Mount Bethel, Home to Well-Known Performers and Artists

Upper and Lower Mt. Bethel Townships have always been known as peaceful, relaxing areas along the Delaware River, but did you know they have been the home of some well known musical and performing artists?

Several well known performers and creators live in or have called the greater Mount Bethel area their home, including:

Famous orchestral arranger Arthur Harris enjoyed a six acre studio a short ride from the Delaware River. Harris created many of the best-known arrangements performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under conductor Eugene Ormandy, along with many other world-class performance pieces. He and his wife lived in an expanded stone home with a second-story music studio overlooking a field and eventually a swimming pool. We sold his home but the music lives on.

Some of the great music from the animated Disney cartoons of the late 1980s was created on a 26-acre farmette where the songwriting team of Ashman and Menken sometimes worked from a loft studio. The pair were responsible for many all-time classics, including "Aladdin," "Beauty and the Beast" and the "Little Mermaid." The farmette is in a secluded location a short distance from the Delaware River. Another location we sold but one in which you can still hear faint echoes of amazing music.

Much of the music from the "Schoolhouse Rock" television series was created by long-time resident Bob Dorough. Perhaps you recognize these titles: "Three Is a Magic Number", "Figure Eight", "Conjunction Junction", "Preamble" and "I'm Just a Bill". Dorough is a regular on the jazz performance circuit and a star  performer at the annual Delaware Celebration of the Arts jazz festival in Delaware Water Gap.

Actor Peter Coyote, who has appeared in more than 130 film and television movies, spent part of his youth on a farm not far from where the Appalachian Trail crosses the northern part of Northampton County in Upper Mount Bethel Township. Coyote had featured roles in classics such as "E.T., The Extra Terrestrial," "A Walk to Remember," and "Patch Adams." He's still busy making great movies.

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