On Easter Sunday we had the opportunity to be part of the celebrations at Los Altos United Methodist Church. We played a couple of our new hymn accompaniments (coming to our website soon!) as well as specially-arranged handbell parts for two choir anthems.
Easter Sunday at Los Altos United Methodist Church
We also enjoyed collaborating with LAUMC’s talented Senior Organist, T. Paul Rosas. Paul recently wrote an organ accompaniment to Come Christians, Join to Sing. We played the 8-bell arrangement with organ and handbells at the three morning services on Easter Sunday. It was a lot of fun! Here’s a recording from one of the services:
Our thanks go to Los Altos United Methodist Church for making this recording available to us.
Would you like to play this piece?
If you’d like to play this piece, the music is available for purchase and download from our music site.
When you buy music from Choraegus, please remember that the music will come to you as a PDF file. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. See our printing guides for more information about this!
If you’re new to buying Choraegus music, you might find it helpful to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this guide to take you through the process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might like to look at the Frequently-Asked Questions. It’s possible that someone else has already asked the same question and received an answer! If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
Thank you to everyone who visited our website to download the free copy of our 8-bell arrangement of Twas in the Moon of Wintertime. We hope you enjoy playing it!
We’re thinking of offering just one more free handbell music download this holiday season. Keep an eye on our Facebook page over the next few days for an announcement! In the meantime, if you’d like to try more of our 8-bell Christmas and holiday music, there are lots of arrangements available to download from Choraegus. Some are surprisingly easy, others are more challenging, and all are suitable for 2-4 ringers.
Important information about Choraegus handbell music
When you buy music from Choraegus, it’s important to know that the music comes to you as a PDF file. It’s basically the same process as when you download free handbell music. Don’t wait for your sheet music to arrive in the mail, because it won’t! You’ll need to print copies for your group. Buying an 8-bell arrangement entitles you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell ensemble.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying, downloading or playing Choraegus handbell music, you might like to check our Frequently-Asked Questions. There are lots of answers there, but if you don’t find the information you need, please let us know, and we’ll be happy to help.
Here’s a little holiday gift for anyone who would like to play our eight-bell arrangement of “‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime”. We’ve updated the “standard version” for 2015, and this week you can download the score completely free of charge!
Here’s a video of us rehearsing the new version of the piece:
If you’ve played our 8-bell arrangement of this piece before, you’ll notice that most of the changes have been made to the first half of the piece. If you can already play the previous version, you should have no trouble adding the extra notes in the updated version. It won’t feel like having to learn a whole new piece. Best of all, those newly-added notes will cost you nothing!
And if you’ve never played our 8-bell music before – here’s an opportunity to try it without having to pay any money. What could be better? Okay, don’t answer that. There probably are better things. But hey… free music is free music, and we hope you’ll enjoy playing this piece.
To get the music, just go to the “Twas in the Moon of Wintertime” page on our music site. There’s no requirement to “like” our Facebook page. We don’t ask you to buy anything, subscribe to anything or jump through any kind of hoops. Just select the standard version, enter your name and email address, and click on the download button. You’ll receive an emailed link to download your music in the usual way.
Let the Merry Bells Ring! We’re looking forward to presenting this holiday concert with VoiceWorks in Redwood City. The choirs will be singing, our bells will be ringing, and we’ll all be celebrating the sounds of the season with carols and wintry holiday music.
VoiceWorks is a community choir of young voices, directed by Catherine Doyle. Their music will be accompanied by pianists Leslie Chang, Brian Connor and Russell Green. We’ll be adding specially-arranged handbell parts to some of the choir pieces for this concert, and we’ll also be performing some duets on our own. There’s something very special about the combination of voices and bells at this time of year, and we’re looking forward to being part of this event.
It’s all happening at 4:00pm on Sunday, December 13th, at the Unitarian Universal Fellowship of Redwood City, CA 94062. Tickets are $15, or $10 for students or seniors. You can buy your tickets in advance, or at the door. Contact us if you have any questions, and we can put you in touch with the choir director.
We hope to see you at this concert. Let the merry bells ring, voices sing, and celebrate the holiday season in Redwood City!
In the handbell world, our thoughts turn to Christmas and holiday music before most people have even started thinking about the end of the summer. The dilemma is whether to risk being annoying by talking about Christmas when there are still several months to go, or whether to go full-tilt into the festive season, release new Christmas music, and give all the handbell musicians out there plenty of time to practise it before the season arrives. The end of September is approaching. It feels like the right time to introduce our new 8-bell muisc for Christmas 2015.
The following pieces are all available for purchase and download from our music site – and if you click on each individual title, you’ll be taken to the page with more information about each piece, the bells required, and how to make your purchase. Each piece can be played by two, three, four or more people – and we hope you’ll enjoy them!
We hope you’ll enjoy playing some of our new 8-bell music for the holiday season. If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to check out our new Christmas music for twelve bells too!
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.
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!
Here’s our latest addition to our 8-bell hymn repertoire– a new arrangement of To God Be the Glory.
We play this as a 4-in-hand duet, of course, as there are only two of us. However, there are no special techniques required, and it’s suitable for 2-4 ringers.
Would you like to play this arrangement?
If you’d like to play To God Be the Glory, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.
When you buy handbell music from Choraegus, please note that it will come to you as a PDF file. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music scores, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Purchase of this 8-bell piece entitles you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group. Don’t pay for more copies than you need to!
If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this to take you through the process in a stress-free way.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, please check our Frequently-Asked Questions, in case the answer is there. If you don’t find the information you need, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
Today marks the first day of the 2015 Bay View Week of Handbells! The next four days will be full of music at the John M. Hall Auditorium, as more than a hundred handbell musicians rehearse together under the direction of Carl Wiltse.
