The 18th Moravian Music Festival and Seminar was held in conjunction with the 250th Anniversary of Moravians in Bethlehem, June 22-28, 1992. Richard Schantz was conductor, with Monica Schantz, associate; Jeffrey Reynolds and James Earl Barnes were band directors. Public events included …
- Monday, June 22, A Service of Song and Prayer, Central Moravian Church
- Tuesday, June 23, 5:15 p.m., miniconcert by “The Soul Survivors”, from John Hus Moravian Church in Brooklyn, in Foy Concert Hall, Moravian College
- Tuesday, June 23, evening, “Historical Potpourri”
- Wednesday, June 24, 5:15 p.m., miniconcert featuring Janice Fiore, soprano, Robin Kani, flute, and Martha Schrempel, piano, in Foy Concert Hall, Moravian College
- Wednesday, June 24, 8:00 p.m., “Archive Gems” concert in Foy Concert Hall, Moravian College
- Thursday, June 25, 5:00 and 8:00 p.m., Festival Chorus concert in Central Moravian Church (the choir was so big, and expected turnout so large, that 2 performances were deemed necessary!)
- Friday, June 26, 5:15 p.m., Children’s Concert, the result of the children’s music program led by Frances Schrempel in Foy Concert Hall, Moravian College
- Friday, June 26, 7:30 p.m., Festival Band Concert in the Community Arts Pavilion
- Saturday, June 27, 5:00 and 8:00 p.m., Festival Chorus concert in Central Moravian Church
- Sunday, June 28, 3:30 p.m., Anniversary Celebration Lovefeast, Community Arts Pavilion
Guest artists included Janice Fiore, soprano; David Price, tenor; and Jeffrey Kneebone, baritone. The Festival commissioned a choral work by Alice Parker, Harmonious Herbst, based on 5 selections from Herbst’s Hymns to Be Sung at the Pianoforte. The choral concerts also featured Graun’s Passion cantata, A Lamb Goes Forth, in its first performance in English; and Giannini’s Canticle of the Martyrs, commissioned for the 1957 quincentennial celebration of the founding of the Moravian Church and performed at the festival in that year.
Seminars and workshops were varied and interesting, including …
- Worship planning and the new Moravian hymnal (4 sessions), led by various members of the Interprovincial Hymnal Committee and consultants. (The Moravian Book of Worship was published in 1995.)
- Music and art from the apocrypha, led by James J. Heller
- “Swap Shop” for church musicians
- Trombonicus Moraviana, led by Jeffrey Reynolds
- Learning to Worship: A New Way with Preschoolers, led by Robyn J. Szoke
- Life in Early Bethlehem (3 sessions), led by Daniel R. Gilbert, Sr. and Paul Larson
The Festival was led by an executive committee with Theodore Hartmann and Martha Schrempel, co-chairs; Mollee Santee, recording secretary, and executive committee members Monica Schantz, Richard Schantz, Alma Schlenker, and Robert Steelman. Seminar chairs were James J. Heller, Otto Dreydoppel, Jr., and Margaret Sipple. A great many other folks were actively involved in making this complex festival “work” – a festival which involved transportation between north and south campuses of Moravian College multiple times each day, a large registration, and the use of many different facilities!
