Bach in December: Hearts and Voices

Bach Society Houston is performing Bach in December: Hearts and Voices at Christ the King Lutheran Church on Saturday, December 12. It's a mid-afternoon concert, running from 3 PM to 4:15 PM, and it's built around two of Bach's most beloved cantatas: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61, and Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147. The program is crowned by one of his most famous melodies, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.

Both cantatas are performed live and unamplified, which is the acoustic delivery the Bach Society Houston favors for its winter audience. The society bills the concert as "the calm center of December," and the program leans into that—pairing two well-known works and finishing with a melody that most people recognize even if they've never stepped foot in a concert hall. Hearing them without microphones changes the experience; you're listening to voices and instruments in the room, not through a sound system.

The venue is Christ the King Lutheran Church, 2353 Rice Blvd., in Rice Village. Tickets are $35 general and $10 for students. With the 3 PM start, it's a Saturday afternoon outing rather than a late-night one, and the whole thing wraps up by 4:15 PM.