You can find out more about this event, and why it will always hold a special place in our hearts, by reading our recent post about the Bay View Week of Handbellsand taking a look at our gallery of photos.
Come to the concert!
If you’re in the area, and you’d like to attend the free concert, there’s no need to book tickets in advance. The concert will be held on Thursday, August 20, 2015 at 8:00pm in the John M. Hall Auditorium, 1715 Encampment Ave., Petoskey, Michigan. An offering will be taken to benefit the Bay View Association Music Scholarship Fund. You should plan to arrive in plenty of time to get good seats, because it’s a popular concert!
Here’s a recording from last year’s Week of Handbells – it’s Larry’s original composition A Snail’s Pace.
As usual, Pierpont Productions will make a professional recording of the concert. If you’d like your own copy of the recording, you can order one from Pierpont Productions at 231-347-4488. Alternatively, fill out the order envelope available on the day of the concert.
We’d love to see you at the 2015 Bay View Week of Handbells!
We interrupt our preparations for the Bay View Week of Handbells… to bring you a new 8-bell piece. Here’s Praise Him! Praise Him! This one is fun to play! We recorded it on a beautiful, sunny day in Los Altos.
Would you like to play this arrangement?
If you’d like to play this piece, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus. We play it as a duet, since there are only two of us, but it’s suitable for 2-4 ringers.
Please note that Choraegus handbell music will come to you as a PDF file. You’ll be responsible for printing your own copies of the score, and won’t receive anything in the mail. If you’re new to buying our music, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this with pictures, to help make the purchasing process as stress-free as possible!
Your purchase of this piece entitles you to print up to 4 copies of the music for your handbell group. Please don’t pay for more copies than you need!
Any questions?
If you have questions, you’re welcome to check our Frequently-Asked Questions, and you might find the answer there. If not, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to help!
We’re counting down to the Bay View Week of Handbells!
So, what is the Bay View Week of Handbells, and why is it something special for us? Why are we counting down the days until we get there? We’ll try to explain some of the magic here.
The Bay View Week of Handbells takes place every year in Bay View, Michigan. Just over a hundred handbell musicians gather together for several days of intense rehearsals, after which we perform a public concert. Donald Allured founded the Week of Handbells in 1978, and Carl Wiltse is the current director of the event. It’s for people who enjoy the challenge of spending time learning the music, and performing to a professional standard. And yes, even though the music is challenging and the rehearsals are intense, we still manage to have fun!
The Week of Handbells is part of our story
For us, the Week of Handbells is particularly special because of the role it played in our long-distance relationship story. Our story started several years ago when we met and became friends online. By the end of 2009 we were spending several hours every day “talking” on Facebook Chat. Our friendship turned into a relationship, and we began to make plans to meet in person for the first time. Our first “real life” meeting took place in August 2010, when Carla travelled from London to Chicago O’Hare. From there, we flew together to Traverse City, where we rented a car and drove to Bay View.
Here is a photo of us before the concert at our very first Bay View Week of Handbells.
Our second Week of Handbells
After our first in-person meeting in 2010, we had to wait a whole year before we could see each other again. During our months apart, we decided for certain that we wanted to spend our future together. We travelled back to Michigan in August 2011 for our second Week of Handbells. That was a busy week for us! Before the start of the event, we made a special journey to Miner’s North in Traverse City to pick up some rings. Then we drove to the Old Mission Point Lighthouse, where Larry proposed, and Carla said yes!
We announced our engagement to our friends at the Week of Handbells, at the evening reception after the first day of rehearsals. Here’s one of our favourite photos of us – taken by Kim Finison at Bay View in 2011.
August 2011 was also the time when our set of Malmark handbells made it across the ocean in Carla’s luggage. Larry transferred them to his suitcase for the journey to California.
After our week in Michigan in 2011, we went back to our separate homes, and soon after that we started the US fiancée visa process to bring Carla from England to California. Carla’s K-1 visa was approved at the end of May 2012, and the race was on to get everything organised for the big move. We managed to time it to coincide with the Bay View Week of Handbells in August!
Closing the distance!
August arrived, and Larry flew to England to collect Carla and her son, and the three of us travelled together to Chicago O’Hare. There, our onward flight was cancelled and we were forced to spend an uncomfortable night camping in the airport. Strangely enough, the makeshift camp was at Gate K1. That’s the same number as the visa Carla had applied for! Bay View Week of Handbells 2012 was a very special one for us, because, for the first time, we didn’t have to say goodbye to each other at the end of the event. It was an amazing feeling to be able to pack up our things and travel home to California together, without having to do that horrible airport goodbye stuff that’s so painful for long-distance couples.
Since then, we’ve been to the Week of Handbells twice more. To say we’re looking forward to the next one would be an understatement. Well, we’re counting down the days on our website, right? So yes, we’re excited!
Even without all the memories that make the Week of Handbells so special to us personally, it’s still an incredibly wonderful handbell event. We always tell people that if we could only go to one handbell event in a year, this would be the one we’d choose. After all, where else can you play handbells in an Auditorium that’s named after a Hall?
And where else can you walk around during your lunch break and see houses like this one?
At the Bay View Week of Handbells, we have Tiara Tuesday!
We have the opportunity to play some exciting and challenging music, which each person works hard to prepare during the weeks and months before the event. That gives us four days to put together the finishing touches as a group, in time to give a superb concert on the Thursday evening.
Apart from the beautiful location, the exciting music and all the happy memories the Week of Handbells holds for us, we know that it’s the people there who make this event so special. Our annual trip to Bay View feels like a journey home; and the friends we’ve made there feel like family to us. For just a few days in August, more than a hundred people are brought together by the music of handbells. We wouldn’t miss it for the world.
