June 15, 2016

An Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert on Saturday, June 18th!

It’s time for another Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert! Once again we’ve teamed up with T. Paul Rosas, Senior Organist at Los Altos United Methodist Church, to offer an evening of music and entertainment for a very good cause.

This concert will be fun! We’ll be playing some of our eight-bell duets, including two that are brand-new and unpublished – Linstead Market and I Vow to Thee My Country. We’ll also be presenting two “world premiere” performances of handbell and organ collaborations!

About T. Paul Rosas

T. Paul Rosas is the founder and organizer of Alzheimer’s Benefit Concerts in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is an accomplished organist and composer. Paul loves to combine many different styles of music and different performers to create unique and exciting musical events. He uses his talents to benefit research into Alzheimer’s Disease.

Paul is the Senior Organist for Los Altos United Methodist Church. He also works with such notable local groups as Master Sinfonia and Schola Cantorum. On Saturday evening, Paul will be playing some great pieces on the organ and piano. If you were disappointed not to hear Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” at LAUMC a couple of Sundays ago, you’ll be able to hear it on Saturday instead!

Alzheimer's Benefit Concert with Paul Rosas — T. Paul Rosas at the piano

About Anna Bekker

We’re excited that talented mezzo-soprano Anna Bekker will also be joining us for the evening. Anna is a graduate of the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. She has performed as both a vocalist and a pianist in various settings throughout the United States and abroad. She has given concerts in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy. Anna has spent a great deal of her musical career as a choral singer, performing extensively, including performances at Davies Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall. She will be performing three art songs at the concert on Saturday evening.

The evening will finish with an ice cream reception. Admission is free, and an offering will be taken to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. We hope you’ll be able to come along to what promises to be a fun and entertaining concert!

May 31, 2016

Handbell Duets with Organ Accompaniment!

We’re excited to be able to add a new video to our selection of handbell duets with organ accompaniment! Over the last few years, we’ve very much enjoyed being part of the music ministry at Los Altos United Methodist Church. We’ve led Monday evening rehearsals with the Alleluia Ringers, and played handbells in Sunday morning services.

One of the highlights for us has been collaborating with some of the talented musicians at the church. We’ve added handbell parts to choir anthems, used our bells to accompany congregational singing, and performed in concerts for the Alzheimer’s Association. It’s been so much fun to hear music played by Senior Organist T. Paul Rosas in the morning services. Paul has written accompaniments to a couple of our 8-bell pieces too!

It’s been a long time coming, but we finally managed to get a video of Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee with organ accompaniment. We’re grateful to Los Altos UMC for this recording from the last of three morning services on May 22nd, 2016:

We also have a recording from the summer of 2015, when we performed this piece in our concert with Philadelphia Bronze in King of Prussia, Organist Ross Boerner is the Director of Music Ministries at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church:

Would you like to play our handbell duets with organ accompaniment?

If you’d like to play Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus. You can buy it either with or without the organ accompaniment.

You might also like to take a look at our other organ-and-handbells collaboration, which we published earlier this year. Come Christians, Join to Sing is also available from Choraegus. We played this on Easter Sunday!

Any questions?

We’re always happy to answer questions about buying or playing our music. If you have questions, please contact us and we’ll be glad to help.

September 28, 2015

Have you Ever Heard an Alphorn?

If you haven’t hard an alphorn before, here’s your chance! There are only a few more days to go until Saturday’s Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, we hope you’ll come along!

More information about the concert, written by organizer T. Paul Rosas:

Date and time: Saturday, October 3rd 2015 at 3:00pm

Place: LAUMC Sanctuary, 655 Magdalena Ave., Los Altos (at the corner of Foothill Expressway and Magdalena)

This year’s concert includes compositions by two of the Bay Area’s favorite composers, Sondra Clark and Brian Holmes. Sondra’s piece, “That Time of Year” is a setting of one of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Anne Janzer sings it beautifully. Brian Holmes will demonstrate and play the Alphorn for us. He has written two delightful pieces, “Amazing Grace” for Alphorn and organ and “Twilight in the Alps” for Alphorn and vocal trio. Casie Walker, Anne Janzer and Mayo Tsuzuki are the trio.

The program also includes a groovy piece for jazz organ and percussion, played by Paul Rosas and Dylan Damonte; evocative piano and organ duets by Dirk Damonte and Paul Rosas and the extraordinary dancing bells of Bay Area handbell duo, Larry and Carla Sue. The program will end with a “Jig for Handbells and Organ” written by Paul Rosas that will have everyone dancing.

It promises to be unique and entertaining event given to support the ongoing research into Alzheimer’s disease as well as the home services provided by the organization. Please invite your friends and family to come. It really is going to be a special concert.”

Admission to the concert is free, but a collection will be made to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. If you can’t come to the concert, but would like to support our fundraising efforts for this important cause, please visit our Walk to End Alzheimer’s fundraising page and make an online donation there.

September 4, 2015

Coming Soon – Another Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert

We’re excited to be taking part in another Alzheimer’s Benefit concert! These concerts help raise money for research and services provided by the Alzheimer’s Association.

This concert will take place at Los Altos United Methodist Church on October 3rd, 2015 at 3:00pm. The performance will feature Larry and Carla Sue playing handbells, and Brian Holmes on the Alphorn. Dylan Damonte will play percussion, and concert organiser T. Paul Rosas will play organ and piano.

Admission to the concert is free, and an offering will be collected for the Alzheimer’s Association. There’s no need to apply for tickets in advance. You’ll be very welcome on the day! If you’ve never heard an Alphorn, there’s even more reason to attend. Brian Holmes is an expert, and he’ll tell you everything you need to know about this unusual instrument. You might even get the opportunity to participate in the performance of one of the pieces!

If you’re unable to attend the Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert, you can still make a donation if you’d like to. Please contact us and we can tell you how!

Here we are, pictured with T. Paul Rosas at Los Altos United Methodist Church. We hope to see you at the concert!

February 3, 2015

New Handbell Music – Great is Thy Faithfulness – for 8 Bells

Here’s another new piece for eight handbells – the popular hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness. We performed it for the first time at the Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert in Menlo Park in January, and it’s fast becoming one of our favorite pieces to play. It has just the right amount of challenge, without being anywhere close to impossible, and a nice loud ending. This piece would work for four-in-hand duet, or trio or quartet.

If you’d like to play Great Is Thy Faithfulness, it’s available for purchase and download from Choraegus.

Things to know about buying music from Choraegus

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!

Other news!

In other news… photos from the Alzheimer’s Benefit Concert are now on our Facebook page. Coming soon are photos from our trip to a local preschool, and pictures from the Redding Bronze event.

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!