"The Music of Heaven on Earth" is the theme for the 107th Bethlehem Bach Festival, presented the first two weekends in May in Bethlehem.

Greg Funfgeld, Bach Choir of Bethlehem artistic director and conductor, has programmed works for May 2, 3, 9 and 10 from the most intimate of lute concerts Saturday mornings in the Saal of the Moravian Museum to the monumental "Mass in B Minor" Saturday afternoons in Lehigh University's Packer Memorial Church.

Bach cantatas, which are heard Friday afternoons and evenings in concert in Packer, range from musical gems written early in Bach's career in Mülhausen to heroic and grand works from the later cantata cycles written in Leipzig, Germany.

Audiences have a chance to see episodes from Bach's youth come to life Saturday mornings in Lehigh's Zoellner Arts Center in a one-act comic opera, "Young Meister Bach," written by composer Chuck Holdeman and librettist Bill Bly and commissioned by the Bach Choir.

Each weekend's Friday afternoon and evening concerts, May 2 and 9, are devoted to six Bach cantatas. Pre-concert lectures and dinner discussions are given by Dr. Michael Marissen and Dr. Larry Lipkis.

Festival soloists are Agnes Zsigovics and Rosa Lamoreaux, sopranos; Daniel Taylor, countertenor; Benjamin Butterfield, tenor; William Sharp, baritone; and Daniel Lichti, bass-baritone.

The Friday afternoon program begins with Cantata 106, "Gotteszeit ist die allerbeste Zeit" ("God's time is the very best time"). Soloists and an ensemble from the choir are accompanied by recorders, gambas and continuo. There's also Cantata 131.

The afternoon program includes the solo Cantata 56, performed by bass Daniel Lichti, celebrating his 40th anniversary as a professional singer. He sang Cantata 56 on a Bach Choir recording on the Dorian label.

On Friday evening, the full choir and orchestra perform on a grander scale with Cantatas 19 and 78, and close with the immortal Cantata 34, "O ewiges Feuer" ("O Eternal Flames"), written for the feast of Pentecost.

Saturday morning, May 3 and 10, feature Bach's popular "Coffee Cantata," sung in English, and "Young Meister Bach," which premiered In March at the choir's Family Concert and was performed in Philadelphia for the German Society of Pennsylvania's 250th anniversary.

With lively musical wit and imaginatively-staged drama, directed by Christopher Shorr, the opera brings to life the exploits of the young Bach as he embarks on his career at age 18.

Soloists are Jeffrey Chapman, baritone (J.S. Bach) Leslie Johnson, soprano (Maria Barbara Bach), Stephen Ng, (narrator, magistrate, and Walther); and Brian Ming Chu (Gyersbach, Buxtehude, count, and superintendent). Those attending the festival luncheon will be joined by the composer, librettist and some of the soloists.

Also on Saturday morning, May 3 and 10, the concert in the Saal of Moravian Museum features acclaimed lute duo Ronn McFarlane and William Simms performing music by Bach and his contemporaries.

On Saturday afternoon of each festival weekend, the program concludes with the time-honored tradition of Bach's "Mass in B Minor," treasured by people who return year after year to hear the Bach Choir's soul-stirring rendition of the great work and introduce it to new generations of listeners.

The Bethlehem Bach Festival was inaugurated in 1900 with the United States' premiere of Bach's "Mass in B Minor," performed in Central Moravian Church, Bethlehem.

The festival draws thousands from across the United States to Bethlehem to immerse themselves in the music of Bach. They enjoy the artistic excellence and joyful spirit of the Bach Choir, called "an American musical treasure," and Bach Festival Orchestra, as well as the beauty of the Lehigh University campus and Bethlehem.

Audiences appreciate world-renowned soloists chosen especially for their superlative work in the field of Bach's music. They also enjoy the reunions with family and friends, picnics and receptions, talks by distinguished scholars, the Festival Brass Choir, and the next generation of musicians as young violinists from the Lehigh Valley Suzuki program perform on Lehigh's University Center lawn prior to the Friday evening concert.

Tickets: bach.org, 610-866-4382, 888-743-3100

See Schedule: Page B2