How can I listen to King's College Cambridge Festival of 9 Lessons and Carols in D.C. area?

Question

Hi! I live in the Washington, D.C. area, and one of my family's traditions on Christmas is to listen to the Festival of 9 Lessons and Carols performed by the King's College Choir in Cambridge. Up until 2 years ago, the performance was broadcasted live every year on Christmas morning by NPR. However, last year NPR didn't broadcast it at all. Does anyone know if NPR has dropped this program permanently? Is there any way I could listen to it online or on another radio station in the D.C. area? Thanks very much! This means a lot to me!

Answer 1

Are you sure that NPR dropped it? I thought I heard it last year in Maine (we always listen too). Sometimes local affiliates make independent decisions. I'd say phone your local station and get the 411 right from the horse's mouth!

If they are not planning to air it, maybe they can tell you who is, and you can stream it from your computer?

Answer 2

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was first broadcast in the USA in 1979 as a co-production of National Public Radio and Minnesota Public Radio. Minnesota Public Radio took it on alone several years later; nowadays it is still produced by MPR and distributed by American Public Media. Most stations take it live at 10 am (EST), and many repeat it later on Christmas
Eve or on Christmas Day. BBC Radio also makes a recording available online; the program is available for download on the King's College website [www.kings.cam.ac.uk] about two weeks before the broadcast. As the initiator and producer of the first broadcast in the USA all those years ago, I am continuously grateful for the joy the service brings to listeners throughout the USA. If you can't find it on your local public radio station, undertake to persuade them to put it on their schedule of holiday programs. I recently contributed a history of the Service to a book titled King's College Chapel 1515-2015, available through the usual online sources.