B&H Chorale prepares to celebrate 30 years

The Bach and Handel Chorale, founded in 1984 and based in Jim Thorpe, will celebrate 30 years of bringing choral and orchestral music to the Carbon County and surrounding area.

Randall Douglas Perry, founder, artistic director and conductor, will conduct a special performance, along with members of the Bach and Handel Festival Orchestra at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 26, in the historic St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 21 Race St. in Jim Thorpe.

The program will open with "Concerto for Three Trumpets, 2 Oboes, Timpani and Strings," composed by Georg Phillip Telemann, and will feature members of the festival orchestra.

Following the concerto, the Rev. John Wagner, rector of St. Mark's and St. John's, will pray a special blessing over the chorale and orchestra for its 30 years of commitment to singing and providing sacred choral music of the masters to all who hunger for it and for its continued growth and longevity as it heads into another decade.

The chorale will then sing Bach Cantata BWV 118, "O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht," in memory of deceased members of the chorale. The chorale and orchestra will then perform Bach Cantata BWV 172, "Erschallet, ihr leider," (And The Glory of the Lord) from "Messiah" by Georg Frideric Handel.

The chorale's premiere performance of the opening chorus and closing chorale from Bach Cantata BWV 19, "Es erhub sich ein Streit," will follow. It will conclude the first half of the concert with the opening chorus of the "Dettingen Te Deum" by Handel.

During intermission, chorale members will host a gala reception in the great hall of the church.

The second half of the performance will begin with another premiere performance of the opening chorus and closing chorale of Bach Cantata BWV 130, "Herr Gott dich loben …," followed by Perry and the festival orchestra, performing two piano solos with orchestra; "Brian's Song" by Michele LeGrande, and "A Love That Never Ends" by Peter Nero.

The chorale and orchestra will then perform three choruses from "Messiah": "Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs," "And With His Stripes We Are Healed" and "All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray," followed by the extended chorale from Bach Cantata BWV 147, "Jesus, bleibet meine freude" (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring).

The concert will conclude with the first public performance of a special piece written and dedicated to the chorale by Perry, entitled "We Sing of God."

For more information, visit www.bhc.org. Tickets may be purchased at the door or by calling the chorale office at 570-325-4794 or online www.lvartsboxoffice.org. Seating is limited.