“LISTEN! A Musical Celebration of Christmas at Berea College”, a concert special, will be broadcast Saturday, Dec. 24 (11:35 PM-12:35 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.




This hour-long special features a diverse mix of Christmas and holiday music performed by the students and music faculty of Berea College in Berea, Ky. Among the performers is a wide range of students, more than 60 percent of whom are not music majors, and their faculty directors presenting the message of love and peace of this special season. Demonstrating a broad range of musical styles, the program includes performances by the Berea College Folk Roots Ensemble; Women’s Chorus; Chamber Singers; Concert Choir; Wind Ensemble; Jazz Ensemble; Black Music Ensemble; and Bluegrass Ensemble reflecting the diversity of Berea College’s student enrollment and portraying Berea’s motto: “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth.”

The program also will feature a Nativity reading from Berea’s newly acquired copy of the St. John’s Bible, the first handwritten and illuminated Bible published since the end of the 15th century and the invention of the modern printing press.




Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, focuses on learning, labor and service. The College admits only academically promising students with limited financial resources, primarily from Kentucky and Appalachia, although students come from 40 states and 60 countries. Every Berea student receives a Tuition Promise Scholarship, which means no Berea student pays for tuition. Berea is one of eight federally recognized Work Colleges, so students work for the College 10 hours or more weekly, earning money for books, housing, and meals.

The concert is produced and co-sponsored by the Berea College Music Program and the Willis D. Weatherford Campus Christian Center with Elizabeth Kineke and John P. Blessington as the executive producers for CBS.