One of the best things about the holiday season is the abundance of good music — cheesy pop Christmas albums aside, this time of year there’s nothing like a terrific show to bring a glow of good cheer to your cheeks.

Below, I offer you three very different but equally tuneful options, to warm your long winter’s night as the big holiday weekend approaches:

The Rose Ensemble is based in St. Paul but beloved internationally for its impeccably researched and exquisitely sung renditions of ancient and classical music from around the world. For its holiday concert, it’s presenting “Slavic Wonders: Feasts and Saints in Early Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Bohemia.” The program spans eight centuries of Slavic choral music, including complex 12-part Russian Orthodox motets written for Peter the Great’s chapel choir, choral works from the Polish Renaissance, Czech-language medieval hymns and an assortment of Ukrainian Christmas carols.

The Rose Ensemble’s “Slavic Wonders” concert will be Thursday, Dec. 22, 7:30 p.m. at Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church, 1900 Wellesley Ave., St. Paul, Minn.; and Friday, Dec. 23, 8 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Minneapolis. Tickets range $15-$37. For ticket information call 651-225-4340 or visit www.roseensemble.org.

Park Square Theatre’s holiday show, “The Soul of Gershwin: An American Klezmer,” is composer/author Joseph Vass’ tribute to the Jewish cultural roots of George Gershwin’s famous songbook. The production, directed by Peter Moore, is, of course, packed with George and Ira Gershwin’s standards, but the show offers fresh ways to hear those deeply familiar tunes, revealing in them nods to Yiddish theatre and cantors’ chants, as well as the influence of American folk songs, opera, jazz and the blues.

“The Soul of Gershwin” is on stage at Park Square Theatre through Jan. 1, 2012. 20 W. Seventh Place, St. Paul, Minn. For ticket information, call 651-291-7005 or visit www.parksquaretheatre.org.

The Artists’ Quarter’s Holiday Bash will celebrate the season with performances by noted jazz pianist Phil Aaron’s trio (Phil Aaron on piano, Tom Lewis on  bass and Jay Epstein on drums), along with a variety of special musical guests for an evening of jazz and good cheer.

The Artists’ Quarter Holiday Bash is Friday, Dec. 23, 9 p.m. 408 St. Peter St., St. Paul, Minn. Cover is $10, and you’ll get a free CD for the price of admission. For information, call 651-292-1359 or visit www.artistsquarter.com.