This week on Take Note, we’re celebrating Kwanzaa and the music that plays an important role as one of the binding forces bringing African and African American cultures together.

This holiday season, explore rarely-heard contributions to the Christmas playlist from Franz Liszt and Arnold Schoenberg.

This week we’re learning about the ancient Roman winter festival Saturnalia, a time of feasting, merriment, gift-giving, and more.

This week on Take Note, we’re honoring the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah that begins on December 14th and lasts until the 22nd. We’ll hear a traditional blessing plus some rousing Klezmer tunes.

December 8th is Bodhi Day, a holiday commemorating the Buddha achieving enlightenment. In this episode, we learn about Tan Dun’s work Buddha Passion.

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, we’re highlighting the first Native American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for music: Raven Chacon.

We’re celebrating this year’s Latvian Independence Day by learning about composer Jāzeps Vītols who played a vital role in nurturing the musical culture of the newly independent country in the early 20th century.

Celebrate this Veterans Day with a full-scale work by Patrick Hawes dedicated to those who lost their lives in the first World War.