We recently celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary. What better way to celebrate than by spending a day at a handbell festival? First Congregational Church in Saginaw hosted a Fall Handbell Festival – Ringing in a New Season, and invited us to take part in the fun.
First Congregational Church – the venue for the handbell festival
Someone somewhere forgot to push the “It’s the fall season now!” button. That meant the weather was hot, hot, hot! Around 40 intrepid handbell musicians from churches around the area attended. We gathered together in a very warm church to rehearse and perform under the baton of world-renowned pianist and composer Catherine McMichael. Catherine had written two original compositions for the event, and Dr. Quincy Dobbs was there to play the organ.
Handbell workshops with bass and treble bells
Larry enjoyed the opportunity to get his hands on some bass handbells again. He led workshops for festival participants to find out more about bass bell techniques. Carla led well-attended workshops exploring some of the techniques and challenges involved in playing treble bells. We all enjoyed discussing the merits of various multiple bell techniques. Some of the treble ringers worked on weaving a series of bells without crossing their arms! That can be a challenge, but everyone did very well.
Our friend Kim Finison from Lansing (we know him from the Bay View Week of Handbells!) was on hand to help with handbell maintenance and repairs. We all enjoyed a wonderful lunch and great hospitality.
Larry enjoyed the opportunity to play bass bells again!
Thanks to all involved in making this festival happen!
We had a very enjoyable day at the festival. Our thanks go to Jeri at FCC and everyone involved with the huge task of organising the event. We hope to do it all again someday!
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.
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!
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!
This week we’re settling back into “normal life”, after a wonderful time spent with the Campanelli Handbell Ensemble. Campanelli visited the USA for the first time as a group, and we joined them for their tour. It was our first experience of visiting New York City and Niagara Falls, Canada. We tried some Estonian food, enjoyed concerts, and had the opportunity to perform with the group. We played a piece commissioned in celebration of the tour and our fifth wedding anniversary!
The story behind the project (short version!)
The story behind Campanelli Handbell Ensemble’s US tour began as long ago as 2010, when composer Susan T. Nelson received a Facebook message from Inna Lai, director of a handbell choir in Estonia. Inna said that the Estonian group had performed and recorded one of Sue’s compositions. She offered to send Sue a CD. From that first message, a strong friendship grew – and Sue sent Inna more of her music for Campanelli to play! In 2013, much to the composer’s astonishment, Campanelli played an entire concert of her music – entitled Sue’s Blues. They invited Sue to travel to Estonia to attend the performance, in the oldest concert hall in Tallinn.
Since that 2013 concert, Inna and Susan dreamed of being able to bring the Sue’s Blues concert to the USA. Bringing a group of musicians to another country, organising travel arrangements, accommodation, concert venues and instruments – well, it’s a huge undertaking! It took a group of people who were 100% committed to the project. They formed a committee, and launched a fundraising campaign. They found performance venues, and financial support started to come in. Then they invited professional soloists to take part in the concerts, and various offers of help arrived. Piece-by-piece, this amazing project came to fruition, and history was made!
How did we get involved?
People have been asking us how we became involved in the project. Our connection with the group started when Carla travelled to Estonia from the UK in 2011, for a handbell festival. She met Campanelli and their director Inna Lai, and they became Facebook friends. We’ve both been fans of Susan’s compositions for a long time now. When we read about the fundraising campaign last year, we were fortunate to be in a position to offer our support. This led to Sue offering to write a handbell piece for us. This turned out to be a beautiful arrangement of the Estonian folk song Mu Süda Ärka Üles, (Awake, My Heart). After an exchange of Facebook messages with Sue, we decided it would be a fun adventure for us to take part in all four of the concerts. So we started to make plans for a road trip!
Fun on the tour!
Our road trip began with a two-day drive from our home in Holland, Michigan… all the way to Jersey City. It felt like an extension of the journey we took in the summer of 2016, from California to Michigan! We arrived in Jersey City in the evening of July 20th, and took our first-ever trip to New York City.
A rose… placed on the memorial to commemorate the birthday of one of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack
The following day, we returned to New York City for the first of the Campanelli concerts. The day was not entirely without drama. First, we found out the cost of the taxi fare from our hotel in Jersey City to Manhattan. Then we found ourselves locked out of Estonian House when we arrived there! Fortunately the composer and event organiser Sue was locked out too. At least we all had people to talk to while we waited for someone to let us in!
Estonian House
Estonian House, the concert venue, is NYC’s community and cultural center for Estonian people. It was fascinating to see inside the building, with its ornately-carved staircases and sparkling chandeliers. We met up with the members of Campanelli, and the featured soloist for the evening’s concert – Natalia “Saw Lady” Paruz. Natalia is a resident of the City and a virtuoso musical saw player. After a brief rehearsal for the evening’s performance, we grabbed the opportunity to play through some of our 8-bell music with Natalia and her musical saw – and it was such a fun experience!
