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The Bach Choir of Bethlehem
America's Oldest Bach Choir
About the Choir
Choir Gallery
Choir Newsletter
Concerts / Events
2019-2020 Concert Season
113th Bach Festival
Bethlehem Dining & Accommodations
Plan Your Visit to the Festival
Please visit one of our partner restaurants!
Bell Hall
612 W. Hamilton Street, Allentown, PA
Monday – Thursday 11:00AM-1:00AM
Friday – Saturday 11:00AM-2:00AM
www.bellhallallentown.com
Bethlehem Brew Works
569 Main Street, Bethlehem, PA
Sunday – Wednesday 11:00AM-2:00AM (Food served to 11PM)
Thursday – Saturday 11:00AM-2:00AM (Food served to 12AM)
www.thebrewworks.com
221 W. Broad Street, Bethlehem, PA
Lunch Hours: Tuesday – Friday 11:00AM-2:00PM
Dinner Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 5:00PM-8:00PM
www.thecafebethlehem.com
Cathy's Creative Catering & Café
Monday – Wednesday 11:30AM-10:00PM
Thursday – Saturday 11:30AM-11:PM
Sunday 11:00AM-10:00PM
Modern Mexican at its best! Made to order guacamole, hand made seasonal margaritas, over 15 taco selections and much more.
www.urbanobethlehem.com
1741 on the Terrace (at Historic Hotel Bethlehem)
Open 7 Days a Week for Dinner, 5:00PM-10:00PM
www.hotelbethlehem.com
The Tap Room (at Historic Hotel Bethlehem)
Open 7 Days a Week, 6:00AM-11:00PM
Jenny's Kuali
102 East 4th Street, Bethlehem, PA
Monday – Wednesday 11:00AM-8:00PM
Thursday – Saturday 11:00AM-9:00PM
www.jennyskuali.com
Jumbars
1342 Chelsea Avenue, Bethlehem, PA
Open for Breakfast and Lunch
Tuesday – Friday 8:00AM-2:30PM
Saturday – Sunday 7:30AM-2:00PM (Sunday, breakfast only)
www.jumbars.com
McCarthy's Red Stag Pub and Whiskey Bar
Monday – Thursday 10:00AM-4:00PM
www.mccarthystearoom.com
Voracious Deli and Catering
77 W. Broad Street, #9C, Bethlehem, PA
Monday – Friday 10:00AM-4:00PM
www.voraciousdeliandcatering.com
Hotel Bethlehem
Click here for directions from Hotel Bethlehem
Sayre Mansion
250 Wyandotte St.
Click here for directions to Sayre Mansion
Candlewood Suites Bethlehem South
1630 Spillman Drive
Click here for directions to Candlewood Suites
Springhill Suites Allentown Bethlehem/Center Valley
3800 West Drive
Center Valley, PA 18034
Click here for directions from Springhill Suites Hotel
Comfort Suites - Bethlehem
10% off regular rate
120 W. Third St.
Comfort Suites – Bethlehem
Click here for directions from Comfort Suites
Sure Stay Collection by Best Western
300 Gateway Drive, US 22 and PA 512
Click here for directions to Sure Stay Collection Bethlehem
Homewood Suites by Hilton Allentown Bethlehem Center Valley
3350 Center Valley Parkway
Click here for directions from Homewood Suites
Days Inn Hotel
Days Inn Allentown
Click here for directions from Days Inn Hotel
Hyatt Place Bethlehem
45 W. North St.
Click here for directions from Hyatt Place
Hampton Inn and Suites Bethlehem
200 Gateway Drive
Click here for directions to Hampton Inn and Suites Bethlehem
1787-B Airport Rd.
Click here for directions from Hilton Garden Inn
Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites
3375 High Point Blvd.
Holiday Inn Express Lehigh Valley
Click here for directions from Holiday Inn Express Hotel
Other Area Resources
Find transportation to concerts and events – The Caring Connection
Explore historic downtown Bethlehem with the Historic Bethlehem Partnership
For a complete Bethlehem Business Directory and map, click on Get Downtown
For more places to dine and things to do in the Lehigh Valley, explore Discover Lehigh Valley
Want to stay in-the-know?
