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In 1993, Greg Funfgeld, conductor of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, was looking for a way to connect with the town’s young people. Rather than trying to get them to come to concerts, Funfgeld and a group of the Choir’s singers and orchestra players decided to go to where the kids were.
In a series of school assemblies called Bach to School, the musicians give students an hour long guided tour of the life and music of J.S. Bach. With Funfgeld as the enthusiastic pied piper, even children with no previous exposure to classical music are mesmerized. As one student said after an assembly: “I bet Bach was an awesome dude.” See the assembly in action.
“We hope to spark in students a life-long love of choral and classical music, and particularly knowledge of Bach,” Bridget George, the Bach Choir’s executive director said. “A live encounter is essential for that.”
Bach to School presents eight assembly programs every school year (in November and February each lasting approximately one hour) in school districts throughout Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and in the surrounding region.
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| Jonah, a third-grade student in Bethlehem School District, gets creative at Bach to School. |
Each year, the assemblies reach more than 5,000 students. George estimates some 90,000 students have been touched by the program in the 28 years of its existence.
How Does It Work?
Bach to School creates different versions of the assembly for elementary, middle, and high schools. All Lehigh Valley school districts may apply to participate in the program on a rotating basis. Two of the largest urban school districts have incorporated Bach to School into their music curriculum—in Bethlehem for all third graders and in Allentown for all fifth graders—and participate every year.
The Choir provides in-service training sessions and resource materials—including books, videos, CDs, and sample lesson plans—that school music teachers use to prepare their students for the assembly programs. Lesson plans on Bach are geared for three different levels: elementary, middle, and high school. Lessons plans are available on the Bach Choir website.
The pre-curriculum materials focus not only on Bach’s life and times, but also on such topics as how to listen and be an audience for classical music.
An ensemble of approximately 30 singers and 15 instrumentalists, conducted by Funfgeld, present the assembly programs. The musicians typically perform seven Bach pieces, ranging from intimate chamber pieces, to choral works, to Swingle arrangements, and Funfgeld guides a dialogue with the students about them.
The heart of the program is the section where the "Gloria" from the Mass in B Minor is taken apart voice by voice and instrument by instrument, then put back together again to demonstrate the genius of Bach’s fugal writing and orchestration.
“Greg talks about the music as conversation among friends,” George said. “He will illicit questions about dialogue between instruments, and will constantly come back to the importance of listening—how the musicians listen to each other, and how they, the audience, must listen. He affirms their listening powers.”
Funfgeld helps children to see the parallels between music, academics, sports, and their own personal lives by talking about the emotions and creativity of the music, the fruits of practice, and the joy of working together on something that you love.
What Are the Essential Elements?
Building and maintaining strong relationships with the schools has been key, George said. “We have many professionals in the music world in our choir,” she said, “and many of them actually teach music in the schools. So it was a natural way to begin building those relationships in the schools.”
Equipping teachers in the schools to prepare students for Bach to School has also been an important way of embedding the program. “Bach Choir members used to do the preparation work with students,” George said, “but now we help train teachers to do that, which means they become even more invested in the program.”
The careful preparation means that students are not just attending another assembly but are primed and excited about the “live” event. “It is a very interactive program,” George said, “and the students get excited because they know some of the answers already. And they are provoked by the live experience to ask really amazing questions.”
Bach to School would not exist without the dedication of the professional Bach Festival orchestra members, who make these programs a priority and The Bach Choir’s volunteer singers, who take time off from work and other obligations to participate in the assemblies. “Our musicians get a tremendous amount out of seeing the difference they are making in these kids lives,” George said.
| Bach’s Sounds Dravin Warren, student |
| The orchestra sounds like animals. Oboes sound like an elephant, like his trunk is his horn. Violins are very sad like someone lost their best friend. Cellos sound like explorers lowered on an elevator down to the tunnel to search for gold. They found the gold. Now they buy the world’s best organ. They play. It sounds as loud as a tiger roar. |
How Is the Program Funded?
Out of an annual budget of $1 million, the Bach Choir expends $175,000 for all of its educational outreach programs, including Bach to School, the Family Concert, and the popular free concerts, Bach at Noon, held on second Tuesdays at Central Moravian Church in downtown Bethlehem.
How Does the Program Measure Its Effectiveness?
The response of participants in Bach to School is the main source of feedback. The Bach Choir surveys students and teachers and many also voluntarily write letters to describe their experience.
An education outreach committee, which includes teachers at all levels from grade school through college, also regularly evaluates the program and generates new ideas.
What Are the Challenges?
Bach to School is offered free to schools, but maintaining corporate funding has been difficult in the economic downturn, George said. “A number of the corporate funders we depend on have significantly reduced their funding, but we are very fortunate that individual and foundation donations for the program have increased.”
Schools are also struggling with cutbacks. “In some districts, all money for field trips and assemblies has been cut,” George said. “In some areas, we are subsidizing that cost. We don’t want these programs to be harmed.”
The Bach Choir sometimes has difficulty finding dates for its school assemblies. With testing requirements and other obligations, schools often have little discretionary time to devote to “extra” events. “It is a big plus that some schools have been willing to build Bach to School into their curriculum,” George said.
Another challenge is keeping students engaged with the Bach Choir in between assemblies. Toward that end, the Choir offers every student participant two complimentary tickets to a Bach Choir concert.
The Choir also presents an annual Family Concert combining Bach music with other disciplines, such as drama, dance, poetry, or the visual arts. Students create poems or art projects in response to their Bach “listenings,” which are woven into the performances at the Family Concert.
Guest artists participating in the Bach Choir’s annual Bach Festival often do demonstrations in the schools, giving students another opportunity to engage with the music.
What Has Bethlehem Bach Choir Learned?
Build on personal connections. “We had teachers in the Bach Choir, and school principals, and even a school superintendent,” George said. “Those personal connections were important in the beginning and continue to be important.”
Invite teachers to be true partners. Training teachers to deliver the pre-assembly curriculum has gone a long way toward building their buy-in and commitment, George said.
Make sure the program interfaces with other things you do. “Bach to School is one facet of our education outreach,” George said. “If a child goes to an assembly in third grade and that is the last time she hears of the Bach Choir, that’s sad. Once you spark enthusiasm, you need to provide other opportunities.”
Can Other Choruses Do Something Like This?
“Just do it,” George urges. “It is worth every investment of time and money in terms of developing audience and singers for future. On every level, the rewards are beyond measure.”
