Call it “The Passion” according to J.S. Bach.

And what group better to perform it than The Bach Choir of Bethlehem?

You’ll have a chance to witness, hear and be inspired with a Palm Sunday performance of J.S. Bach’s “The Passion According to Saint John” for The Bach Choir of Bethlehem’s Spring Concert, 4 p.m. March 20, First Presbyterian Church, 2344 Center St., Bethlehem.

The Bach Choir, Bach Festival Orchestra and soloists perform the work conducted by Bach Choir artistic director Greg Funfgeld, who gives a pre-concert talk at 3 p.m. March 20 in the church’s Fellowship Hall.

“The Passion According to Saint John” had its first American performance in Bethlehem in 1888. The Bach Choir first performed it in 1905. The Bach Choir recorded the work in 2011. It’s believed the choir has performed “The Passion” about 20 times, including at the annual Bach Festival in May.

According to a Bach Choir press release, “The Choir portrays the tragic frenzy of the characters in the eyewitness account, as well as reflecting on the meaning that unfolds in a matchless sequence of chorales beginning with ‘O great love, O love beyond measure.’

“From the opening chorus that draws us into the pain and suffering of the dramatic narrative to the closing chorus ‘Ruht wohl’ (Rest well), a lullaby that brings us to the final chorale in a major key signifying the hope and resurrection that will follow death, this miraculous work is a perfect way to begin the journey of Holy Week.”

Funfgeld has conducted the Bach Choir, orchestra and soloists in “The Passion” about one dozen times since he became artistic director in 1983.

“They call Bach the fifth evangelist because he interprets the story and relates it to us in ways that are pure and powerful,” says Funfgeld.

“The way Bach tells the story, there’s a purity and an integrity. This story of sacrificial love and unconditional love is a story that’s so profound.

“In our society, this becomes less and less an experience that people have. To come back to ‘The Passion’ and encounter that kind of sacrifice and goodness and love, it can’t help but cause you to deepen your faith or deepen your awareness of this kind of emotion,” Funfgeld says.

Each time “The Passion” is performed by The Bach Choir, it’s a different experience for the audience, as well as for the singers and musicians.

“We always have new singers in the choir. So, they’re encountering the piece for the first time. And, of course, we have new soloists. And they bring something new and different to it each time.”

In preparing for the concert, Funfgeld won’t be listening to the Bach Choir recording of “The Passion According to Saint John,” which received a rave review in Gramophone Magazine: “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.”

“I really tend not to listen to recordings up to a performance,” Funfgeld says. “I’ll sit at the piano and play and study the score. I’ll encourage the choir to encounter the words away from the music to be mindful of who they are in the drama.

“Sometimes, they’re Disciples. Sometimes they’re the High Priests. Sometimes they’re the crowd. But they fit into the drama. At one point, they’re the soldiers at the foot of the cross and they’re rolling dice to see who will get the garments that Christ wore as they led him to the cross.”

The Bach Choir is joined by the Bach Festival Orchestra and distinguished soloists Thomas Cooley, tenor (Evangelist); William Sharp, baritone (Jesus); Laura Heimes, soprano; Laura Atkinson, mezzo soprano (past winner American Bach Society for young American singers); Isaiah Bell, tenor; Dashon Burton, bass-baritone, and David Newman, bass (Pilate).

Funfgeld is excited about all of the soloists, but especially Thomas Cooley in his Bethlehem and Bach Choir debut:

“We’re very pleased that Thomas Cooley is coming and will sing his first Evangelist in Bethlehem in this performance. This is a role that he has sung all over the world. And he’s done concert performances as well as staged performances. He brings a wealth of experience in insight unique to him. I think that will bring a great richness for us all.

“It’s really a star-studded cast. It’s really people with suprerme musical and interpretative skills. I think it will be a very dramatic and powerful performance.

“The choir, having peformed and recorded it, there comes from that a depth of experience that enriches what they bring to it.

“It’s like putting a bunch of highly-skilled people in an environment where they can use all of those skills and abilities and offer something moving and profound.

According to Funfgeld, “The Passion According to Saint John” has an overarching import that soars beyond the pages of the Bible and Bach’s work itself:

“I think Bach’s intention was to give people an experience of ‘The Passion’ in which they find their own identity. I think what Bach was saying is that this is just not the story of ‘The Passion of Christ,’ but it’s your story, too, and you have a place in that story.

“Sometimes that can be very comformting and other times that should make us uncomfortable so that we understand that we have role,” said Funfgeld.

Tickets: bach.org, 610-866-4382, ext. 110 or 115