Central Moravian Church to Host Free Christmas Concert

Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem will host a free Advent and Christmas Concert on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 1:30 p.m., featuring choral and instrumental music.

The concert will open with an organ prelude, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence/Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” arranged by Rebecca Lepore, Minister of Music at Central Moravian Church. Lepore will also perform several pieces on the church’s Möller Opus 8650 organ, including “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” “Walking in the Air” and “Skater’s Waltz.”

The Central Moravian choir will perform “Morning Star in Darkest Night” by Georg Friedrich von Hellström and “Festival Nowell” by Dan Forrest. The choir will sing “Morning Star in Darkest Night” by Georg Friedrich von Hellström (1825-1912), a Dutch-born Moravian composer, organist and violist who served a Moravian congregation in Denmark. Mainstreet Brass, the resident ensemble at Central Moravian, will perform Advent and Christmas hymns and carols. The audience will join in singing “Jesus Call Thou Me,” a hymn sung on Christmas Eve in 1741 when Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf famously named Bethlehem.

The concert will end with an organ and brass rendition of Samuel Scheidt’s “In dulci jubilo.”

“Central Moravian Church is happy to open its doors and invite the Lehigh Valley and visitors to Bethlehem to enjoy carols and fellowship as we prepare for the busy Christmas season,” said Lepore.

“We hope this gift to our community will help spread the message of God’s love through music and word,” she added. “Our annual concert will be even more meaningful this year as we join together in a historic church recently listed with worldwide Moravian Church Settlements as a UNESCO World Heritage site.”

Founded in 1742, Central Moravian Church is Bethlehem’s first congregation and the oldest Moravian Church in North America. United by various backgrounds and traditions, today’s congregation experiences God’s love in a caring, respectful and inclusive atmosphere. The church is known for its rich musical tradition and hosts a full schedule of concerts annually.

Doors open at 1 p.m. for the Advent and Christmas Concert. For a complete listing of Advent and Christmas activities at Central Moravian Church, visit CentralMoravianChurch.org.

This local news story was reported with generative AI assistance.