Greg Funfgeld

Greg Funfgeld has been artistic director and conductor of The Bach Choir of Bethlehem since 1983. He has expanded the programs of The Bach Choir beyond the annual Bach Festival to become a year-round season of 31 concerts and educational programs with an audience of more than 20,000. Greg led The Choir on two major concert tours, to Germany in 1995 including the Herkulessaal at Munich’s Royal Residence and the Thomaskirche, Bach’s church in Leipzig and to the United Kingdom in 2003 including a performance for the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall. He also directed The Choir’s Centennial performances at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall in 1999-2000. Most recently he directed The Choir in performances at Saint Paul’s Chapel and Trinity Church, Wall Street as part of a series of concerts entitled Remember to Love, presented in observance of the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. Commissioned works during his tenure have included Libby Larsen’s Cantata I It Am – The Shewings of Julian of Norwich, co-commissioned with the BBC Proms, and Stephen Paulus’ A Dream of Time, commissioned in honor of Funfgeld’s 25th anniversary with The Bach Choir and included in the Songs of Hope recording for Analekta in 2011. Under Funfgeld’s leadership, The Choir has released 12 recordings, most recently the Saint John Passion on the Analekta label (2012), and co-produced two films—the PBS documentary, Make a Joyful Noise, and the internationally distributed Classical Kids’ DVD, Mr. Bach Comes to Call. He is the architect and director of the Choir’s outstanding educational outreach programs, including Bach to School, Bach at Noon and the annual interdisciplinary Family Concert. Funfgeld is a member of the advisory board of The American Bach Society and also serves as the director of music at First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem. He is a 1976 graduate of Westminster Choir College, where he studied under Dr. Joseph Flummerfelt. In 1986, he received the Alumni Merit Award for excellence in musical performance. In 2007, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Lehigh University in recognition of his musical accomplishments locally, nationally, and internationally.