What Is the Moravian Music Foundation and What Does It Offer?

The Moravian Music Foundation (MMF) is an organization dedicated to preserving, sharing, and celebrating Moravian music from the 17th and 18th centuries to the present. Based on its stated mission, it serves the Moravian Church, musicians, researchers, educators, and audiences by producing resources, publishing music, creating recordings and video, presenting concerts, and offering classes, lectures, and workshops. If you are looking for Moravian music materials, research tools, worship resources, or ways to get involved as a performer, the Foundation is the central place to start.

Who the Foundation Serves

The Foundation describes its audience broadly:

• The Moravian Church — through worship resources and music for congregational use
• Musicians — through published music, recordings, and performance opportunities
• Researchers — through catalogs, finding aids, and archival collections
• Educators — through classes, lectures, and workshops
• Audiences — through concerts, programs, and recordings

Core Activities

The Foundation's work centers on a few connected areas:

Preserving and Sharing Moravian Music

This is the Foundation's stated purpose: keeping historic Moravian music accessible and bringing it to current audiences.

Publishing Music

The Foundation publishes music and makes scores available. One example from its site is the Charles Fussell score for Specimen Days, a cantata for baritone solo, chorus, and orchestra (1992). A piano/vocal score PDF is available, and the site notes that upon ordering, the PDF is sent by email to the purchaser. Full biographical information can be found in the Finding Aid for the Charles Fussell Collection at MMF.

Recordings and Video

The Foundation creates recordings and video. One example is a recording of Moravian hymns played on banjo by Rev. Adam Goodrich, available through streaming, downloads, and CDs.

Concerts and Events

The Foundation presents concerts, programs, classes, and workshops, including events from its office in Bethlehem, PA, specific to the Lehigh Valley area and throughout the Northern Province.

Worship Resources

For worship leaders, the Foundation provides materials such as Moravian Music Sunday, celebrated on the fifth Sunday of Easter. The 2026 observance is dated May 3, 2026, with resources and materials for worship leaders. The Foundation frames this around the idea that music is a means of proclaiming the Gospel.

A related historical resource is The Psalm of Joy, a service of word and music created by the Moravians in Salem, NC, for July 4, 1783, as part of the first official Independence celebration, giving thanks to God for the end of the Revolutionary War. The Foundation connects this to the America 250 commemoration (1776–2026).

Discovery Tools and Access

The Foundation offers discovery tools, catalogs, and listings of upcoming events and concerts. These are the practical entry points for:

• Finding music in the catalog
• Locating research materials and finding aids
• Checking upcoming concerts and events
• Accessing worship resources

How to Get Involved

One documented opportunity is singing with the Unitas Chorale, a performing ensemble of the Moravian Music Foundation specializing in music of Moravian composers from the past and present. The Foundation's site includes a call for singers.

Other ways to engage, based on the Foundation's described activities, include attending concerts and events, using its resources as a worship leader or educator, and drawing on its publications and recordings as a musician or researcher.

Quick Reference

To decide how to engage, start with the specific need: worship leaders should look at Moravian Music Sunday resources; researchers and musicians at the catalog and discovery tools; performers at the Unitas Chorale; and general audiences at upcoming concerts and recordings.