A FESTIVAL OF NINE LESSONS AND CAROLS

ANNUAL BROADCASTS ON FINE MUSIC RADIO

Every December, VOX Cape Town presents its own local adaptation of the famous Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Since 2016, a recording of this service has also broadcast on Fine Music Radio on Christmas Eve, bringing this unique musical celebration to a much wider audience.

Christmas Eve Broadcast in 2019

At 6 pm on Tuesday 24 December 2019 (Christmas Eve), for the fourth year in a row, VOX Cape Town broadcast its Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Fine Music Radio.

A host of new and familiar music from South Africa and abroad was presented, including carols by John Joubert, John Rutter and Stefan Claas, and first recordings of a brand-new carol by Stephen Carletti, an isiXhosa translation of the gentle Cradle Hymn and a choral arrangement by Hans Huyssen of Somerkersfees. For more information, download the 2019 Festival Booklet.

Christmas Eve Broadcasts in 2018 and 2017

In 2018 and 2017, a special recording of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was again broadcast on Fine Music Radio. Recorded in St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Cape Town, Erik Dippenaar joined VOX Cape Town as guest organist for the broadcast. The broadcast also featured the first recordings of two new South African works, “Christmas in Africa” (a setting by Maike Watson of a poem by Margaret Kollmer) and “Pula, Pula!” (Franco Prinsloo).

Bless you all and a BIG thank you for this stunning broadcast… Absolutely beautiful… Thank you FMR for always going the extra mile when it comes to good music… Really enjoyed the hour.

Thanks for that wonderful programme… Rodney and team on FMR you’re the best… I was listening in Stellenbosch. My sisters at home in Khayelitsha were listening to VOX Cape Town via FMR.

First Christmas Eve Broadcast in 2016

In 2016, VOX Cape Town’s Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was broadcast on Christmas Eve on Fine Music Radio 101.3 FM, replacing the usual recording from King’s College, Cambridge.

Recorded by Nolan Chiat (Create Recordings) in St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, this was a wonderful opportunity to promote local music and musicians. Traditional choral works by Rachmaninoff and Vittoria were juxtaposed alongside local choral music from closer to home including “Senzenina?” (“What have we done?”), “Torches!” and “Come, Colours Rise”.

Fine Music Radio broadcasts on 101.3 FM in Cape Town, 107.9 FM in Fish Hoek and Noordhoek, 94.7 FM in Hout Bay and Llandudno, 97.1 FM on the Atlantic Seaboard, DStv Audio Channel 838 and worldwide on www.fmr.co.za.