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.
During our trip to England in February, we enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with a few of our friends from the world of handbells. We’ve already posted about our rehearsal with Pizzazz Handbell Trio and Quartet. We also had the chance to visit our friend Meg from Inspiration International. This is a Berkshire-based handbell project that’s very important to us.
More about Inspiration International
Inspiration International is a project which grew from the community work of Inspiration – an initiative of Finchampstead Handbell Ringers in Berkshire, England. The group’s mission is to enrich the lives of the young and elderly in the Berkshire community. We take handbell music into the lives and homes of those who sometimes feel forgotten by society. Pioneered by Meg, the leader of Finchampstead Handbell Ringers, the group has visited and entertained the residents of many care homes in the area. They have volunteered to share their handbell music with social groups and at community events.
Carla first worked with Meg and Sally from Inspiration when she needed to take a trio of handbell musicians to perform at Heathrow Airport in 2011. The group entertained airport travellers during the busy Christmas rush. Meg and Sally were happy to be involved, and they had a great time sharing their music at the airport.
The trio at Heathrow Airport, Christmas 2011
After that, Carla joined Meg and Sally in taking their handbell music to people in the Berkshire community. They visited many care homes and community groups. Space is often limited in care homes, so it was a huge advantage to be able to perform as a small group playing 4-in-hand. The group was honoured to be nominated for the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2012.
When Sally decided to focus on other projects for a while, Meg and Carla started playing duets. That’s when Larry started arranging music for eight bells!
Meg and Carla at the “All the Bells” event in Wokingham, 2012
Carla’s move to California, and Meg’s continued work in the community
When Carla moved to California in August 2012, it was a challenge to see how we could continue the “Inspiration” project across the miles. We really wanted to find a way! So, using the powers of modern technology, we’ve been working together to prepare and record music that Meg can use for performances. From the original Inspiration grew the new Inspiration International. Meg continues to visit care homes and community groups in Berkshire. She adds her live handbell-playing to pre-recorded tracks made more than 5,000 miles away in California.
A happy reunion in England
It’s a rare treat for us to be able to get together and rehearse as a group! Of course, we were determined to find some time to catch up with Meg during our visit to England in February. We enjoyed a lovely home-cooked meal, and caught up on some of the news and chit-chat. Then we dropped Meg right in at the deep end with some brand-new and unpublished 12-bell music!
Here’s a video of one of the pieces we tried; it’s the traditional Scottish melody Flow Gently, Sweet Afton. It’s not a note-perfect demonstration, but it should give you an idea of how the piece could sound, with a little more rehearsal time!
Would you like to play this piece?
If you’d like to play this arrangement, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus. Please see our step-by-step guide and licensing agreement for full information about buying our music online.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Inspiration International, please check out the group’s Facebook page!
Here’s our latest 8-bell piece; it’s the hymn Faith of our Fathers (ST CATHERINE). We recorded this video during a rehearsal at the AGO Silicon Valley January Jubilee event earlier this year.
Would you like to play Faith of Our Fathers?
If you’d like to play this arrangement, the sheet music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.
When you purchase handbell music from Choraegus, the music score will come to you as a PDF file. That means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your purchase of this 8-bell hymn arrangement allows you to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group. Please see our licensing agreement for full details, and don’t pay for more copies than you need to!
If you haven’t bought music from Choraegus before, you might find it helpful to read our step-by-step guide. We designed this to take you through the process and make it stress-free!
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our handbell music, please take a look at 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.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty is the latest addition to our 8-bell repertoire. The hymn tune is based on Joachim Neander’s German chorale Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren, published in 1680.
This is another video from our rehearsal during the American Guild of Organists’ January Jubilee event that took place at Los Altos United Methodist Church earlier this month.
Would you like to play this arrangement?
If you’d like to play Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus. The arrangement is suitable for 2-4 ringers.
Choraegus handbell music will come to you as a digital download, in PDF file format. This means you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail. Your payment entitles you to print up to 4 copies of the sheet music for your handbell group.
If you’re new to buying music from Choraegus, you might find our step-by-step guide helpful.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might find the Frequently-Asked Questions helpful. If you don’t find the answers you need, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to help.
Welcome 2016! As we get ready to ring in the New Year (yes, literally), we wish you all good health and happiness. May the year ahead bring you the blessings of love, friendship and peace, and all the other good things you’ve been hoping for.
In the traditional way, we’ll welcome 2016 and greet the new year with our handbell version of Auld Lang Syne. We recorded this 8-bell duet in a hotel room in England during a visit there. If you’d like to play this arrangement as you say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new, you can find the music on our music site, Choraegus. The sheet music is free to download, and straightforward for 2-4 ringers to play. And if you’re making a New Year’s Resolution to play more handbell music, you’ll find other free arrangements to download. There are also lots of other pieces for small ensembles and full choirs, all available to download and print. No more waiting for music scores to arrive in the mail!
