Merry Christmas to our listeners in every corner of the world, from Vancouver to Vanuatu, Kokomo to Kiev - and welcome to our annual presentation of ancient scripture and brand new versions of favourite carols, from various members of the Steyn Show musical family drawn from the worlds of folk, jazz, rock, opera plus a bevy of Top Five pop stars from across the last half-century.
If you're in the mood for a very distinctive telling of events in Bethlehem two millennia ago, do please click above.
This year's broadcast is dedicated to our late friend, the brilliant guitarist Russell Malone, who died far too young in August while on tour in Tokyo. Russell was a big part of our Yuletide observances over the years, including the very first presentation of our Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols.
Listeners have come to appreciate this annual tradition at SteynOnline. After last year's edition, Wanda, a First Week Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club from California, wrote:
Thank you for a lovely Christmas Eve.
Our pleasure, Wanda. Judy Warner, a Maryland Steyn Clubber, agreed:
I listened to your Lessons and Carols just now while waiting to go and sing at midnight mass with the choir. What a wonderful thing you have created; who else would think of doing it this way?
Thank you, Judy. From Christchurch, New Zealand, John Fox enjoyed it - and he should know:
Anglican priest here: Of the 13 Christmas events I have attended or presided at this month, this one is best.
— John Fox (@Dovedescending) December 25, 2023
Listening solo and tired in the dark and touched and very grateful. Gratia.
Thank you to John. (But don't worry: For our militantly atheist listeners discombobulated by God-bothering, the great secular trinity of Santa, Frosty and Rudolph can be found here.).
As you'll know if you've attended Christmas Eve service in the same village church for decades, some things stay the same but others evolve a little. Aside from a reading and a poem at opening and closing, the words don't change, because they have been unchanged for centuries. But we tweak the music a little each year, adding some different carols and re-arranging ones we've heard before. Some - "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "We Three Kings" - are the oldest of old favourites; others may be less familiar.
This season we are especially pleased to welcome some old friends of The Mark Steyn Show to our Christmas celebrations: peerless disco diva Patsy Gallant, who somewhat incredibly has just completed a seventy-years-in-showbiz tour, sings the greatest of all French carols; Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits shows a side of his musical talents you may not have heard before; and Canadian rock colossus Randy Bachman teams up with his son Tal to kick loose with one of the most beloved of English carols.
We save the credits with respect to who sings what until the end of the proceedings, but we think you'll enjoy this year's offerings from Steyn's fellow Torontonian Rebecca Enkin, his fellow Quebecker Monique Fauteux, and his fellow Irishpersons Rhoda Barfoot and Anthony Kearns. There are also performances from the great jazz star Carol Welsman; Elisabeth von Trapp from the famous Sound of Music family; and Emma Kershaw (seen with Tim Rice on our show of Christmas past), whose lovely reading of "The First Noël" delighted listeners last Yuletide: guests from America, Canada, England, Ireland, Wales and Switzerland, with carols sung in English, French, German, a little bit of Latin and the Huron language of Wendat.
On the scripture front this Christmas Mark has included a passage from Matthew he wouldn't usually read - but, at the end of another terrible year, it seems all too apt, and it leads into what we think you'll find an unforgettable musical performance.
Simply click above to listen - and we wish all the blessings of Christmas to you and yours!
The Mark Steyn Show Band
arranged and conducted by Kevin Amos:
Michel Berthiaume, Geoff Eales, Jon Geary, Mathieu McConnell-Enright, Bill Mahar, Andy Massey, Nick Moss, Matt Ridley, Mike Smith and Jean-Pierre Zanella.
Miss Barfoot's pianist: Jeff Taylor;
Ms Enkin's pianist and bassist: Anthony Panacci, Mike Downes;
Mme Fauteux's pianist: Stéphane Aubin;
Miss Kershaw's pianist: Kevin Amos;
Mr Noone's hermits: Vance Brescia, Dave Ferrara, Rich Spina, Billy Sullivan.
