This week we’re pleased to bring you another piece that we performed during our trip to California. We played this one at the lunchtime concert at the Bay Area Spring Ring. It’s the traditional Dutch tune Al die Willen te Kaap’ren Varen, usually known to us as the “Dutch pirate song”. It’s another one of the pieces we enjoy playing during street performances.
If you’d like to play Al die Willen te Kaap’ren Varen, the sheet music is now 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.
How to purchase handbell music from Choraegus
If you haven’t purchased music online from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way. 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. Purchase gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and online video-sharing. Please remember to mention the title and arranger in any video descriptions and on any printed materials.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the answers you need, please contact us, and we’ll do what we can to help!
Some 8-bell pieces are very easy to play, requiring little rehearsal time. Gwerzy is not one of those pieces. Colm O’Snodaigh and Dee Armstrong, of the Irish band Kíla, kindly gave us permission to arrange Gwerzy for handbells. It’s fun to play, for anyone who enjoys a bit of a challenge.
We first performed this arrangement in California at the 2019 Bay Area Spring Ring. We announced it to the audience as a work-in-progress. To be honest, it will probably always be a work-in-progress for us! We had originally planned to record a 100%-accurate and polished performance of this piece before offering it for purchase. We’ve now decided to let others join in the fun, without waiting for something that might never happen!
Gwerzy – at the 2019 Bay Area Spring Ring in CaliforniaGwerzy – excerpt
If you’re feeling insane courageous enough to try this arrangement, you’ll find the sheet music to download from Choraegus.
Things to know about Choraegus handbell music
As always, we strongly recommend that you read the licensing agreement before buying music from us. Please also 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. Purchasing this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to four copies for your handbell group.
If you’re new to Choraegus, you might appreciate our step-by-step guide. We designed this to help our customers buy and download music in a (we hope!) stress-free way.
We’re happy to answer questions!
If you have any questions about purchasing or playing our music, please start by reading our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the answers you need, please contact us, and we’ll do what we can to help. We hope you’ll enjoy playing our music!
Can you help us find this wedding ring, lost in Holland, Michigan?
It’s now been several months since Larry’s wedding ring went missing. He lost the two-tone gold band in September 2019, just days before our 7th wedding anniversary.
It was a busy day for Larry. He made trips to both the north side and south side of Holland – grocery shopping at Meijer and Family Fare, going to the gym (Anytime Fitness), 5/3 Bank (on Butternut), Sam’s Club, Walmart, D&W Fresh Market, and Third Reformed Church. He also walked to and from Family Fare and Creek Edge (on Timberline Acres). At some point in the evening, he realised that he no longer had his wedding ring.
We retraced Larry’s steps as much as possible, and searched around our house and garage… but there’s been no sign of the missing wedding band, and we are heartbroken. We reported the loss to local police, and on Facebook, but the ring hasn’t been found or returned to us. It might have been found, sold, taken to a pawn shop… and it might be on someone else’s finger by now. Whatever happened, we’d love to know.
Please help us find the missing ring!
Even though it seems unlikely that the ring will find its way back to us at this point, we still can’t bring ourselves to give up hope. If you see this wedding ring anywhere, please let us know, and we will be forever grateful for your help!
Wow! Where did the last month go? Maybe it was because Thanksgiving was late this year, or maybe we didn’t plan ahead enough. It seemed as if November was here one minute, then December was going by, faster than we could keep up with it!
We had a fun and interesting holiday performance season, and managed to escape without having to make any long trips in bad weather. That’s no mean feat in Michigan winters! Many of our Christmas performances are booked months ahead. That makes it impossible to predict if the weather’s going to be cooperative or not.
Our 2019 holiday performances
Our 2019 holiday performance season began the day after Thanksgiving, with our first of two performances at the Kerstmarkt. This annual Christmas market in Downtown Holland is a definite highlight of our holiday season. The bells seem to add something magical to the atmosphere at an outdoor holiday market. We hope to be back again in 2020!
Our handbells at the 2019 Kerstmarkt in Downtown Holland
An exciting new event for us was the Santa and Reindeer event at the Otsego District Public Library. We met Felix the Fox there!
With Felix the Fox at the Otsego Library “Santa and Reindeer” event
We were pleased to present another holiday performance at the Gary Byker Memorial Library in Hudsonville. This was our second time at the Christmas program there, and we hope to return in December 2020. It’s always a popular, entertaining and educational Christmas event, run by the Friends of the Library.
