April 8, 2016

A Reunion for Inspiration International, and New Handbell Music!

During our trip to England in February, we enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with a few of our friends from the world of handbells. We’ve already posted about our rehearsal with Pizzazz Handbell Trio and Quartet. We also had the chance to visit our friend Meg from Inspiration International. This is a Berkshire-based handbell project that’s very important to us.

More about Inspiration International

Inspiration International is a project which grew from the community work of Inspiration – an initiative of Finchampstead Handbell Ringers in Berkshire, England. The group’s mission is to enrich the lives of the young and elderly in the Berkshire community. We take handbell music into the lives and homes of those who sometimes feel forgotten by society. Pioneered by Meg, the leader of Finchampstead Handbell Ringers, the group has visited and entertained the residents of many care homes in the area. They have volunteered to share their handbell music with social groups and at community events.

Carla first worked with Meg and Sally from Inspiration when she needed to take a trio of handbell musicians to perform at Heathrow Airport in 2011. The group entertained airport travellers during the busy Christmas rush. Meg and Sally were happy to be involved, and they had a great time sharing their music at the airport.

Inspiration International - handbells — The trio at Heathrow Airport, Christmas 2011

After that, Carla joined Meg and Sally in taking their handbell music to people in the Berkshire community. They visited many care homes and community groups. Space is often limited in care homes, so it was a huge advantage to be able to perform as a small group playing 4-in-hand. The group was honoured to be nominated for the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2012.

When Sally decided to focus on other projects for a while, Meg and Carla started playing duets. That’s when Larry started arranging music for eight bells!

Inspiration handbells - All the Bells in Wokingham, 2012 — Meg and Carla at the “All the Bells” event in Wokingham, 2012

Carla’s move to California, and Meg’s continued work in the community

When Carla moved to California in August 2012, it was a challenge to see how we could continue the “Inspiration” project across the miles. We really wanted to find a way! So, using the powers of modern technology, we’ve been working together to prepare and record music that Meg can use for performances. From the original Inspiration grew the new Inspiration International. Meg continues to visit care homes and community groups in Berkshire. She adds her live handbell-playing to pre-recorded tracks made more than 5,000 miles away in California.

A happy reunion in England

It’s a rare treat for us to be able to get together and rehearse as a group! Of course, we were determined to find some time to catch up with Meg during our visit to England in February. We enjoyed a lovely home-cooked meal, and caught up on some of the news and chit-chat. Then we dropped Meg right in at the deep end with some brand-new and unpublished 12-bell music!

Here’s a video of one of the pieces we tried; it’s the traditional Scottish melody Flow Gently, Sweet Afton. It’s not a note-perfect demonstration, but it should give you an idea of how the piece could sound, with a little more rehearsal time!

Would you like to play this piece?

If you’d like to play this arrangement, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus. Please see our step-by-step guide and licensing agreement for full information about buying our music online.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Inspiration International, please check out the group’s Facebook page!

Any questions?

If you have any questions about Inspiration International, or about buying or playing Choraegus handbell music, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help!

September 4, 2015

New 12-Bell Music for Christmas 2015!

We’re excited about our new 12-bell music for Christmas 2015! These recordings once again feature Larry’s son J.C., who plays the four bells we can’t manage to play between us.

We didn’t have very much time with J.C on his recent visit. The videos were all made on our first or second read-through of each piece. As a result, there may be be wrong notes or rhythms that are not entirely accurate. We apologise in advance for all those things, but we hope these slightly dubious recordings will provide enough of an idea of how the pieces could sound, given the opportunity for a bit more rehearsal. We hope to have another opportunity to play these arrangements before too long. Please contact us if you have any questions about any of this music, and we’ll be happy to help.

Angels We Have Heard on High

Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella

Ding Dong, Merrily on High

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

We Three Kings

All these pieces are available for purchase and download from Choraegus. Purchase comes with permission to perform these pieces as part of a concert or worship service. We hope you enjoy playing this new 12-bell music!

new 12-bell music for Christmas — Christmas handbells!

July 16, 2015

More Music for Twelve Bells!

We’ve had lots of fun with our eight-bell music. Sometimes it’s also fun to branch out and expand a little. Here’s some new music for twelve bells!

Of course, we can only play four bells each at one time. It’s a problem when we suddenly have 12-bell music, and don’t have a hope of playing it on our own! That’s when we turn to J.C for help. J.C. doesn’t do this stuff on a regular basis, but he has plenty of musical talent, and very little fear of scary handbell music situations. After all, he used to play in Low Ding Zone!

On this occasion we didn’t have a lot of time to spend together. We decided to read through the music, and record as many pieces as we could in as short a time as possible.

Here are the resulting videos from our recent sight-reading sessions. They’re all from either the first or second attempt at playing them. For that reason, the following demonstrations are far from polished. However, they should give you an idea of how the new pieces could sound with a bit more rehearsal!

Although we’re playing these pieces as a four-in-hand trio, they could also be played with up to 6 people, with just 2 bells each. Click on the titles if you’d like to find out more about each piece.