There is a reason Bethlehem has been called a city of music for nearly three centuries. Long before Musikfest, long before SteelStacks, the Moravian settlers who founded this town in 1741 brought with them a deep devotion to music. That tradition found its fullest expression on December 5, 1898, when the Bach Choir of Bethlehem was born.
An American First
Central Moravian Church organist John Frederick Wolle founded the choir with a singular ambition: to perform the great works of Johann Sebastian Bach. On March 27, 1900, the choir delivered the American premiere of Bach's complete Mass in B Minor. The following year, they gave the first complete American performance of the Christmas Oratorio. These were not small achievements. Wolle and his singers were introducing some of the most complex choral music ever written to American audiences for the very first time.
But the story goes back even further. As far back as 1823, a Bethlehem musician obtained a first printed edition of a Bach cantata and made copies. That is the earliest known evidence of Bach's music in America, and it happened right here in our valley.
The Festival
The annual Bethlehem Bach Festival is the world's longest running Bach festival. Each May, the Mass in B Minor is performed at Packer Memorial Church on the Lehigh University campus, continuing a tradition that has been unbroken for over a century. The 118th Bach Festival is scheduled for May 7 through 10, 2026.
Throughout the season, the choir also hosts Bach at Noon, a free concert series on second Tuesdays at Central Moravian Church. These lunchtime performances, running from 12:10 to 1 PM, are one of the valley's best kept secrets. You can sit in a church that dates to the 18th century and listen to music that has echoed through these same walls for generations.
A Living Heritage
The Bach Choir celebrated the 2024 UNESCO World Heritage designation of Bethlehem's Moravian Church Settlements, which underscores the deep cultural heritage that gave rise to this musical tradition. Founded roughly the same year as Bethlehem Steel, the choir has outlasted the company by decades. Steel may have put Bethlehem on the industrial map, but music is what has always been in this city's soul.