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"From anguish to elation, and just about everything in between, pretty much describes the vast emotional landscape covered in Friday evening's concert at Packer Memorial Church presented by the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Splendid musicianship, rousing choruses, and the sublime voices of the soloists turned grief into joy and sorrow into triumph."
—The Morning Call, May 2018
"The oft-quoted phrase 'a drumroll, please' aptly applies to the opening of Rutter's exultant Gloria, which provided a dramatic finale to the program. What a thrill to hear those punchy, syncopated brass lines accompanying some really polished and vibrant singing. The "Domine Deus" section sported some lovely soprano voices in addition to many demanding, multi-part choruses –— some with up to eight parts. There was a miraculous blend of tone and balance throughout."
—The Morning Call, March 2018
"The performance was one of integrity, movement, passion and weight. The effortless virtuosity and stylistic homogeneity of the combined forces in the chapel's stone sanctity, allowed Bach's music to sing out with infectious, exhilarating enthusiasm."
—The Huffington Post, 2017
"The audience was thrilled by this outstanding performance of a Bach Cantata by seasoned experts immersed in the composer and informed by Greg Funfgeld's wisdom and enthusiasm...The Bachs [J.S.B and C.P.E] could not have been better served, not to mention two English Renaissances, as well as our own time. It went beyond mere intelligent programming and committed performance, enriched by a deep sense of the mutual nourishment of music and faith."
—New York Arts, 2015
"Nestled in the Pennsylvania countryside, on and around the bucolic campus of Lehigh University, the Bethlehem Bach Festival, under the artistic direction of conductor Greg Funfgeld, is in its 108th season and going strong. If it has flaws, they are like those that distinguish a fine emerald from the perfect clarity of a fake...their choral sonority is so rich you can feel it in your bones."
—The Wall Street Journal, May 2015
"Two days later I am Newark bound again, with a head full of the history of a town I previously had no awareness of, and with a heart full of the music of Bach, presented in a context that felt less like a festival than a glorious friendship between a great composer and the orchestra, conductor and choir at the heart of an extraordinary town."
—The Whole-Note - Toronto, June 2015
"The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, founded in the 19th century, has gained international recognition through its annual Bach Festival, tours and recordings. The more than 100 vocalists displayed clean tone, excellent pitch and blend, and kept good tempo even in the most stressful numbers…outstanding, energetic and crisp. The orchestra was a collection of top freelancers from around the Eastern Seaboard including several from Washington… baritone Dashon Burton, was the standout. He has a clarion instrument that projects well throughout his range…a splendid dramatic performance. Soprano Rosa Lamoreaux was also excellent, expertly modulating her silvery tone for the various roles she took…This was the choir's big night, though, and it gave great pleasure…"
—The Washington Post, March 2013
"A handsome account of Bach's St. John Passion on this new release confirms that the Bach Choir of Bethlehem doesn't rest on anything resembling laurels. Greg Funfgeld has trained his singers to articulate words crisply, dance lightly when the music must move and blend elegantly. Funfgeld brings a sure sense of phrasing, texture and pacing to the narrative, and the Bach Festival Orchestra—mostly modern instruments, with viola da gamba, violas d'amore and portative organ supplying period flavors—are cohesive and nimble. Charles Daniels stands out as a poetic and powerful Evangelist, William Sharp as a warmly inflected Jesus and Julia Doyle as a shining champion of the soprano arias."
—Gramophone, November 2012
"The Bach Choir of Bethlehem sang a Brahms motet ("Lass Dich Nur Nichts") with all the polish and fervor it brought to cantatas by its namesake."
—New York Times, September 2011
"..inspired program of hope, optimism and comfort …disarmingly powerful…overflows with jubilation"
—The Morning Call, October 2011
"America's venerable Bach Choir of Bethlehem makes its Analekta debut on a disc brimming-over with festive D major trumpets-and-drums brilliance…Julia Doyle and Daniel Taylor heading up a distinguished solo line-up."
