Bach Choir to Grace the State Theatre Stage for the First Time

The State Theatre Center for the Arts welcomes The Bach Choir of Bethlehem to its stage for the first time on March 17, 7:30 PM, for A Celebration of the Choral Art.

Tickets at $42/$39 are on sale now at the State Theatre Box Office, by phone at 610-252-3132 or online at www.statetheatre.org.

"The Bach Choir and the State Theatre are two iconic organizations, and combining them will make for an extraordinary event", comments State Theatre President & CEO Shelley Brown. "We are so excited to present the Choir's exquisite music in this acoustically-perfect hall will be an event to remember."

The Bach Choir celebrates their 120th birthday and Artistic Director Greg Funfgeld observes his 35th Anniversary leading the Choir. The State Theatre celebrated 90 Years of WOW this past season.

"In this season of musical milestones for the Choir, we are particularly excited to present our Spring Celebration of the Choral Art in the beautiful and historic State Theatre," adds Bach Choir Executive Director Bridget George. "Two Lehigh Valley arts communities, both with significant histories, coming together to present this to the community - it's going to be a breathtaking evening."

Patrons will enjoy two festive tours-de-force for choir and brass by William Walton and John Rutter are combined with J.S. Bach's Cantata 118 O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht (O Jesus Christ, light of my life), and Morten Lauridsen's earliest choral cycle, the Mid-Winter Songs on poetry by Robert Graves for a concert that combines cosmic praise with deep intimacy. Walton's ebullient Coronation Te Deum was composed for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953, and features lush double-choir writing and infectious rhythm. John Rutter's joyful Gloria, composed 20 years later contains fanfares aplenty and a rhapsodically lyrical middle movement. Lauridsen's setting of the Graves charts the wayward romantic fortunes of the poet in stunningly evocative compositions, with challenging and crystalline music for choir and piano.

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem gave the first complete American performances of Bach's Mass in B Minor in 1900 and Christmas Oratorio in 1901. Since its founding in 1898, the Choir has been attracting thousands of visitors from across the United States and around the world to the annual Bethlehem Bach Festival in Pennsylvania. Since 1983, under Greg Funfgeld's direction, the 85 dedicated volunteer singers of The Bach Choir, performing with the Bach Festival Orchestra and distinguished soloists, have received international acclaim. Venues have included the Herkulessaal at Munich's Royal Residence and the Thomaskirche, Bach's church in Leipzig, as part of the 1995 Germany tour; The Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall as part of The Choir's Centennial Celebration in 1998-2000; a performance for the BBC Proms in London's Royal Albert Hall as part of an eight-concert tour of the United Kingdom in 2003; and a performance as part of the 75th anniversary of the Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival in Severance Hall, Cleveland in 2007. In 2011, The Choir was chosen to represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a series of concerts entitled Remember to Love, presented in observance of the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 at Saint Paul's Chapel and Trinity Church, Wall Street in New York City. In 2013, The Choir returned to the Washington D.C. area for a performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah at the Music Center at Strathmore. In 2014, The Choir commissioned a one-act comic opera Young Meister Bach by Chuck Holdeman, composer, and Bill Bly, librettist, which was performed in Bethlehem and in Philadelphia for the 250th anniversary of the German Society of Pennsylvania.

The Choir has released seven recordings of Bach works, in addition to the popular four-volume Christmas in Bethlehem. Recordings for Analekta include Bach's Magnificat and Cantata 191, and Vivaldi's Gloria (2009), Songs of Hope (2011), Saint John Passion (2012), and A Child's Christmas in Bethlehem (2013). The Choir has been featured on National Public Radio's Performance Today and Prairie Home Companion, Deutsche Radio, the BBC World Service, CBS Sunday Morning, and the Emmy award-winning PBS documentary on The Choir, Make a Joyful Noise. In addition to the annual Bethlehem Bach Festival, the concert season in Bethlehem includes Christmas and Spring Concerts; a Family Concert; Bach at Noon-a series of free concerts in historic Central Moravian Church, Bethlehem and St. John's Lutheran Church, Allentown; and Bach to School-an outstanding educational outreach program that has now been presented for more than 110,000 children. Mr. Bach Comes to Call, a film based on the acclaimed Classical Kids CD, was produced by The Bach Choir of Bethlehem in collaboration with Touchstone Theatre and GreenTreks Network in 2007. It has been broadcast nationally on PBS and is distributed internationally by The Children's Group. The Bach Choir is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2013, The Bach Choir was the first American recipient of an award from the J.S. Bach Foundation in Switzerland.

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