of 2011

Truth And Beauty: 2011's Best American Poetry

December 29, 2011 • Critic David Orr surveys the "jumbled landscape" of American poetry to select his favorite collections of the year: five books that will alternately comfort and challenge you.

Staff Picks: The Best Music Books Of 2011

Priscilla Nielsen for NPR

Review

Best Books Of 2011

Staff Picks: The Best Music Books Of 2011

December 28, 2011 • The NPR Music staff presents 12 titles that range from the art of album covers to disco to Def Jam to metal to MTV. This year, our favorite music reads were mostly revealing biographies and wide-spanning analyses.

The Santaland Philharmonic Orchestra In Rehearsal

Pablo Helguera

Deceptive Cadence

The Santaland Philharmonic Orchestra In Rehearsal

December 23, 2011 • Fridays are funnier with a classical cartoon at noon, from Deceptive Cadence.

Gil Scott-Heron. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Best Music Of 2011

In Memoriam: Musicians We Lost In 2011

December 23, 2011 • NPR Music remembers the singers, instrumentalists, songwriters and producers who died in 2011. Explore the musical legacies they leave behind.

Does this ring a bell? Match the composers with their compositions that include sleigh bells. Coburn Dukehart/NPR hide caption

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Coburn Dukehart/NPR

Deceptive Cadence

Ring My Bells Holiday Puzzler

December 22, 2011 • How well do you know your bells? Match the jingling music with the composer who wrote it.

2011's Guilty Pleasures: Sex, Celebs And Rock 'N Roll

Priscilla Nielsen for NPR

Review

Best Books Of 2011

2011's Guilty Pleasures: Sex, Celebs And Rock 'N Roll

December 22, 2011 • Susan Jane Gilman recommends behind-the-scenes reads about the rich and famous — by a rock star, a hotel concierge, a stuntman and a Brat Packer, all offering backstage passes to their glamorous lives. Entertaining and star-studded, they make for perfect holiday escapism — with a cocktail (or two) in hand.

Indulge Yourself: 2011's Best Celebrity Tell-Alls

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Six Graphic Novels That Will Draw You In

Priscilla Nielsen for NPR

Review

Best Books Of 2011

Six Graphic Novels That Will Draw You In

December 21, 2011 • Critic Dan Kois selects the standout graphic novels of the year, which include books from France and Japan, explicit picaresques, hard-boiled mysteries, memoirs, fairy tales and new twists on old classics.

The Lives Of Geniuses: Five Brilliant Biographies

Priscilla Nielsen for NPR

Review

Best Books Of 2011

The Lives Of Geniuses: Five Brilliant Biographies

December 20, 2011 • These five books take us inside the minds of a founding father and the father of the iPod; the vexing artists who brought us Starry Night and Slaughterhouse-Five; and the couple whose scientific discoveries changed the world in awesome, and awful, ways.

The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City. Rhonda R. Dorsett hide caption

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Rhonda R. Dorsett

Holiday Music

A Paul Winter Solstice Concert 2011

December 19, 2011 • The saxophonist celebrates the longest night of the year with a Winter Solstice Celebration.

Hear Part One Of The Winter Solstice Celebration

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Organist Cameron Carpenter: not your typical holiday celebrant. Michael Hart/courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Michael Hart/courtesy of the artist

Deceptive Cadence

Five Tastes Of Classical Holiday Cheer

December 19, 2011 • From a postmodern take on caroling to a gloriously loopy 'Sleigh Ride,' videos that sing out with classical holiday cheer.

The Teens Are All Right: 2011's Top 5 YA Novels

Priscilla Nielsen for NPR

Review

Best Books Of 2011

The Teens Are All Right: 2011's Top 5 YA Novels

December 19, 2011 • Young adult literature has never been so psychologically probing or artistically ambitious as it is today. Marissa Meyer's favorite novels beguile, thrill and, above all, transport younger readers to a Shakespearean magical theater, futuristic Chicago and a netherworld of ghost hunters.

L-R: Alfredo Rodriguez, Eddie Palmieri, Barry Harris, Jason Moran. Margot Schulman/Kennedy Center hide caption

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Margot Schulman/Kennedy Center

Holiday Music

A Jazz Piano Christmas 2011

December 16, 2011 • NPR Music celebrates the holidays with some of the most celebrated pianists in jazz. This year, the Kennedy Center welcomed Eddie Palmieri, Barry Harris, Alfredo Rodriguez and Jason Moran.

Listen Now: A Jazz Piano Christmas 2011

58:34

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New Adventures In Folk: The Best Of 2011

The Head and the Heart. Robertsen Ashman hide caption

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Robertsen Ashman

Best Music Of 2011

New Adventures In Folk: The Best Of 2011

Folk Alley

December 16, 2011 • The Head and the Heart is one of many new folk groups that bend tradition while keeping it alive.

DVD Gift Guide: For That Special (Or At Least Nearby) Someone

Warner Home Video

Opinion

Pop Culture Happy Hour

DVD Gift Guide: For That Special (Or At Least Nearby) Someone

December 16, 2011 • Box-set fan Glenn McDonald explains how DVD sets can be the perfect gift for so many different people on your list that you might knock it all out during your next shopping trip — virtual or actual.