Brian Ellison

On Friday I hosted my last talk show and recorded my last podcast at the deteriorating studios of @kcur.org. We’re leaving our building after 40 years and don’t know where we’re going yet. It was in bad shape for a while, but I’ll still miss the place, with its 18 years of memories for me.

This is so lovely. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

Merry Christmas, friends! I'm glad we get to do this together. Blessings in the year between now and when we gather again! #9lc

Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald-angels sing
Glory to the new-born King.

Amen and amen. #9lc

WORD!!!! #9lc

Somehow, I wish there were even MORE than seven verses. #9lc

Well, if you dozed off during the Rutter, you're awake now! #9lc

My entire family is listening with me (yea!) and they all just agreed that this Rutter lullaby is ... working. #9lc

I sort of think the opposite, actually. This is the one that's too sweet for me. #9lc

Honestly, all the readings have been exceptional here. The Vice-Provost really bringing out the drama of the dialogue in the eighth lesson. #9lc

I think this is such an interesting Christmas sentiment--Jesus, don't forget the little people:
"In the land that lies before thee,
Forget not us who linger here!
May the shepherd’s lowly calling,
Ever to thy heart be dear!"
#9lc

It's so very Rutter. A lullaby for stress and worry, which just drifts off... #9lc

Did I know this Britten? It's caught me off guard. So spare, then so grand, and ending so meaningfully. #9lc

I'll show up for Beth-LEE-hem every year. #9lc

Transeamus. (Translation: Let's GOOOOOOOOO!) #9lc

I'm having really mixed feelings about Bruckner in this service. I feel like we have stepped away from Christmas a little. #9lc

Wow. This commissioned carol makes bleakness beautiful, entrusts the gospel to the thrush's song, and weaves harmony into hope. I will sit with that one for a long time. What a triumph. #9lc

It is the hymn of our age:
"Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring:
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!"
Amen! #9lc

I found that third reading very powerful. It was as though the reader began to contemplate the magnitude of its prophetic claims as she read. The words got bigger, and her voice got smaller and more reflective. "The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this" almost a whisper. Powerful. #9lc.

What a beautifully evocative 15th-century text: "As the sunnè shineth through the glass, So Jesu in his mother was..." #9lc

They've let an American student sneak into the festival! A fine second lesson reading. #9lc

Ralph Vaughan Williams right out of the gate is as it should be. #9lc

Am I the only one who can feel the weight of the world falling away from my shoulders the moment that boy soprano starts singing? #9lc

All is ready #9lc

If you’re looking for a place to listen to the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols today, may I suggest 91.9 Classical KC, on-air in Kansas City or online at www.classicalkc.org. If you listen long enough, you might even hear me give the station ID or ask for your financial support. #9lc

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

If you think my posts with election results are nerdy, wait until you see my live posts during the #9lc broadcast from Kings College, Cambridge. See you here in less than 12 hours! www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/festi...

It really is. The folks I talked with thought the recall would pass, but maybe with 55-65%. White has been thought to have a certain unshakable core of support—but that seems to have evaporated once the las couple of years.

Jackson County unseats executive Frank White Jr. in historic election. What happens now? White has served as county executive since 2016. Tens of thousands of signatures were gathered to trigger the special election, which White believes was called illegally.

To read more about today's recall election results in Jackson County, check out reporting from @kcur.org's Savannah Hawley-Bates... www.kcur.org/politics-ele...

Jax Co Legislature Chair DaRon McGee will appoint the acting Executive, and the Legislature has 30 days to select the new Executive to serve the rest of White's term (through 2026). If the majority fails to agree on a replacement, a county judge will appoint one.

And there it is. The final unofficial results from all precincts are in: Frank White Jr. has been recalled as Jackson County Executive, with 85% of voters voting YES to remove him from office, effective immediately. @kcur.org