Welcome to the Web site of The Bach Chorale of Grand Rapids

2010 – 2011 Season

Fall Concert: Sunday, November 14, 2010, 7:30 PM, at Central Reformed Church, 10 College Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. The program will feature "Rejoice in the Lord Alway" and other choral selections by Henry Purcell, the "Schicksalslied" (Song of Fate) by Johannes Brahms, and the Mass op.147 by Robert Schumann.

Download Concert Ticket and CD Order Form

The Bach Chorale of Grand Rapids will also participate in the 2011 Grand Rapids Bach Festival, with a concert featuring a cantata and an instrumental concerto by Bach, and a second choral work to be determined.

CD Information
Our official CD, recorded in 2008-2009, is available for purchase. You may order it by printing the order form from our website, and mailing it to us.

Download Concert Ticket and CD Order Form

The Bach Chorale was originally assembled by Dr. Martin Werner to perform during the inaugural Grand Rapids Bach Festival in 1997. The chorale served as the core chorus in the 1999 Bach Festival performance of the Mass in B Minor and for the St. John Passion in 2001, under the direction of guest conductor Karl Hochreither.

Dr. Martin Werner studied orchestral conducting, cello and choral conducting in his native Germany before spending a year at California State University, Fullerton as a graduate student and student conductor of the University Singers. He received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Michigan in 1985 and later served as assistant chorus master for the Concert Choir for the City of Düsseldorf, Germany. He was chorus master of the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus from 1993 to 1999 and has also been choir director for several Grand Rapids churches. In 1997, he became music director and conductor for the Bach Chorale of St. Cecilia Music Center.

In the spring of 2009, the Bach Chorale was incorporated as The Bach Chorale of Grand Rapids. As of April 29, 2009, we have been confirmed as a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, able to receive tax-deductible contributions.

Rehearsals are on Wednesday nights from 7:30 to 9:30 PM at Central Reformed Church. The first rehearsal for our fall 2010 concert will be on September 8.

Auditions are held at the beginning of each term. For the 2010 fall term, auditions will take place on Wednesday, September 22, at the end of the rehearsal. However, the term will begin on Wednesday, September 8, with sectional rehearsals.

Experienced choral singers should contact Stephanie Wiltse via our contact form.