Published January 03. 2026 02:16AM<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are pleased to present our 42nd \u2018Twelfth Night Festival,\u2019 says Andrew Lutz-Long, Christ Lutheran Church Associate Music Director and \u201cTwelfth Night Festival\u201d Conductor, adding, \u201cMore than ever, we marvel and give thanks for those who support this program year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cTwelfth Night Festival\u201d is 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Jan. 10 and Jan. 11, Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown.<\/p>\n
There will be four rather than five performances. Explains Lutz-Long:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe realities of the annual festival is that it is more and more expensive to produce.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwelfth Night\u201d refers to the 12th night of Christmas, also known as the eve of Epiphany, the day that commemorates the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus as recounted in the Bible\u2019s New Testament. The \u201cTwelfth Night Festival\u201d is based on medieval pageants and feasts.<\/p>\n
The \u201cTwelfth Night Festival\u201d includes two new selections.<\/p>\n
The first is \u201cIn Bethlehem,\u201d by composers Dan Forrest and Erik Dewar, which contains a blend of contemporary choral writing incorporating \u201cangelic Alleluias.\u201d<\/p>\n
Says Lutz-Long, \u201cThe piece sets the scene for the Festival, which is the journey to the Nativity and calls to mind the realities of why God sends Christ into our midst.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second addition is \u201cForever Amen\u201d by Phil Wickham and Molly Ijames.<\/p>\n
The piece is a tender setting of \u201cAway in a Manger,\u201d \u201cgently enriched by soaring choral parts and woodwind accompaniment,\u201d says Lutz-Long. The carol is attributed to, but not written by Martin Luther.<\/p>\n
In addition to professional chamber musicians, William Allen High School Dancers and the City of Bethlehem Bagpipe and Drum Band are hundreds of community and congregation volunteers as cast members and in other capacities.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyond their time and dedication, members of the orchestra along with cast members generously donate to support Festival expenses,\u201d says Lutz-Long.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis, combined with the offerings and gifts from our wider community and regional business sponsors, are what commingle to make \u2018Twelfth Night\u2019 a reality. We are grateful and humbled to carry on this tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Festival organizers hope to deepen the community connection and welcome individuals interested in participating in future productions.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom its initiation, the Festival was designed to bring people together,\u201d says Lutz-Long, adding, \u201cThe cast and musicians come together for a week of fellowship and memorable music-making and the audiences conclude the season of Christmas with a visual and aural reminder of the Christmas message.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwelfth Night Festival,\u201d 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Jan. 10 and Jan. 11, Christ Lutheran Church, 1245 Hamilton St., Allentown. Reservations: info@christ-atown.org; 610-433-4271; https:\/\/www.christ-atown.org\/twelfth-night-festival<\/p>\n
\u201cClassical View\u201d is a column about classical music concerts, conductors and performers. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor pwillistein@tnonline.com<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY SHERI BAYNEIn the 2025 production of \u201cTwelfth Night Festival\u201d at Christ Lutheran, Allentown, Tom Lichner and Cheryl Lichner portrayed the Lord and Lady of the Manor.<\/p>\n
Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown.<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOSPrevious production of \u201cTwelfth Night Festival,\u201d Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown.<\/p>\n
Previous production of \u201cTwelfth Night Festival,\u201d Christ Lutheran Church, Allentown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published January 03. 2026 02:16AM \u201cWe are pleased to present our 42nd \u2018Twelfth Night Festival,\u2019 says Andrew Lutz-Long,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-76926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}