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying, downloading or playing Choraegus handbell music, please get in touch with us. Have a wonderful and happy start to the new year. Welcome 2016!
We’re nearly at the end of another interesting year, so it’s time for a look back at 2015. We always remember how slowly the time seemed to pass when we were separated by thousands of miles and waiting to see each other. Things are very different now we’re together in the same place, and the months seem to fly by! Here’s a look back at some of the moments that made us smile this year.
Supporting the Alzheimer’s Association
In 2015 we continued in our efforts to support the Alzheimer’s Association. A concert in Menlo Park at the beginning of the year also featured music from talented organist Angela Kraft Cross. We joined with Bay Area musicians T. Paul Rosas, Dylan Damonte and Brian Holmes for another concert in October. There, we had our first-ever opportunity to hear Alphorn music! We also participated in a Walk to End Alzheimer’s in San Francisco in September. That was a first for us, but something we’ll hope to do again!
We enjoyed a fun trip down to Riverside, California in March. Larry was invited to be the guest clinician at the Southeastern California Conference Advanced Handbell Festival. He spent the day helping high school students prepare for an evening concert. We also played our eight-bell arrangement of Great Is Thy Faithfulness. You can find a video of the SECC Advanced Festival rehearsal and concert excerpts on YouTube.
We also had the opportunity for a quick tour of Riverside, and a very nice lunch, before flying back to the San Francisco Bay Area.
A trip to the Siskiyou Summit Handbell Festival
At the beginning of May, we took a long road-trip to Ashland, Oregon, for the Siskiyou Summit Handbell Festival. Larry was the clinician for the event, and Carla taught a class on British-style four-in-hand ringing. We had a fun weekend, making some great music with other handbell musicians from Oregon and California, and performing in a well-attended public concert.
Our first visit to Philadelphia
The end of May brought us a really exciting opportunity to travel to Philadelphia for the first time ever. We performed in a shared concert with Philadelphia Bronze, an advanced auditioned handbell ensemble.
We had so much fun in Philadelphia! Our trip started with a guided tour of the city from one of the Philadelphia Bronze members, and a visit to the Liberty Bell.
It was exciting to visit Malmark Bellcraftsmen, the manufacturers of the handbells we use to play our duets. The factory tour was absolutely fascinating – and if you’re a fan of shiny bronze stuff, you should definitely put it on your “things to do/places to go” list!
Another member of Philadelphia Bronze took us to Valley Forge Park – the site of the third winter encampment of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. It’s a very scenic and peaceful place. We drove through and stopped at various historical buildings and monuments along the way.
Special thanks go to all at Philadelphia Bronze for making us so welcome – especially to Sarah, Martha and Rise for being great tour guides! You can read more about our trip in an earlier website post, and see a video from the concert on YouTube.
Carla received her 10-year Green Card
An important milestone happened for us in July this year. Carla received her 10-year Green Card, and became a permanent resident of the USA. It marks a welcome end to our immigration process, and means that we no longer have to be obsessive about keeping evidence of our relationship, to be able to prove to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services that our marriage is genuine. It is, of course, but still, it’s nice not to hear ourselves saying, “Oh! We’d better keep that for the immigration people” while we go about our daily lives.
Back to the Bay View Week of Handbells!
August is always a highlight of our year – because it’s when we go to Michigan to take part in the Bay View Week of Handbells. We’ve been to this annual event together since 2010. It’s the place where we first spent time together in real life! It’s also the place where we celebrated our engagement in 2011, and where we closed the distance in 2012. This event is always such a special week of music and friendship, and this year was no exception.
One disappointment for us this year was that we didn’t manage to make our planned trip back to England to visit family and friends there. Travelling overseas is always expensive, and our handbell trips seemed to use up all our budget and vacation time. But all is not lost, because we’re hoping to make the trip in 2016. Instead, a couple of our English friends and family visited us this year. We had the chance to do “tourist things” around San Francisco and take that long-awaited trip to Alcatraz Island in October!
(Don’t worry; they did let him out eventually!)
A busy holiday season
The 2015 holiday season was our busiest yet. It’s always a crazy time of year for handbell musicians. People think of Christmas, and they think of bells! We enjoyed sharing our holiday music with enthusiastic audiences at events across the Bay Area. Two beautiful candlelight services of remembrance – one for Kara in Palo Alto and one at the Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland – gave people from the local community an opportunity to honor and remember loved ones who have died.
We played duets at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts before the Pacific Ballet Academy Nutcracker performances. The German Holiday Market in Mountain View was another fun event! We also enjoyed the Sundar Shadi Holiday Display in El Cerrito.
One of the highlights of our holiday season was our shared concert with VoiceWorks in Redwood City. We played duets, and also arranged 8-bell accompaniments to the pieces being sung by the choir. We’re grateful to all who braved the rain to come and enjoy the music! We ended our holiday season by welcoming in Christmas Day at the candlelight services at Los Altos United Methodist Church.