A holiday handbell program at the GRAM
We had an exciting opportunity to present a handbell duet concert at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, as part of their Light the Night event. The audience was small but appreciative, and had not been expecting us, since the event had been given an air of mystery and advertised only as a “holiday bell music performance”. People were pleasantly surprised at the amount of music that can be made with only eight bells at a time, and we chatted with audience members afterwards and explained more about the history and techniques used in playing our instruments.
A “holiday bell music performance” at the Grand Rapids Art Museum
Another performance with the Zeeland Community Band
We presented several handbell duet programs to residents at senior living communities again this year, and also joined the Zeeland Community Band for their annual Christmas concert.
With director Rose Wiersma after the annual Zeeland Community Band Christmas concert
Our handbell ministry activities
We continued our handbell ministry through Advent and Christmas, and shared our music with churches in Holland and Grand Rapids. We also went on a road-trip to Glenview, Illinois. It was a new experience for us to do fierce battle with Chicago traffic!
Handbells at a Christmas worship service in IllinoisChristmas Eve at Christ Memorial Church, Holland MI
Playing Christmas music for the Salvation Army
We gave ten hours to help raise funds for the Salvation Army of Holland, MI, and enjoyed playing Christmas music at D&W Fresh Market – our fourth year there! In recent years, some of our friends have questioned our decision to support the Salvation Army. However, we are always encouraged to hear from people who have received invaluable help from the organization here in West Michigan. This happens every year; people stop by the Red Kettle to tell us that the Salvation Army was there to support them at a time when they most needed it. We are constantly reassured that the local organization is doing amazing work in this community.
Volunteering at the Salvation Army Red Kettle at D&W Fresh Market in Holland
The New Year has arrived, and as we look back at the 2019 holiday season, we’re looking forward to the new adventures 2020 will bring.
We’d like to thank the following people and organizations:
The Kerstmarkt in Downtown Holland, MI Cherry Republic of Holland, MI D&W Fresh Market, Holland, MI The Salvation Army of Holland, MI Otsego District Public Library, MI Zeeland Community Band Waterford Place Assisted Living, Jenison, MI Friends of the Gary Byker Library, Hudsonville, MI Sunset Retirement Communities, Jenison, MI Grand Rapids Art Museum, MI Third Reformed Church of Holland, MI The Village at the Pines, Grand Haven, MI Wespath Benefits and Investments, Glenview, IL Christ Memorial Church, Holland, MI North Park Presbyterian Church, Grand Rapids, MI
We’d like to thank everyone who helped to make this holiday season bright for us. If you booked us for a performance or Christmas program or wrote a review of our performance – thank you. To all those who offered us coffee or a meal, chatted with us, or prayed for our safe travels – thank you. If you took the time to say thank you or send us a card – we appreciate you. If you liked our Facebook page, emailed us, bought and downloaded sheet music from our music site, or purchased a copy of The Bass Ringer’s Notebook – we appreciate you too!
We hope 2020 will be a happy and healthy year for you all!
"Christmas at Our House" event in California – December 2013
Michigan handbell duo Larry and Carla will be welcoming the Christmas season at Otsego District Library’s Santa and Reindeer Day! There will be popcorn, donuts, hot chocolate, an opportunity to meet Santa and his reindeer, ODL’s own Felix the Fox, crafts, and beautiful handbell music all morning. Don’t miss this exciting family event!
Otsego District Public Library
401 Dix St Otsego,
Michigan
49078United States+ Google Map
Michigan handbell duo Larry and Carla will be ringing in the Christmas season at Cherry Republic of Holland. Shop for holiday treats as you listen to Christmas bells!
The holiday season tends to start early in the handbell world. We’ve been rehearsing Christmas music with the Kalamazoo Ringers for a number of weeks now. However, we put off starting our own Christmas duet practising until after our Be Still, My Soul concert in Gregory.
The time is now here, and we’re starting to work on Christmas music. We’re getting ready for the first of our holiday performances, at the Kerstmarkt in Downtown Holland, on Friday, November 29th. This European-style market is an annual event here in Holland, and this will be our third year there. It’s always a fun and festive shopping opportunity, and a chance to enjoy delicious food and watch interesting demonstrations by local craftspeople.
We still have some limited availability for holiday handbell performances in December – so if you’d like West Michigan’s smallest handbell choir to come and play at your event, worship service or holiday party, please get in touch. If we can’t fit you into our schedule for this year, let’s plan early for 2020!
