Bethel Concert Series

 

Previous Shows:

A Mozart Celebration

 

Sun, Nov 30 | 2 pm

Bethel will present its final music series event of 2025, a celebration of the music of Wolfgang Mozart. The program will include famous works by Mozart for piano solo and orchestra, violin solo and orchestra, and vocalists and orchestra. The orchestra will consist of 15 professional musicians from the Madison area.

Free and open to the public – youth, families, young adults highly encouraged to attend!

Special thanks to the Bethel Foundation for their support.

WI Chamber Orchestra Handel’s Messiah

 

Friday, Nov 21 | 7 pm • Saturday, Nov 22 | 2 pm

Join the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Festival Choir of Madison for a favorite holiday tradition. Written in just 24 days by George Frideric Handel, Messiah is considered the most performed classical piece of music worldwide. Although based on religious texts, the message remains universal, and Handel intended it to be performed in the concert hall.

 

The Association of Church Musicians (ACM)

An Ecumenical Choral Evensong

Sunday, Nov 16 | 5 pm Bethel Sanctuary

You are invited to attend this beautiful service of sung evening prayer, featuring a combined choir of singers from several ACM member churches. The Association of Church Musicians is a community of churches and individuals whose purpose is to cultivate and enrich sacred music in worship across South Central Wisconsin. As the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), ACM offers opportunities for all who serve through art and music—collaborating to energize, mentor, and inspire all generations through education, performance, and fellowship.

Worship leaders include Pastor John Worzala Dumke, Officiant/Precentor; Don Horisberger, Choir Director; and Bethel’s Stephen Self, Organist. Come and experience this rich tradition of Choral Evensong, rooted in the historic prayers of Vespers and Compline. Free event. All are welcome!

 

The Bethel Choir presents Rutter’s Requiem

Sun, Nov 2 | 2 pm

The Bethel Choir will presents John Rutter’s beloved Requiem accompanied by a small ensemble of instruments. The Requiem uses texts from the traditional Latin service as well as related texts from the English Book of Common Prayer. The concert will be a meaningful contribution to the observance of All Saints’ Sunday, a reminder of the heritage in which we share.

Free and open to the public – youth, families, young adults highly encouraged to attend!

Special thanks to the Bethel Foundation for their support.

Section Leaders Recital – Sun, Oct 12 | 2 pm

Bethel will host a recital featuring our four choir section leaders. All four are students at UW in vocal performance, and they are exceptional in their musical abilities. The program will include a wide variety of repertoire, including classical solos, American folk music, and Broadway songs. You will be glad you came to hear these gifted singers and their music. The concert is free, and a reception will follow.

Free event and open to the public!

Special thanks to the Bethel Foundation for their support.

Stephen Self Organ Recital

Sunday, Sept 28 | 2 pm

Bethel Lutheran Church will host a special piano recital featuring our own Director of Music, Stephen Self. The afternoon program will highlight masterworks by Bach, Duruflé, Reger, and other renowned composers, offering a rich musical journey for all who attend. Following the recital, guests are invited to a reception in the Emmaus Room to greet Stephen and enjoy fellowship together.

Stephen brings a wealth of talent and experience to this performance. He holds doctorates in both music history and organ performance and is known not only as a skilled organist but also as a frequent soloist and collaborator on the piano. His artistry and deep knowledge of music promise to make this recital both inspiring and memorable.

We are grateful to the Bethel Endowment Fund for their generous support of this event, which allows us to share the gift of music with our congregation and community. Mark your calendars, invite a friend, and join us for this afternoon of outstanding music and warm fellowship at Bethel.

Free event and open to the public!

Special thanks to the Bethel Foundation for their support.

 

 

All events are at 2:00 pm. You are most cordially invited to attend. Please spread the good word about these musical opportunities:

Sunday, June 1st | 2:00 pm in the Sanctuary

Free Event!

Violinist Wes Luke and cellist Alex Chambers-Ozasky will join pianist Stephen Self in several masterworks for piano-violin-cello trio (commonly referred to as “piano trio”). The program will commence with a famous trio by Haydn, sometimes labelled the “Gypsy Trio,” because its last movement seems to have been inspired by melodies Haydn heard performed by folk musicians.

Following that, the trio will play one of Rachmaninoff’s great works for small ensemble, the Trio élégiaque No. 1. This beautiful work shows Rachmaninoff’s lyrical and rich harmonic style, complete with melodies that seem to have been inspired by Russian folk music.

The final work on the program will be one of the most famous works in the repertoire, Franz Schubert’s Trio No. 2 for Piano, Violin and Cello. Schubert is particularly known for his lyrical song melodies, and this masterwork is replete with rich melodic writing, but it also reveals a virtuosic side to Schubert’s instrumental style. All three instruments engage in virtuosic playing, all within an opulent Romantic style.

The program is free of charge. Please join us and bring friends to this outstanding event. The Bethel Concert Series thanks the Bethel Endowment Foundation for their generous support.

 

Saturday, April 26 10:30 AM

Free Event!

Bethel will host Luther College’s Cathedral Choir for a concert performance. The choir, directed by Dr. Mark Potvin, is composed of sophomores, juniors, and seniors from the College, all of whom bring skill and dedication to their performances.

This year’s tour, themed “In Which We Have Our Life and Breath,” explores the many relationships we experience—our connections with the divine, the natural world, and one another. The program features a wide variety of musical selections, including sacred, classical, and contemporary pieces.

Whether you are a longtime fan of choral music or attending for the first time, this concert promises to be an inspiring and memorable event.

 

Music of Schubert, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven

Mar 2 | 2pm in the Sanctuary

Trevor Stephenson, Artistic Director of the Madison Bach Musicians, will bring his Viennese-style 18th-century fortepiano—the type of concert instrument on which Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert all performed—for this fascinating program of solo keyboard music and songs. Joining Mr. Stephenson for sets of Lieder by Schubert and Haydn is internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Clara Ozowski.

 

 

 

2025 Bethel Concert Series

Feb 16 | 2pm in the Sanctuary

Bethel will be filled with the sounds of an orchestra playing masterworks by Vivaldi, Bach, and others. An orchestra will accompany trumpet, piano, violin, and vocal soloists in outstanding works from the eighteenth century. This first event in our 2025 Bethel Concert Series will be particularly memorable. Please join us for this free musical celebration.

Concerts are sponsored by the
Bethel Endowment Foundation.

Admission is free, all are welcome.