BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The beloved harmonies of Bach will return to Bethlehem.
But for one week only.
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem has unveiled the dates for its 117th Bach Festival, which will take place from May 8-11 across the campus of Lehigh University and within Historic Bethlehem.
This year, the festival will follow a four-day format — a change from its previous two-weekend offering.
Organizers of the festival hope the new change will enable more concertgoers to attend the music event.
"One of the main reasons is that this change allows our concertgoers from across the country to attend more events throughout the festival," Bach Choir Marketing Manager Glenn Koehler wrote in an email.
"And makes it easier for friends to reunite without having to coordinate across two separate weekends.
"Some broader trends in the arts and responses from our patrons have shown that concentrated scheduling is preferred.
"And the new format also allowed us to not only offer our traditional events, but add new programming to this year’s festival."
Festival performers
Among the performers will be festival artist-in-residence Rachell Allen Wong.
Wong was recipient of the 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition.
She will headline the Ifor Jones Memorial Chamber Music Concert, featuring Tartini’s "Devil’s Trill Sonata," Bach’s "Brandenburg Concerto, No. 3," and works by Telemann and Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
The performance will take place at the Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, at 10:30 a.m. May 10.
Returning favorites
Three Bach festival performers will return — tenor Dann Coakwell, mezzo-soprano Meg Bragle and soprano Sherezade Panthaki (featuring bass-baritone Jonathan Woody).
Other concerts returning include Bach at Four (featuring Wong and Elizabeth Field), which will feature solo and chamber works by violin virtuosos Heinrich Biber, Maddalena Sirmen and J.S. Bach.
Bach at 4 will take place at 4 p.m. May 9, at the Incarnation of Our Lord Church, 617 Pierce St.
Additionally, Chamber Music in the Saal, featuring Andrew Gonzalez, will take place at 11 a.m. May 11 in the Saal of the Moravian Museum, 66 West Church St.
Also on May 10, Bach's Mass in B Minor, which will be two parts, will take place for the first time inside Packer Memorial Church, 18 University Drive.
Performances will be at 2:30 and 4:30 p.m.
Flamenco, Bach lectures
New programs this year will be the "Outside the Bachs," a collaboration of Flamenco dancer Fanny Ara, guitarist William Coulter, and violinist Edwin Huizinga of Fire & Grace.
The trio will blend classical, folk and modern traditions in a unique twist of Bach's influence on music and dance.
The performance will take place at 7 p.m. May 8 at Zoellner.
Also, Bach scholar Daniel R. Melamed will lead a guided talk on Bach's "Wachet Auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140," at 2 p.m. May 9, in Room 145 inside Zoellner.
Melamed's lecture will be free to attend.
Also free are a Bach and Books Festival and Family Storytime at 10 a.m. May 9 inside Bethlehem Area Public Library, and a presentation of Bach Choir Films at 11 a.m. May 9 in Room 145 at Zoellner.
For tickets and the complete schedule, visit the Bach Festival website.
