January 22, 2018

The Bay View Week of Handbells 2018

We’re looking forward to the 41st Bay View Week of Handbells, where 104 advanced handbell musicians will be playing some beautiful, challenging and exciting music under the baton of newly-appointed director Fred Gramann, and preparing for a public concert on Thursday August 16th.

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 16th, 2018 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!

The John M Hall Auditorium at Bay View

January 15, 2018

Linda Strouf’s Organ Recital

Yesterday we enjoyed taking part in Linda Strouf’s organ recital Around the Liturgical Year in Chorale Preludes. The recital took place at Grace Episcopal Church here in Holland, Michigan.

Linda has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music at Hope College since 1988. She is also the Minister of Music at Third Reformed Church, where she plays the organ and piano, and directs the two adult singing choirs and the adult handbell choir. Linda is a champion of newly composed, contemporary organ music. We were very excited to be part of this recital!

Linda Strouf's organ recital - with handbells — With Linda Strouf after the recital

Linda Strouf’s organ recital was an interesting and entertaining journey through the church year. The audience clearly enjoyed the music!

The three pieces we performed with Linda were: In the Bleak Midwinter, Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee and Calliope House. We first performed these pieces in California, with organist and composer T. Paul Rosas, who wrote the organ accompaniments. Handbells and organ blend well together!

In the Bleak Midwinter and Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee are available for purchase and download from Choraegus We haven’t yet published Calliope House, but watch this space!

Many thanks to Linda for inviting us to be part of this recital, and to everyone who attended!

September 11, 2017

Coronation and Triumphant Exultation is now on YouTube!

We’re excited to be able to share a video of the world premiere of Larry’s original composition Coronation and Triumphant Exultation. The video is from the 2017 Bay View Week of Handbells, here in Michigan.

The Week of Handbells is an annual event; always one of the highlights of our year. We’ve been attending together since 2010. The Thursday evening concert is always an exciting experience. The musicians work hard for months beforehand, and it’s a thrilling concert to be part of. This video is part of the full concert recording by Pierpont Productions.

Would you like to play this piece?

Coronation and Triumphant Exultation (Crùnadh agus Iolach) is published by AGEHR Publishing (AG58002). It’s for 5-8 octaves of handbells, and optional 5 octaves of handchimes.

This piece is the 2017 Donald E. Allured Original Composition Award piece. Larry dedicated the piece to Maestro Carl Wiltse, who directed the Bay View Week of Handbells for fifteen years. Here’s a photo of us with Carl. Yes, he’s a lot taller than we are!

Coronation and Triumphant Exultation - dedicated to Maestro Carl Wiltse — With Maestro Carl Wiltse at Bay View Week of Handbells 2014

Any questions?

If you have any questions about this piece, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to help. We hope you’ll enjoy playing this piece!

April 15, 2017

Our Concert Weekend in Warner Robins, GA

Thanks to all at Christ United Methodist Church in Warner Robins, GA for inviting us to present a concert of handbell duets there.

We arrived in Georgia, and instantly noticed the change in temperature. April in Michigan tends to be a cool month. There’s still snow around in places, and we were totally overdressed for the heat of Warner Robins! Still, we receive a friendly welcome, and were happy to be there for our concert.

Warner Robins - handbell concert by Larry and Carla — Our names in lights. Fame at last!

We played some of our current favorite 8-bell pieces, including several that haven’t yet been published. Here’s the full list of the duets we performed:

Warner Robins handbell duet concert program — Our Warner Robins concert program

After the concert, we played duets during the Sunday morning service at Christ United Methodist Church. Larry also enjoyed the opportunity to be the pianist for the morning!