NEW YORK, NY - Paul Winter's 21st Annual Winter Solstice Celebration and related 11th annual National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast will feature the noted Armenian percussionist and vocalist Arto Tuncboyaciyan, along with Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza, Irish Uilleann piper Davy Spillane of "Riverdance" fame, and other members of Paul Winter's Earth Band.

The performances of this year's non-denominational celebration of this ancient holiday tradition that predates New Year's Day and Christmas - a musical, theatrical and environmental spectacle - are in the huge Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Thursday, Dec. 14, and Friday, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, Dec. 16, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. With an audience at the Cathedral of over ten thousand people, the Winter Solstice Celebration, in terms of attendance, is the Cathedral's most popular annual secular event.

An all-embracing Holiday show, "Paul Winter's Winter Solstice Celebration!" has become, in a giant city with many Christmas and New Year's events, perhaps the best-attended celebration of seasonal change in New York City.

Armenian percussionist and vocalist Arto Tuncboyaciyan, from the Anatolian region of Turkey, has appeared on recordings of Arthur Blythe, Al DiMeola, Oregon, Jim Pepper and Joe Zawinful, among many other jazz players. He was a founder of the group Night Ark. His first American solo release, Every Day is a New Life, was released this fall by Paul Winter's Living Music label.

Tickets for the Winter Solstice Celebrations are $65 for reserved seats, and $38 and $28 for general admission. Discounted tickets for certain performances are available from the Cathedral Box Office only for children, students and seniors. Tickets are available at the Cathedral Box Office at (212) 662-2133. For charge orders by phone, call CityTix at (212) 581-1212. Tickets and travel information are available on the Internet at www.livingmusic.com. St. John the Divine, the world's largest Gothic cathedral, is located at Amsterdam Ave. and West 112th St. in New York City.

In the New York metropolitan area, the broadcast will be heard live on WFUV, The Bronx, 90.7 FM on Friday, Dec. 15 from 8 to 10 p.m. WNYC-FM, New York, at 93.9 FM, will carry a tape-delayed broadcast on the winter solstice, Thursday, Dec. 21, from 8 to 10 p.m. Listeners elsewhere should check local listings with the nearest NPR member station.