The Greg Funfgeld Family Concert builds on artistic collaboration each season, and showcases the unique gifts and talents of each organization to create something larger and more glorious than either could do on their own.

This season, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem and The Bach Festival Orchestra, under the direction of artistic director and conductor Greg Funfgeld, and students from The Lehigh Valley Charter Arts High School for the Arts, under the direction on Kim Maniscalco, Charter Arts Artistic Director of Dance, will present a lively and energetic program, featuring the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and 20th Century French composer Claude Bolling.

The concert will be held at 3 p.m. Feb. 27 in Baker Hall, Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University, Bethlehem.

The dancers, in their colorful and stunning costumes, will capture the spirit of the pieces with every step, as The Choir and the Orchestra perform an energetic and visually engaging program that blends classical and contemporary music.

The program includes:

J.S. Bach:

• Choral movements from Cantatas 78 and 120.

• Badinerie from Bach’s Second Orchestral Suite; In the spirit of the performance, the audience – children of all ages – will be invited to walk or run in place, in time to the music, led by student volunteers and Choir members!

• Gigue from his Third Orchestral Suite.

• “Crucifixus” and “Et resurrexit” from the Mass in B Minor.

• The audience will be invited to sing the famous round “Dona nobis pacem” with The Choir and, after a little rehearsal, everyone will join in singing it together as a three part round or “canon.”

• Third movement from Second Brandenburg Concerto.

Claude Bolling:

• Fugace from Jazz Suite for flute, piano and drums.

With his retirement planned for June 2022, this year’s Family Concert will be the final one under the direction of Greg Funfgeld.

About this year’s collaboration, he remarked, “I am looking forward to this year’s Family Concert with keen anticipation and tremendous enthusiasm! Working with the brilliant young dancers from the Charter Arts School is always inspiring, exciting, revelatory! In the most amazing way, they allow us to see the music and our hearts and minds are inspired in new ways, our spirits soar!”

Charter Arts Artistic Director of Dance, Kim Maniscalco, is also exhilarated about the upcoming concert: “Our collaboration with the Bach Choir is an artistic gift. Nothing can beat the feeling of being a dancer or choreographer and having the power and beauty of the Bach Choir and Festival Orchestra behind you, inspiring you to new levels of vision and passion. Our dancers will remember these moments for their lifetimes. It is not lost on us that in performing to the music of Bach’s Mass in B Minor we are a part of Bethlehem’s and the Bach Choir’s history. We are honored.”

The Greg Funfgeld Family Concert offers young people in the audience a wonderful introduction to performance and classical music in a welcoming and convivial atmosphere that makes the audience feel at home.

The choir and the dance students encourage everyone to add this to their calendar for a memorable afternoon of music and dance this winter.

For more information, go to bach.org.