We’d like to share some information worth celebrating — literally! Here are 23 holidays and celebrations to make sure you have classical music on your calendar!
February 8: Opera Day
A perfect day to take another swing at the Queen of the Night aria, (or maybe just opt for a recording).
February 13: World Radio Day
Turn the dial to 98.7 to celebrate in style!
March: Play the Recorder Month
Many of us played the recorder in elementary school, but the woodwind instrument is featured in works ranging from Handel and Bach to Hindemith and Bernstein.
March 4: Marching Music Day
March forth on this March 4th marching music holiday (get it!?). And listen to some Sousa while you’re at it!
March 29: Piano Day
In a nifty tie-in, we celebrate the piano on the 88th day of the year, matching the number of keys on a piano!
April 1: National Trombone Players Day
Check out our Music Man-themed playlist of 76 trombone pieces!
April 11: Barbershop Quartet Day
Maybe we’re reading too much into this, but we sure appreciate that the holiday celebrating an ensemble of four takes place in the fourth month of the year.
April 16: World Voice Day
Though not exclusively geared towards singers, we know that vocal music is a critical part of how humans use their voices.
First Friday of May: International Tuba Day
We’ll venture a guess that this is the lowest-pitched holiday of the year.
May 22: Buy a Musical Instrument Day
As if we needed encouragement…
June: African-American Music Appreciation Month
African-American composers have made indelible contributions to the classical canon. Use this list of 19 African-American composers as a jumping-off point to honor and celebrate their works all month long.
June 21: Make Music Day
The holiday originated in France in 1982 as Fête de la Musique and has certainly caught on — it’s now celebrated in more than 115 countries worldwide.
July 31: Uncommon Instruments Awareness Day
Time to dust the cobwebs off your theremin and zeusaphone…
August 12: Vinyl Record Day
Check out these five classical recordings that sound better on vinyl!
August 20: National Radio Day
Radio is so special, it gets two holidays! Thanks for celebrating with WFMT.
September: Classical Music Month
One of our favorite months of the year!
September 21: National Dance Day
Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Piazzolla’s Libertango, and so many more — classical music and dance have always taken inspiration from one another.
October 1: International Music Day
It’s not like we needed the reminder, but you can bet that we’ll be listening to music to celebrate this holiday!
October 1: World Ballet Day
So many composers wrote wonderful music for the ballet — Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky to name just a few.
October 4: Kids Music Day
It’s never too early to introduce kids to classical music, and these kid-friendly books about music are a great place to start.
November 6: Saxophone Day
Adolphe Sax, the instrument’s inventor, was born on this day in 1814. Here are 11 classical saxophone works we think you should know.
December 10: World Choral Day
Choral music can range from the ethereal to the explosive. Whatever the form, we’re glad that we have a day to celebrate vocal ensembles.
December 13: National Violin Day
WFMT is host to no shortage of performances on the violin! Check out some of them right here.