With composer Susan T. Nelson and Natalia “Saw Lady” Paruz
Our next stop on the Campanelli US tour was in Hamilton, New Jersey, for the second concert, at Our Lady of Sorrows Church. This was the longest of the concerts, featuring a variety of talented soloists playing flute, trumpet, trombone, marimba and tambura. There was also a soprano soloist (yay Debora!) who was brave enough to sing in Estonian. Inna explained to the audience that the Estonian language has more vowel sounds than the ones we’re familiar with!
Campanelli, joined by members of Our Lady of Sorrows Bell Choir and composer Susan’s handbell choir for the final piece in the concert
More sightseeing in NYC
The following day, we had an unexpected opportunity to go back to New York City for more sightseeing. This time two friends accompanied us, and did all the driving. The City felt far less overwhelming when we had a couple of experienced tour guides with us! We went back to the 9/11 Memorial, and also visited the museum; a very moving experience for all of us. We finished our day in Chinatown – with Mongolian hot pot!
Chinatown NYC at night (yes, that’s Larry in the white t shirt!)
The next concert was at St Paul Lutheran, in Beachwood, NJ. This concert was another huge success. The St Paul Ringers joined the group for the final piece, “A Trumpet Voluntary”.
Campanelli at St Paul Lutheran Church, Beachwood, NJ
The Malmark tour is always fascinating, with an opportunity to learn about each stage of the process. We and the group had been looking forward to touring the Schulmerich factory that afternoon too. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up in communications with the bus company. We had to cancel the tour, but hope to get there someday, though!
The final concert on the tour
The final concert took place in the Visitors’ Center at the historic Washington Crossing in Pennsylvania. The concert featured video footage of Estonia’s “Singing Revolution”. This film showed the role music played in the country’s fight to win back their independence from the Soviet Union. It was an evening for celebration; a mixture of emotions for all of us, as we knew the tour was coming to an end.
With Susan T. Nelson and Inna Lai after the final concert of the tour
With the concerts successfully completed, the only task remaining was to drive to Canada, for an exciting trip to Niagara Falls! The two of us had splurged on a hotel room with a view of the Falls; definitely a good decision.
An impressive morning view of the Horseshoe Falls, from our hotel window!
We met up with Campanelli for dinner at the Skylon Tower. This place has a wonderful view of the Falls from 775 feet up! During our brief stay in Canada we also enjoyed a boat trip. It was a great way to cool off, and to take photos at close range. After a fun morning of sightseeing and shopping, we drove back home to Michigan.
Thank you to everyone involved with this project!
The Campanelli US tour was a wonderful experience for all of us. The ideas and planning started three years ago, and the organisers should be proud of their achievement in managing to get everything to come together so perfectly. Campanelli’s musical skill and artistry wowed the audiences at their concerts, combining the music of bells with other solo instruments in a way that held people’s attention and kept everyone interested. We learned more about Estonian culture and history, and the members of Campanelli enjoyed the excitement and the challenge of visiting new places, meeting new people, and practising their English language skills with those of us who seriously need to start learning at least some basic words in Estonian!
Above all, new friendships were made, and old friendships were strengthened. We feel privileged to have had the opportunity to be part of this event – and our thanks go to everyone involved in making the tour so memorable for us all.
The musicians of Campanelli Handbell Ensemble are on tour in the USA! The group is from Tallin, Estonia, and their director is Inna Lai. Coming to the USA to perform has been a huge ambition for this group for a while now! Campanelli will be giving four concerts, which will each showcase different compositions and local professional soloists.
The concert dates and locations are as follows:
Friday, July 21, 2017 at 7:00pm – Estonian House, 243 E. 34th St, New York, NY 10016
Sunday, July 23, 2017 at 7:00pm – Our Lady of Sorrows, 3816 East State St. Ext., Hamilton, NJ 08619
Tuesday, July 25, 2017 at 7:00 pm – St. Paul Lutheran Church, 130 Cable Avenue, Beachwood, NJ 08722
Friday, July 28, 2017 at 7:00pm – Visitor Center, Washington Crossing Park, 1112 River Rd., Washington Crossing, PA,
We’ll be making a small musical contribution to each of these concerts, and will be sharing in some of the group’s adventures over the next ten days. This will include (we hope) a tour of the Malmark and Schulmerich handbell factories in Pennsylvania. We’ll keep our Facebook page updated regularly with news and photos. We hope you’ll join us as we look forward to following this Estonian handbell ensemble on tour in the USA!
After a successful application and audition process, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve been invited to perform our handbell duets as part of the 2017 Street Performer Series in Downtown Holland!
