Classical Music Concert May 17 in Moorestown

Don’t miss the West Jersey Chamber Music Society’s annual Bach Festival classical music concert on Sunday, May 17, 7:30 p.m., at the First Presbyterian Church in Moorestown.

Serving as music director for several important German Lutheran churches in Leipzig and elsewhere throughout the 1700s, Bach wrote more than 200 cantatas, which include among them some of the most brilliantly crafted and soul-stirring compositions of his career.

The West Jersey Chamber Symphony & Chorale and the First Presbyterian Church Adult Choir join forces to perform four of these cantatas as part of the annual “Bach Festival.”

These include No. 171 “Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm” and No. 172 “Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten!,” a rumination on the theme of intimacy between God and Man (and a personal favorite of Bach’s).

Also on the program are No. 29 “Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir” plus the gorgeous, yet controversial, No. 50 “Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft” -- a “lost cantata” whose true authorship Bach scholars have long debated.

The concert is in the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church, 101 Bridgeboro Road, Moorestown. Tickets are available at the door for $20 ($15 for seniors and $10 for students).

For more information visit wjcms.org or for details about tickets or group sales, call 609-502-1439.