Celebrate the musical heritage of Ephrata on Sunday, October 8, with special concerts by the Ephrata Cloister Chorus in the historic 1741 Saal (Meetinghouse).
Historic Ephrata Cloister, the foundation of the modern borough of Ephrata, is located at 632 W. Main Street, Ephrata. The Chorus, under the direction of Mark Herr and accompanied by Juliet Mitton, will offer a selection of music written in colonial Ephrata and from other early American communities, including the Amish and Moravians.
The concerts at 2:00 and 3:00 are included with admission to the site. Tours of the historic buildings will be 
provided at 12:30 and 2:00 and will conclude in time for the concerts that follow.
Admission to the site and the concert is $10, with discounts for seniors, AAA, active military, and children. Admission is free for members of the Ephrata Cloister Associates.
Featured in the program will be two Cloister Chorales as arranged by Dr. Russell Getz and a third Cloister piece transcribed in 1986 by a college professor/concert pianist who came in from the West to do research on Ephrata Music in 1986. This will be the first time that “Der Abend Kommt” has been performed at the Cloister in over 40 years. The text of the third piece was written by the Reformed poet and mystic Gerhard Tersteegen whose texts are frequently found in Cloister Music.
The Chorus will also be performing the “Loblied” a hymn found in the world’s oldest continuously used hymnal, The Ausbund. This hymn is sung at every Sunday worship service of the Amish. The hymn “How Can I Keep from Singing” was composed by the Rev. Robert Lowry in the 19th century and arranged by Jeffrey Honore. “O Taeler Weit, O Hoehen,” as composed by Felix Mendelssohn, talks of the beauty of nature and the blessings found in one’s daily life. Rounding out the program will be a piece of Moravian music…”Praise Ye the Lord.”