January 31, 2015

The Redding Bronze Concert is Today!

The Redding Bronze concert is today! Northern California’s premier handbell ensemble has been working hard to bring you an exciting one-hour concert of music you’ll enjoy. Larry is the guest director for this event, and the ringers have come from northern California, Oregon and Nevada to take part.

The Redding Bronze concert today will include a varied selection of handbell arrangements and original compositions. We hope you’ll enjoy Michael Joy’s Dorian Dance, Lee Afdahl’s beautiful arrangement of Beach Spring, and Paul McKlveen’s lively Guantanamera. The performance will take place at 4:00pm at First Presbyterian Church in Redding. There’s no charge for admission, but we’ll be taking a freewill offering to help with costs.

Any questions?

Redding Bronze is an annual event, hosted by the Carillons Handbell Choir, a Redding-based ensemble. Please contact us if you have any questions, or if you need more information about this event or future Redding Bronze events. You can also get in touch with us on our Facebook page, where will be posting photos from this year’s event. If we don’t have the answers, we can put you in touch with someone who can help. We hope to see you at the concert later today!

January 30, 2015

On our Way to Redding Bronze!

Today we’ll be taking a long road trip – from Mountain View to Redding – to take part in Redding Bronze. After spending nearly three years in a long-distance relationship, we think road trips together are fun – and we always look forward to this one. We’ll be driving for several hours, and will be stopping en route to search for Cherry Sours, our traditional road-trip snack. You’ll notice that they have no fat and no cholesterol – so they’re practically “health food”! Yeah, right. But we’re going to eat them anyway.

Redding Bronze is a fun and challenging handbell event! It takes place from Friday evening until Saturday evening, at First Presbyterian Church, 2315 Placer Street, Redding, CA 96001. Larry will be directing, and this year’s repertoire is as follows:

Moon Over the Ruined Castle – arr. Kazuko Okamoto
Beach Spring – arr. Lee Afdahl
Guantanamera – arr. Paul McKlveen and Ann Legarde
Knowing You – arr. Patricia Cota
Dorian Dance – Michael Joy
Festive Peal -Karen Thompson
I Will Arise and Go to Jesus – arr. Larry Sue
Diademata Festal – arr. Bill Ingram

There’s a public concert on Saturday at 4:00pm, and admission is free. If you’re anywhere near the Redding area, we’d love to see you there!

January 27, 2015

New Music for Handbells – Grizzly’s Peak – for 8 Bells

Here’s a new piece for eight handbells, recorded at the Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert on January 23rd. This new piece has been a lot of fun to learn! Its title is Grizzly’s Peak, but there’s a more familiar tune not-so-well hidden in there.

If you’d like to play Grizzly’s Peak, it’s available for purchase from Choraegus. It’s not essential to wear a bear costume when performing the piece, but it helps. Okay, maybe it doesn’t. But you’ll still enjoy playing this piece, which your audience will surely recognize as The Bear Went Over the Mountain.

Information about buying Choraegus music

Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell ensemble – so you only need to pay once. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Please note that our music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail.

If you haven’t purchased music online from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide, designed to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

Any questions for us?

If you have any questions about our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. Please contact us if you don’t find the answers you’re looking for, and we’ll do what we can to help!

January 26, 2015

Thank You to Everyone Who Came to the Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert

A huge “thank you” to everyone who came to the Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert in Menlo Park last Friday! We had a great evening, and very much enjoyed the opportunity to hear Angela Kraft Cross on the organ. Dr Kraft Cross has given over four hundred concerts across the United States. She has also performed in Canada, England, Holland, France, Hungary, Lesotho and Guam. To say she’s an experienced performer would be an understatement!

It was encouraging to have such a large audience in the church on Friday evening. These benefit concerts are a wonderful way to support the valuable work of the Alzheimer’s Association. We’re grateful to T. Paul Rosas, organist at Los Altos United Methodist Church, for inviting us to be a part of this fundraising effort.

Here’s a picture of us in the church before the concert, with Angela Kraft Cross.

concert in Menlo Park - handbells and organ

Over the next few days we’ll be posting more photos and video excerpts from the concert in Menlo Park. You’ll be able to see them here on our website, and on Facebook and YouTube. If you couldn’t attend the concert, it’s not too late to make a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association. Contact us to find out how, and we’ll put you in touch with the concert organiser. Alternatively, you might enjoy taking part in a local Walk for Alzheimer’s event near you!

We’re looking forward to the next Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert. We’ll let you know when it will be happening!

January 14, 2015

Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert on January 23rd!

Don’t miss the Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert on Friday, January 23rd!

If you love handbells… or if you love organ music… or if you know someone with Alzheimer’s Disease… these are all great reasons to come to this concert. In fact, who needs a reason to go to a concert? Even if you have no particular reason to leave your house on that Friday evening, we’d still love to see you at St Bede’s Episcopal Church in Menlo Park.

We’ll be teaming up with talented organist Angela Kraft Cross to present a varied selection of music. You’ll hear handbell pieces ranging from classical arrangements to hymns and Irish jigs. This Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert is sponsored by the San Jose and PA/Peninsula chapters of the American Guild of Organists. Admission is free, and there will be a free-will offering to support the work of the Alzheimer’s Association.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact us. If we can’t help, we’ll be happy to put you in touch with someone who can. Please feel free to share the concert flyer. Tell your friends and family about the performance, and help us spread the word. We look forward to seeing you on Friday evening!