Street Performers in Holland, Michigan
The Street Performer Series is an annual event here in Holland, Michigan, taking place on Thursday evenings throughout the summer. We were lucky enough to catch just the tail end of one event last June, when we came here on a house-hunting trip – and we saw some impressive performances by musicians, jugglers, and even some aerial acrobats! It’s a fun community event, and a great way to spend a summer evening with friends and family.
The 2017 Street Performer Series starts on Thursday, June 15. The event runs for twelve consecutive Thursdays until the end of August, from 6:30 to 8:30pm.
We’ll be performing on the following dates:
Thursday, June 29, outside jb and me at 36 W 8th St, Holland;
Thursday, August 24, outside The Bridge at 18 W 8th St, Holland.
Thanks to the Gentex Corporation and Holland Christian Schools for sponsoring this event. Thanks also to the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs for their support through the Holland Area Arts Council. We’re looking forward to being part of the Street Performers Series for the first time. Contact us if you have any questions, and check our Facebook page for any last-minute changes in the schedule!
Linstead Market is our latest 8-bell piece. We first played this at Los Altos Lutheran Church, a couple of weeks before we left California in the summer of 2016. We didn’t manage to get a recording at that time, but brought the piece out again for our recent concert in Warner Robins, Georgia. Linstead Market is a Jamaican folk song. It’s also used as the tune to the hymn Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ. Here’s a recent rehearsal video, recorded in our home here in Holland, Michigan.
Where to get the sheet music for Linstead Market
If you’d like to play this arrangement, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.
Choraegus music comes to you as a digital file to download. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, so you won’t need to wait for anything to arrive in the mail! Your purchase of this 8-bell piece will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group.
If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, we recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed this to make the purchase process stress-free! Please also read our licensing agreement.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might like to look at some of the Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us is our newest 8-bell title. The piece received its first “performance” at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lapeer, Michigan. We played duets during the two morning services, in celebration of Bell Choir Sunday. We were thankful for the warm welcome we received, and enjoyed the opportunity to listen to the Sine Nomine Handbell Choir too!
At St. Paul Lutheran Church, with the Sine Nomine Handbell Choir
Here’s a video of us rehearsing Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us in our home in Holland, Michigan.
Would you like to play this piece?
If you’d like to play this new arrangement, the music is available from Choraegus.
Please note that when you buy Choraegus handbell music, it comes to you in digital (PDF) format. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group.
If you haven’t bought music from us before, we highly recommend our step-by-step guide. We designed the guide with pictures, to take you through the process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.
Ask us questions if you need to!
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might like to look at our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the answers you seek, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
Sakura is our latest 8-bell piece. It’s a Japanese melody, celebrating the season of cherry blossoms.
“Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, In fields, mountains and villages As far as the eye can see.”
We performed this piece for the first time at our concert in Warner Robins, Georgia a few weeks ago. After the concert, we drove to Macon, for the Cherry Blossom Festival.
We recorded our rehearsal video here at our home in Holland. The music stand was decorated with tulips, because: a) we didn’t have any cherry blossoms; and b) the city’s Tulip Time festival is coming up!
Would you like to play this piece?
If you’d like to play Sakura, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.
When you buy music from Choraegus, it will come to you as a digital download; a PDF file. You’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Please see our licensing agreement for full details. Your purchase of this 8-bell piece will entitle you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group.
If this is your first time buying music from Choraegus, we recommend our step-by-step guide. This guide will take you through the process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our handbell music, you might find our Frequently-Asked Questions useful. If you don’t find the information you need, you’re welcome to contact us. We’ll be happy to help!
In 2011, Bells of the Sound held a composition contest with the theme All That Jazz! Larry’s piece Tigress Rag took second place in the competition. Now, by popular request because someone asked us about it a week or so ago, this ragtime piece in the style of Scott Joplin is available for solo piano!
Here’s a video to show you how it sounds:
How to get the sheet music
If you’d like to play Tigress Rag, you can now purchase and download the sheet music from Choraegus.
When you buy Choraegus music, it will come to you as a digital download. This means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Please read our licensing agreement for full details.
What about the original handbell arrangement?
If you’re interested in the original full-choir handbell piece, you’ll find a downloadable score on Choraegus. It’s a Level 5 piece, for 5-7 octaves. Bells of the Sound played this piece in concert, and enjoyed it!
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might like to look at our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the answers you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
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.
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:
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!
Larry rehearsing at the piano!
Our weekend also included a trip to Macon to see the Cherry Blossom Festival, and a look at the historic Depot Row in Warner Robins.
At the Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon, GA
Thanks to everyone who came to our concert and made us feel so welcome. It was a tiring and busy weekend, but so much fun!
If you’d like to book us to come to your church and perform a concert, please get in touch with us, and let’s see if we can make it happen!
