“The point of our family concerts is both collaborating with our community partners and bringing different parts of the Lehigh Valley community together,” says Dr. Christopher Jackson, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem.

“I think that fairy tales capture the mind of the audience, no matter their age, and often have a broader point which is certainly the case in this tale, ‘The Nightingale,’ originally written by Hans Christian Anderson,” Jackson says.

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem presents “The Greg Funfgeld Family Concert: ‘The Nightingale,’” 3 p.m. Feb. 22, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem.

Anderson’s tale relates the story of a Chinese emperor who falls in love with a nightingale’s birdsong. A mechanical bird is created, which replicates this birdsong and replaces the nightingale. Eventually, the mechanical bird breaks down and the real nightingale returns to the palace to the joy of the emperor.

Says Jackson, “We are collaborating with Doug Roysdon and Mock Turtle Marionette Theater to present a musical and theatrical version of this fairy tale.

“The marionette puppets are so detailed and engaging to look at and the voice acting is spectacular,” Jackson says.

The Nightingale song is a famous harpsichord piece, “The Nightingale in Love,” by French Baroque composer Francois Couperin (1668-1733), and is performed by renowned recorder musician Tricia van Oers.

Greg Funfgeld, Bach Choir Artistic Director and Conductor Emeritus, joins on harpsichord, and The Bach Choir and Bach Choir Festival Orchestra present works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

“After the performance, there is a ‘meet and greet’ with the puppets to look at how they operate and the program book includes games, word searches and diagrams on how to play the Nightingale song on recorder,” says Jackson.

Established in 1978 as a touring children’s theater, Mock Turtle Marionette Theater has performed more than 4,000 shows, including multiple engagements at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and the New York Fringe Festival.

Under the direction of puppet-maker and Artistic Director Doug Roysdon, the theater has engaged in 20 educational and artistic collaborations, including major productions with Lehigh University, Bach Choir of Bethlehem and Touchstone Theatre.

Recorder musician Tricia van Oers received a Teacher’s and Performer’s Degree from Codarts University for the Arts, Rotterdam, Netherlands, and did graduate work at Indiana University’s Early Music Institute, Bloomington, Ind..

She has performed with Early Music New York, Trinity Baroque Orchestra and the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia. As a founding member of the Rotterdam-based recorder ensemble Scarabee, Van Oers recorded at the Great Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, France.

“The Greg Funfgeld Family Concert: The Nightingale,” The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, 3 p.m. Feb. 22, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, 420 W. Packer Avenue, Bethlehem. Tickets: box office; 610-758-2787, ext. 0; https://zoellner.cas.lehigh.edu/

“A lot of universities will do a concerto competition wherein one student generally wins and they get to perform with the orchestra,” says Kyle Wernke, Assistant Professor of Music and Lehigh University Philharmonic Director, adding, “Lehigh decided to do something special and give as many students as possible the opportunity to perform a concerto.”

Lehigh University Philharmonic presents “Concerto Marathon,” 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20, 21, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem.

“This is my second time conducting the Concerto Marathon and I am very excited about it. We have seven soloists this year,” says Wernke.

The program will be performed in its entirety at each performance.

Featured works are:

- “Le Chevaliers de l’Envie” (“The Knights of Envy”), a student composition inspired by works of Richard Wagner and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

- “Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25” (1831), by Felix Mendelssohn

- “Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in E-flat Major” (1803), by Johann Nepomuk Hummel

- “Romance in F minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 11” (1873-1877), by Antonin Dvorak

- “Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E minor” (1919), by Sir Edward Elgar

- “Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 24” (1811), by Carl Maria von Weber

- “Concerto for Horn and Orchestra in C minor, Op. 8” (1865/1882), by Franz Strauss, and

- “Concerto for Bass Tuba or Bass Trombone and Orchestra” (1994-1995/1997), by Eric Ewazen

The orchestra is comprised primarily of students with the addition of Dr. Michael Jorgensen, Concertmaster, Lehigh University Professor of Violin and Music Department Chair, and additional LU faculty members.

The concert closes with John Towner Williams’ “Theme from Jurassic Park” and “Adventures on Earth” from “E.T.”

“We decided that even though it’s a concerto marathon, we needed to end with something that was for the whole orchestra,” says Wernke.

“Concerto Marathon,” Lehigh University Philharmonic, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20, Feb 21, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, 420 W. Packer Avenue, Bethlehem. Tickets: box office; 610-758-2787, ext. 0; https://zoellner.cas.lehigh.edu/

“Classical View” is a column about classical music concerts, conductors and performers. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com