—BBC Music Magazine, May 2010
"Conductor Greg Funfgeld coaxed a lovely rich chamber orchestra sound from the Bach Festival Orchestra strings...The hauntingly beautiful voices of Taylor and Zsigovics—she in her festival debut—melted together like two precious metals, hers of bell-like clarity, his a more complex alchemy, with a sheen like liquid mercury."
"As I listen to The Bach Choir of Bethlehem with Greg Funfgeld conducting…I find it hard to believe this is an all-volunteer choir but it's true…a well polished vocal ensemble, and a true level of musicianship and understanding of the choral music of Bach."
—Minnesota Public Radio Review, December 2009
"…an American musical treasure… they sing with a fervor and a level of musicianship that carries one away—from bass to soprano, the supple strength and solidly integrated tone of this amateur choir reflects the most admirable qualities of the European-American tradition of choral song."
—Wall Street Journal May, 2007
"By all accounts the chorus remains as vital an institution as ever…The B-Minor Mass performance was rousing, committed and touching…Bach's 'St. Matthew Passion' too was ardently and lovingly performed…"
—New York Times, May 2007
"This is Bach at its finest. The conductor, orchestra, soloists, and chorus are eminently capable of the nuances of the rich harmonic texts …spirited and vivacious…It is not likely to get any better than this on this side of the Atlantic."
—The American Organist, January, 2004
"America's venerable Bach Choir of Bethlehem sang Bach and Mendelssohn with good-natured and ruddy-cheeked elation. And their centerpiece was a BBC/Bach Choir co-commission, the world premiere of Libby Larsen's I It Am, a jubilant cantata based on the writings of Julian of Norwich…this highly coloured and disarmingly unsophisticated work came from, and went straight to, the heart."
—The Times, London, July 2003
"The Bach Choir of Bethlehem…had their audience enthralled…The choir knows and loves this work – and it shows…transatlantic magic."
—The Scotsman, Edinburgh, July 2003
"Nearly one hundred strong, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem tempers its power and energy with the intimacy of a much smaller group. It also blends seamlessly with the excellent modern-instrument Festival orchestra which Greg Funfgeld conducts with an obvious knowledge of, and sensitivity to, modern performance practice."
—Early Music News, California, October/November 2002
"…the Choir and Festival Orchestra, under their director, Greg Funfgeld, perform these three cantatas beautifully and convincingly. The work of the soloists is excellent, too…Excitement, dedication, power—all things that we hear more and more seldom in Bach cantatas—lend distinction to this beautiful and well-produced recording."
—American Record Guide, November/December 2002
"Sheer jubilance…exceptional elegance and grace…radiant performance…Having heard the Bethlehem Bach Choir pour its heart into the master's vocal music, one will never listen to it in quite the same way again."
—Musical America, May 2001
"The Bethlehem Bach Festival is one of the most venerable musical institutions in the USA, with an unmatched tradition of introducing Bach's music to our shores. Greg Funfgeld…has revitalized this Pennsylvania institution, and Dorian is doing well to document its vibrancy in a recording series… genuine honesty and intelligence informs this performance…Funfgeld has forged a fine body of singers and players…tightly disciplined ensemble …rousing spirit and sacred joy aplenty. This recording will not disappoint."
"…intoxicating but precise choral sound that reminds you why choruses grew this large in the first place. The elemental power is startling…the Bethlehem approach under Greg Funfgeld isn't anachronistic, but meets the historically enlightened approach halfway…We know from Bach's often irritable correspondence that he campaigned for more singers. The Bach Choir of Bethlehem gives him all he could have wanted. Maybe this is "in-his-dreams" Bach."
—Philadelphia Inquirer, December 2000
"…a performance that confirmed my belief that this is one of the finest large amateur choruses in the United States."
—The Washington Post, May 1999
The Bach Choir gratefully acknowledges and thanks our sponsors and media partners for supporting our organization and the arts.
The Choir is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
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