Thank you so much to everyone who’s helped to make this year special for us. We’re grateful to family and friends, and anyone who came to one of our handbell performances or played our music. We hope 2015 was a good year for you too, and wish you all much love and happiness for 2016.
Here’s a little video of our warm-up session at the Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland, where we played duets at their Annual Night of Remembrance on December 9th. Apologies for the background noise (which does improve slightly as the video goes on). We made this recording while people were running around, setting everything up for the evening’s event.
We enjoy playing our handbell duets at the Chapel of the Chimes. It’s a beautiful building, and this annual event is always enjoyable and moving.
Nearly at the end of our holiday performances
We’re coming to the end of our Christmas and holiday performances now. We’ll be performing at a private holiday party on Saturday. Afterwards, we’ll be playing at the Sundar Shadi Holiday Display in El Cerrito, returning for a second performance on December 23rd. The Holiday Display is an outdoor event, and we can’t play our handbells in the rain. Please keep an eye on our Facebook page for any changes, postponements or cancellations in the event of bad weather.
Would you like to book us for a holiday event?
Perhaps it’s too late to book us for a holiday event this year, but it’s never too early to plan for next year! If you’re organising a Christmas event, and you’d like to consider handbell music, please get in touch with us!
We’re enjoying the run-up to Christmas, and there are more holiday performances to come!
We spent last weekend at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. We played our handbell duets before and after the Pacific Ballet Academy’s performances of The Nutcracker. It was fun to receive such a warm welcome from so many people who recognised us from previous years! For us, this was the perfect opportunity to share some of our 8-bell Nutcracker pieces, easing gently into a selection of Advent, Christmas and holiday music.
On Tuesday afternoon we played our first session at the Salvation Army Red Kettle, here in Mountain View. We played duets for two hours, and people gave generously to help local people at Christmas and throughout the year.
Don’t miss our concert with VoiceWorks!
On Wednesday we went to Redwood City to rehearse with VoiceWorks for our shared concert on December 13th. It’s going to be a fun concert!
On Thursday afternoon we had a delightfully festive time playing Christmas carols at the Christmas meeting of a church group in Campbell. An enthusiastic audience is a very good thing. We had eight willing volunteers for our “have-a-go” session, playing Jingle Bells on handchimes. We very much enjoyed our visit, and appreciated the warm welcome we received.
On Thursday evening, we took part in the Kara Candlelight Service of Remembrance in Palo Alto. This is an annual event, and is always an emotional and moving evening.
Friday morning started early for us, with a trip to Palo Alto for a performance at a private meeting/holiday celebration there. We arrived early and spent a fun half-hour looking around the shops in chilly downtown Palo Alto.
We had a great time (and lovely, much-needed coffee and breakfast) at this event. Audience members asked us some interesting questions about our bells and music. Handbell music always seems to get people into the holiday spirit, even quite early in the morning at the start of a busy working day!
Next week’s events
Next week will bring another session at the Salvation Army Red Kettle. There will also be private holiday events in Palo Alto and Los Altos. We’ll be playing duets at the Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland, and at our concert with VoiceWorks in Redwood City.
Thank you to everyone who visited Choraegus and showed an interest in playing We Three Kings. Lots of people downloaded this free 8-bell arrangement, and we hope it will be a useful addition to your Christmas repertoire!
We’ve been asked if there will be more free handbell music – and the answer is yes. Keep an eye on the Freebies section of our music site for future offerings. In the meantime, lots of other handbell arrangements and original compositions are available to download for a very reasonable price. If you enjoy playing We Three Kings, you might like our other 8-bell titles for Christmas, suitable for 2-4 ringers. There are also 12-bell pieces, and arrangements for full handbell choir. No matter the size or ability of your handbell ensemble, you should find something of interest. All Choraegus music is available to download and print at home. You never need to wait for a handbell score to arrive in the mail; it will come to you as a PDF file, so you can print it and get started on making music!
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying, downloading or playing Choraegus handbell music, please check our Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help!
We Gather Together is also known as We Praise Thee, O God, Our Redeemer. It’s the perfect hymn to celebrate Thanksgiving!
We played this new arrangement for the very first time yesterday. Here’s our rehearsal video.
Would you like to play this arrangement?
If you’d like to play We Gather Together, the sheet music is available for purchase and download from Choraegus.
Please note that Choraegus handbell music will come to you as a PDF file, ready for you to download and print. You won’t receive anything in the mail! Purchasing this 8-bell piece gives you permission to print up to 4 copies for your handbell group. Please see our licensing agreement for full details, and ask us if you have any questions. Don’t pay for more copies than you need!
If you haven’t bought Choraegus handbell music before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this guide to help make the process as stress-free as possible.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, you might like to check out some Frequently-Asked Questions. If you don’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
