Bach Choir to represent Pa. in 9/11 concert

By John J. Moser

BETHLEHEM, PA — The Bach Choir of Bethlehem has been chosen to
represent Pennsylvania in a series of New York City concerts to
commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the choir
announced Friday.

The choir will be among just four choirs to perform at the
12-hour event Sept. 9 at the historic St. Paul’s Chapel, adjacent
to ground zero in Lower Manhattan.

It will be part of a weeklong “Remembering to Love” event that
will culminate in President Barack Obama’s Sept. 11 dedication of
the Reflecting Pools at Memorial Plaza. Details of the weeklong
commemoration are to be released after the Fourth of July.

Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan has recommended the city
contribute $5,000 to help defray he Bach Choir’s trip expenses of
$65,000. City Council’s Finance Committee will consider the
recommendation Monday.

Callahan said it “is an extraordinary honor for the Bach Choir
and for the City of Bethlehem as our nation remembers the thousands
of brave men and women who lost their lives on and following Sept.
11, 2001.”

In addition to the 95-member Bach Choir, the commemoration’s
lead organization, Trinity Church Wall Street, will have its own
choir perform. Others will be the Washington Chorus, which Trinity
Choir’s Julian Wachner also conducts, and The Copley singers of
Boston.

Bach Choir Executive Director Bridget George said it was
Wachner’s idea to have four choirs represent the cities and states
most profoundly affected by the attacks.