Happy 337th birthday!!!

Good news for everyone looking forward to the magnificent sounds of the 114th Bethlehem Bach Festival:
Our Bach Birthday Sale is back!

For a limited time only, take 20% off your Festival Concert tickets – OFFER expires March 25.

Happy 337th birthday, Mr. Bach … we can’t wait to share your glorious music with our many friends in May!

Next steps:

1.) Review Festival dates and concerts by scrolling down this page for dates, times and information on our first or second weekends

2.) Place your order online HERE and enter coupon code FEST20 during checkout to get your discount!

3.) Share the love! Please share the news with friends and family and invite them to join you! We’d love to welcome them!

COVID CANCEL

Due to Covid-19, our 2021 Bethlehem Bach Festival has been modified to offer live-streaming concerts and events.  At this time, we are also announcing that Artistic Director and Conductor Greg Funfgeld has confirmed a new retirement date in response to our much compromised 2020-2021 season.  Conductor Funfgeld will lead The Bach Choir and Bach festival orchestra through June 2022, completing his 39th Season.   

At this year’s virtual Festival, he will lead Choir members, along with Orchestra members and soloists through live-streamed performances.   

All updates will be posted here on our Festival page online. 



This season, perhaps more than ever, we are anticipating The Bethlehem Bach Festival in May, 2021 with great excitement and joy!
Not only will The Festival be welcomed back into many lives following the 2020 hiatus, we will also be celebrating our Artistic Director and Conductor Greg Funfgeld, as he conducts his final Bach Festival after an almost 40-year tenure as our leader.

Music is a transformative experience. The bonds it creates, the memories it evokes, the traditions it builds: each one remarkable and treasured. While we have been unable to share these experiences with our audience for several months, we look forward to the Festival when we will once again forge connections through music and embark on those beautiful journeys together.

Tickets are on sale NOW by phone or by mail only; all Festival tickets will be on sale ONLINE beginning the Spring.

After accessing the brochure, use the   >   on the right of your screen to page through the brochure!

After accessing the form, use the   >   on the right of your screen to page through the order form!

Thank you for your support and we’ll see you in Bethlehem

Please contact Renée James, Marketing Director, with any questions about our upcoming Festival: 610-866-4382 x 115  or renee@bach.org

 

 

I bought tickets to the 2021 Festival. What are my options?

We are offering ticket-holders three options for their 2021 Festival tickets:  a voucher toward any concerts in the 2021-2022 season, including Festival tickets; a refund or the option to make donation to The Choir in the amount of your tickets.  You may make your selection online through this FORM.

I have a voucher for my unused 2020 Festival tickets.  What do I do with that?

Many patrons have vouchers in hand, representing tickets purchased for either our Spring 2020 Concert or our 2020 Festival.   We will honor all vouchers issued in 2020 through June 30, 2022.

We will reissue vouchers to everyone who received one in 2020, either for their tickets to the Spring Concert or the Festival. They will be valid through June 30, 2022.

With some Covid-19 restrictions being eased, and the ongoing vaccinations taking place, why isn’t the audience being allowed to attend?

Because we are performing as guests in various venues, we must adhere to their Covid Response Team protocol.  At Lehigh University, Packer Memorial Chapel is closed until further notice, and outside guests are not allowed to have an audience in Baker Hall (Zoellner Arts Center).

In other venues, with the number of people involved in the performance – including The Choir and the Orchestra members and soloists – we’ve reached the in-person limit indoors.

How will the live-streaming work?  What if I can’t watch the lecture or concerts on May 14 or 15th?

We are offering a 2021 “Festival Pass” at no charge but we do ask patrons to register.  We’ll send a link to the live-stream to everyone who registers to view any or all events this year.  Our live-streaming partner is  NAME TK.

Once they premiere, the concerts will be available on The Choir’s YouTube channel starting on June 1 and may be viewed at any time.

Joy. Comfort. Peace. Gratitude.
Join us.

Jump To:

Intro VideoFestival introductionAudio clips2022 Festival GalleryArtist-in-ResidenceFestival SoloistsIntro VideoFirst Weekend ~ May 12 & 13Second Weekend ~ May 19 & 20More Festival Info

Our largest event of the year takes place in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, traditionally on the campus of Lehigh University and on the historic grounds of the Moravian community.

Glorious tradition, spirited performances, festival premieres…music for you. It was our distinct pleasure to welcome so many of you back to Bethlehem in 2022 after a two-year “hold” on our live Festival concerts.

In 2023, we’ll look forward to Artistic Director and Conductor Dr. Christopher Jackson sharing his passion for Bach’s music with you as he leads our Choir, Orchestra and soloists at his first Bethlehem Bach Festival.

 

PLEASE NOTE: Festival tickets are one sale by mail or phone through 2022.  ONLINE sales begin in January, 2023.
Click the button below to download and print your order form. 
Ticket Order Form

“It’s not only the history of the Festival but the personal history that so many of the performers and members of the audience have with it that gives the weekend a very wonderful and sentimental atmosphere.”

— Karen B., longtime Festival attendee

Treat yourself to these Mass in B Minor excerpts from The Choir,
The Orchestra and our Soloists...

Musical Connections

We invite you to make memorable musical connections in 2023!  Here are a few snapshots from our 114th Bethlehem Bach Festival.

Festival Artist-in-Residence 2023

Loretta O’Sullivan
Ifor Jones Chamber Music Concert |  Saturdays:  May 13 and 20

Christopher Jackson, Artistic Director and Conductor welcomes Loretta O’Sullivan, Cello, as our 2023 Artist-in-Residence.

Loretta O’Sullivan, Cello, has been acclaimed for her “scrupulous musicianship…gorgeous sound and stylistic acuity” (Washington Post), and is known for her incandescent presence. She is engaged in an international career of broad scope including performances at Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Gewandhaus, La Fenice, the Kennedy Center, and Strathmore. Highlights include performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Rogue Symphony Orchestra; Rameau opera with Opera Lafayette in Washington D.C. and Met Museum New York City; Bach’s Saint John Passion at Strathmore; French baroque cantatas in Philadelphia with Tempesta di Mare; live film scores for Hollywood’s silent movies for Early Music Columbus; and with her newest venture, OpenPage Ensemble, commissioning and performing works of 20th- and 21st-century composers. Her orchestral credits include the Atlanta, Dallas, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras, the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, and the National Philharmonic.

Festival Soloists

Meg Bragle, Alto

Sherezade Panthaki, Soprano

Rosa Lamoreaux, Soprano

Isaiah Bell, Tenor

Daniel Taylor, Countertenor

Benjamin Butterfield, Tenor

William Sharp, Baritone

Dashon Burton, Bass

 

 

First Weekend ~ May 12 & 13

  We look forward to sharing this glorious Festival with you
in 2023 and to seeing you throughout this season!

(Repertoire, soloists and venues all subject to change.)

Second Weekend ~ May 19 & 20

Join us in 2023 for  a celebration of music and friendship!

(Repertoire, soloists and venues all subject to change.)

 

More Festival Info