Bach Festival Includes Beethoven, Modern Dance

106th Annual Bethlehem Bach Festival gets under way this weekend at Lehigh University.

  The 106th Bethlehem Bach Festival, an annual rite of spring for the Bach Choir of Bethlehem and its fans, gets under way this weekend and resumes May 10 and 11 at Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center and Packer Memorial Church. The festival is the culmination of a yearlong celebration of Greg Funfgeld’s 30th year as the choir’s artistic director and conductor. In addition to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach—whose monumental Mass in B Minor is the festival’s centerpiece and conclusion -- this year’s festival will include works by Beethoven and American composer Morten Lauridsen. New to this year’s festival is the addition of modern dance from New York’s Rioult Dance. The two Saturday mornings of the festival, the dance company will …

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Bach Choir's Noon Concert Series Begins Today

This year's annual Bach Choir seven-concert noon concert series features the works of Bach and Vivaldi at Central Moravian Church.

  The Bach Choir of Bethlehem’s ninth season of Bach at Noon concerts begins today at Central Moravian Church. The seven-concert series features programs on the second Tuesday of the month, 12:10 – 1:00pm, September-November 2012 and January-April 2013. Admission is free and no tickets are required. A free-will offering will be received. The Bach Choir recommends that people come early to be sure of a seat since the concerts have continued their outstanding success in attracting close to capacity audiences. Each Bach at Noon concert features one vocal and one instrumental piece performed by members of The Bach Choir and Bach Festival Orchestra and distinguished soloists. Greg Funfgeld, now beginning his 30th anniversary season as artistic …

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Bach Choir to Hold A Cappella Singing Contest

Bach Choir is looking for one high school and one college a cappella singing group to open for The Swingle Singers at fifth annual Gala Concert.

  The Bach Choir of Bethlehem will host its first-ever A Cappella competition – Bach appella in conjunction with the fifth annual Gala Concert, October 6, 2012 featuring The Swingle Singers. The Choir is calling all high school and college a cappella groups to submit a video performance of a piece no longer than 4 minutes in any musical style. Bach appella’s focus is a cappella ensemble singing. Choreography will not be included in the judging process. Entries must be uploaded to YouTube no later than 4 pm, September 20, 2012 and a DVD submitted to the Bach Office. Please include Bach Choir of Bethlehem Competition in the title of your entry and send the YouTube link to karen@bach.org. Judges for this competition are: Each group will be …

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Woman Killed in Accident was on Bach Choir Board

Jane Smudin, 80, was a retired advertising artist and a member of Bach Choir of Bethlehem's Board of Managers.

  The woman who died after being struck by an SUV on W. Broad Street Friday night was called a member of the Bach Choir Board of Managers in town to hear the choir sing during the Bethlehem Bach Festival. Jane Smudin, 80, of New Hope, was also retired artist who worked in the advertising industry, according to this piece in The Express Times. In her last hours, Smudin listened to the choir sing Bach Cantatas and had dinner with friends at The Café, 221 W. Broad St., according to The Morning Call. She was struck by the vehicle while walking back to her car at the corner of W. Broad Street and Third Avenue and died of her injuries at St. Luke's University Hospital. The next day, the choir performed its signature piece, Bach’s’ Mass in B-…

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105th Bethlehem Bach Festival Starts Today

Bach Choir of Bethlehem's annual celebration of the 18th Century composer starts this afternoon at Lehigh University.

  The 105th annual Bethlehem Bach Festival gets under way this afternoon with a lecture at Zoellner Arts Center and two concerts of Bach Cantatas at the historic Packer Memorial Church on Lehigh University’s campus. The festival runs through Sunday and returns next weekend on May 11 and 12. Tickets for all the shows are available and may be purchased at the door. For students, the price of all ticketed shows are $10, unless otherwise indicated. Schedule highlights: For more information, see the Bach Choir of Bethlehem's Website.

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Bach Choir Seeks 100 New Supporters

Bach Choir looking for 100 new "guarantors" to pledge $125 per year

Bethlehem's reknowned Bach Choir is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of its Guarantor system - a unique way for donors to ensure the financial health of the choir by pledging ongoing annual support.  The choir has set a goal of recruiting 100 new Guarantors to celebrate the 100th Anniversary. The minimum gift is $125 per year.   A Bach Choir supporter age 35 or younger can be an Associate Guarantor by giving $50 per year toward the general administrative and artistic operations of the organization. Guarantors receive priority seating for the annual Bach Festival plus other benefits. The small group that pledged to “guarantee” the fiscal health of the fledgling organization in 1912 has grown to number more than 600 …

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6 Things to Do This Weekend

The Great American Trailer Park Musical brings comic relief to Pennsylvania Playhouse.

INTO THE DARK (TOUCHSTONE THEATRE)   OCTOBERFEST: GERMAN MASTERPIECES (LEHIGH UNIVERSITY PHILHARMONIC)   BETHLEHEM FASHION EVENT (DOWNTOWN BETHLEHEM)   HILLARY HAHN VIOLIN VIRTUOSO (BACH CHOIR)   THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL (PENNSYLVANIA PLAYHOUSE)   CARL PALMER BAND (ARTSQUEST)   RED MOLLY/ THE NIGHTHAWKS (GODFREY DANIELS)

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September 11, Ten Years Later

Bach Choir of Bethlehem Joined in Musical Observance of 9/11 Anniversary

Combined choirs performed in Lower Manhattan to promote peace and reconciliation.

Hope. Peace. Love. Confidence in things eternal. When the Bach Choir of Bethlehem participated in a series of concerts in New York City on Friday in observance of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the message of the music was very clear. The intent of the project was to promote reconciliation, and to demonstrate the power that music has to heal, unify and uplift. Every piece of music included in the programs for eight one-hour concerts and a culminating two-and-a-half hour concert by massed choir—all presented free to the public--was carefully chosen to express themes of reassurance, comfort, endurance and faith. Universal messages were found in the Requiems by Johannes Brahms and Gabriel Fauré, written in the late 1800’s; in the Negro …

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September 11, Ten Years Later

Listen to Bach Choir Live from New York

Bethlehem choir invited to perform near Ground Zero for September 11 remembrance.

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem is participating today in 9/11 remembrances near Ground Zero in New York City. At 5 p.m., the choir appears at historic Trinity Church on Wall Street to sing works featuring Bach, Brahms and Mendelssohn. The performance is available to listen to through live streaming on the Web. At 8:30 p.m., the choir will once again appear as part of a larger performance joining the Bach Choir with five others -- The Trinity Wall Street Choir, NYC Master Chorale, Young People's Chorus of NYC, The Washington Chorus and the Copley Singers. Once again, that performance will be available to hear through audio streaming on the Web. Earlier today, the choir was scheduled to sing at St. Paul’s Chapel, a venerable 18th Century church…

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