Here’s a little video of our warm-up session at the Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland, where we played duets at their Annual Night of Remembrance on December 9th. Apologies for the background noise (which does improve slightly as the video goes on). We made this recording while people were running around, setting everything up for the evening’s event.
We enjoy playing our handbell duets at the Chapel of the Chimes. It’s a beautiful building, and this annual event is always enjoyable and moving.
Nearly at the end of our holiday performances
We’re coming to the end of our Christmas and holiday performances now. We’ll be performing at a private holiday party on Saturday. Afterwards, we’ll be playing at the Sundar Shadi Holiday Display in El Cerrito, returning for a second performance on December 23rd. The Holiday Display is an outdoor event, and we can’t play our handbells in the rain. Please keep an eye on our Facebook page for any changes, postponements or cancellations in the event of bad weather.
Would you like to book us for a holiday event?
Perhaps it’s too late to book us for a holiday event this year, but it’s never too early to plan for next year! If you’re organising a Christmas event, and you’d like to consider handbell music, please get in touch with us!
It’s been another busy week of handbell duet performances for us! We played at the Salvation Army Kettle here in Mountain View, and at fun holiday events in Palo Alto and Los Altos. We also had another opportunity to play our handbells at the Annual Night of Remembrance at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland.
Have we mentioned how much we love playing handbells at the Chapel of the Chimes? The Night of Remembrance is always a very special evening. People gather together to remember loved ones who are no longer with us, and to light candles and celebrate lives. The building itself is a beautiful place. It has Gothic-style architecture and intricate stonework that reminds Carla of much older churches and cathedrals in England.
There’s also a Christmas tree that looks like this:
We played two pieces during the service itself: The Water is Wide (also known as The Gift of Love) and Moreton Bay. Then we moved our bells to the area beside the beautiful Christmas tree. There, we played a selection of Christmas carols and holiday music while guests enjoyed refreshments.
Did we mention the spectacular Christmas tree?
More holiday performances ahead!
Our weekend will continue with performances at the German Christmas Market in Mountain View. We’re also looking forward to our concert with VoiceWorks in Redwood City tomorrow. And on Monday, we’ll be taking a nap – unless another booking arrives! Yes, we’re still available for last-minute bookings in the run-up to Christmas. Contact us if you’d like to book us for your event!
What do you do when it’s the Fourth of July, and you’ve finished eating party food and having fun with family and friends? The answer is… play handbell duets, of course!
An impromptu handbell duet performance
We were in Hayward, California for a family gathering, and we decided we needed to burn off some of the calories we’d consumed at lunch time. We were driving in the direction of home, and noticed the Chapel of the Chimes. Suddenly looked like a great location for a Concert With No Audience!
The Chapel of the Chimes is a 61-acre cemetery, crematorium and funeral home complex. It didn’t appear that we’d be disturbing anyone with our music, so we set up our table and bells. We played duets for around forty minutes! It was a great opportunity to play through some of the music for our visit to Los Altos Lutheran Church the following day. We also brought out some of the older pieces we hadn’t played for a very long time!
We had the usual interesting challenges that go with outdoor performances – a strong breeze, traffic noise, and even some festive firecrackers! The location and the sunshine also made it a very stripy-looking performance, as you can see from the video!
The following pieces are on the video:
America, the Beautiful
Come, Christians, Join to Sing
Drink to Me Only
Beautiful Dreamer
A Mighty Fortress
Moreton Bay
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Danny Boy
Botany Bay
Earth and All Stars
I Need Thee Every Hour
The King of Love My Shepherd Is
Allegro
We hope you enjoyed our handbell duets at the Chapel of the Chimes. All the pieces we played are available (or coming soon!) from Choraegus. If you’d like to book us for a performance with an audience, please let us know!
In the Garden was written in 1912 by C. Austin Miles. We received a request for an eight-bell arrangement of this much-loved hymn – so here it is!
How to purchase the sheet music
If you’d like to play In the Garden, the sheet music is available to purchase, download and print from Choraegus. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group – 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.
Please also note that our music is designed as downloadable 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?
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 need, and we’ll be happy to help!
We have a busy few days ahead of us with upcoming performances across the Bay Area. If you haven’t yet managed to hear our Christmas handbell duets, you have four chances to see us this week!
Fundraising for the Salvation Army
This coming Thursday, December 11th, we’ll be fundraising at the Salvation Army Red Kettle. We’ll be playing Christmas carols and holiday music at Nob Hill Foods in Mountain View. Drop by and help the Salvation Army provide food, shelter and social services to those in need throughout the year.
San Jose Festival of Carols
On Friday evening, December 12th, we’ll be in San Jose, at the Festival of Carols. The Festival of Carols is at Foothill Presbyterian Church, 5301 McKee Road, San Jose, CA 95127, and starts at 7:00pm. This is an annual musical celebration that features performances by the Foothill musical ensembles. Other professional, semi-professional and amateur artists from the community will also perform at the event. The evening ends with a post-concert reception in the Fellowship Hall. There’s no admission charge. However, donations such as non-perishable food items, coats, jackets, and toys are appreciated, and benefit many local organisations.
Upcoming performances at the weekend
Saturday, December 13th, is a busy day for us. We’ll be at the annual German Holiday Market (Weinachtsmarkt) in Mountain View. The event takes place between 11:00am and 9:00pm at the plaza of the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. There will be German food and drinks, and handcrafted gifts from Germany and crafts by local artists. Students of the German International School of Silicon Valley will perform, and there will be an ice rink! The event offers an opportunity to explore the famous tradition of German Holiday Markets right here in Silicon Valley. All proceeds will benefit GISSV’s high-quality bilingual programs.
We’ll be performing between 11:00am and 11:30am, and again between 12:45pm and 1:00pm.
The Sundar Shadi Holiday Display
After the German Holiday Market, we’ll drive to El Cerrito for the opening night of the Sundar Shadi Holiday Display. This display is an unmissable holiday tradition. It’s on Moeser Lane, east of San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. The display was first created in 1949, as a gift to the community from an El Cerrito resident, Sundar Shadi. Shadi passed away in 2002 at the age of 101. However, the display he constructed on the hillside next to his El Cerrito home each year continues today. There’s a team of devoted volunteers who care for his creations and ensure they’re on display for the holidays.
The display in the hills of El Cerrito will be lit nightly from December 13th to 26th. The display features shepherds, camels, donkeys and sheep, villagers and the town of Bethlehem. It’s just as Shadi envisioned it would have appeared on the eve of Christ’s birth. We’re making it part of our holiday tradition. Why not make it part of yours? We’ll be playing Christmas carols from 6:00pm (weather permitting!) on the opening night.
Last night we played our handbell duets at the Kara Annual Service of Remembrance.
Kara is based here in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s an organization that provides grief support for children, teens, families and adults who have lost someone close to them. Kara also helps families dealing with terminal illness.
The annual candlelight service is a meaningful event where members of the community gather to light candles of memory, hope, courage and love. There’s live music, memories, laughter, tears, and a lot of support and genuine caring. After the service, there’s a reception, where people can gather to chat and share their stories with others in the community.
This is the third year we’ve taken part in the Kara Annual Service of Remembrance. We always find it a moving and humbling experience to share our music in an atmosphere of such love and support. There is grief too, of course, but so much courage and caring.
Handbell music seems to fit very well in remembrance services. People find comfort in hearing well-known hymns such as Amazing Grace, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing and Just As I Am. We’ve also played secular songs like Ma Navu and Moreton Bay – to soothe the soul and help to bring peace.
Our thanks go to all at Kara for inviting us to be part of this meaningful event.
