The 2019 Bay View Week of Handbells Starts Today!

Today is the first day of the 2019 Bay View Week of Handbells! We’ll be spending the next four days playing some beautiful, exciting and challenging music at the John M. Hall Auditorium in Bay View, Petoskey. More than a hundred handbell musicians will rehearse there together this week, under the direction of Fred Gramann.

You can find out more about this event, and why it will always hold a special place in our hearts, by reading our article about the Bay View Week of Handbells and taking a look at our gallery of photos. This year will be our 10th year at the Week of Handbells!

Bay View Week of Handbells 2018
Treble sectional rehearsal at the 2018 Bay View Week of Handbells

At the end of this week’s rehearsals, there will be a concert. It’s open to the public and free to attend. The concert will be held on Thursday, August 15th, 2019 at 7:30pm 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.

We’re excited to be performing one of Larry’s original compositions this year!

This year’s concert repertoire:

Acclamation in G Minor by Karen Thompson

Through the Walk of Life by Matthew Compton

Songs in the Night by Sondra Tucker

A Glorious Everlasting Hallelujah Raise by Fred Gramann

Resilience by Alex Guebert

The Church Triumphant by Donald Allured

Samuel Prescott’s Ride by Matthew Prins

Life’s Railway to Heaven arr. Carl Wiltse

A Minor Crash by Larry Sue

Beach Boys Medley arr. Linda Boatright

Drive by Alex Guebert

I Got Rhythm arr. Hart Morris

The Lord Bless you and Keep You by Peter Lutkin (sung; not played)

Pierpont Productions will be recording the concert, so if you can’t attend, you can order a DVD or CD by calling Pierpont Productions on 231-347-4488.

We’d love to see you at Bay View!

The Week of Handbells at Bay View, Michigan
Victorian cottages at Bay View

Handbell Duets at Third Reformed Church of Holland

August 25 at 10:00 am 11:00 am EDT

Larry and Carla will be playing handbell duets during the morning service at Third Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan.

Details

Date:
August 25
Time:
10:00 am – 11:00 am EDT
Event Category:
Event Tags:
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Third Reformed Church

111 W 13th St
Holland, MI 49423 United States
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Handbell Duets at the 2019 Great Lakes Regional Convention of the AGO

We enjoyed the opportunity to share our handbell music with guests at the recent Great Lakes Regional Convention of the AGO. We demonstrated our duets at a reception hosted by Third Reformed Church here in Holland.

Great Lakes Regional Convention of the AGO - handbells
Information about The Bass Ringer’s Notebook and music from Choraegus

For anyone who came to the presentation for the American Guild of Organists (or missed it!), we thought it might be helpful to share some information here.

Handbell performances and workshops

Several people talked with us about our availability for duet performances. We can also work with individuals and church handbell choirs, either by attending a rehearsal, or leading a workshop session. We can help your ringers improve their basic technique or learn more advanced treble or bass skills. If you’re interested in booking us, please contact us and let us know the type of performance or workshop you’re interested in, your location, and when you’d like the performance to happen.

You can find more information about performances, workshops and our fees in the Book Us section of this website.

handbell duo in church
At Los Altos Lutheran Church, California, May 2019 (Photo: Carl S. Gutekunst)

Handbell music from Choraegus

To find out more about our handbell music published by Choraegus, check out our music site, where there is a wide variety of music available for anything from one- to eight-octave handbell choirs. That’s where you’ll find the music we demonstrated during the reception, as well as other pieces for full handbell choir, and some music for handbells and organ.

For beginning or less-experienced groups, and also for quartets, we recommend our Surprisingly Easy eight-bell pieces. Our 8-bell music can also be useful for small groups of ringers who want an extra challenge. It can work well for small groups who want to continue ringing through the summer when the choir is taking a break.

Music from Choraegus will come to you as a digital download; a PDF file with permission to make a certain number of copies for your group. You can find more information and all the “small print” in the licensing agreement, and we also recommend our step-by-step guide!

If you’d like to try our 8-bell music before you spend any money, you might like to check out some of our free arrangements. Also available for free are the binder cover sheets for our music, as shown on the music binders on display at the reception.

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
Bass Ringer's Notebook, yellow flowers
The Bass Ringer’s Notebook – available now!

Information about Larry’s book on bass ringing

Larry’s book – The Bass Ringer’s Notebook – is available from Choraegus. This is not a digital download; it’s an actual book. We will lovingly package up a copy and send to you by mail when you’ve made your purchase.

Any questions?

Our thanks go to everyone who came to the reception at the Great Lakes Regional Convention of the AGO. Thanks to everyone who asked questions, and listened to our performance. Thanks also to the members of Third Reformed Church for their generous hospitality. If there’s anything we forgot to mention here, or you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us, and we’ll be happy to help!

Christmas Handbell Duets at the Kerstmarkt – Holland 2019

December 13 at 5:30 am 7:00 pm EST

handbells, coffee Larry and Carla will be playing Christmas handbell music at the Kerstmarkt – an open-air European-style Christmas market located at the 8th Street Marketplace in Downtown Holland. Come and listen to beautiful festive music as you shop for unique, handcrafted gifts and locally-made holiday treats. Coffee and hot cider will be available to help you stay warm!

Kerstmarkt – Holland

150 W 8th St
Holland, MI 49423 United States
+ Google Map

Handbells at the 2019 Kerstmarkt – Holland

November 29 at 3:00 pm 5:00 pm EST

Larry and Carla will be playing Christmas handbell music at the Kerstmarkt – an open-air European-style Christmas market located at the 8th Street Marketplace in Downtown Holland. Come and listen to beautiful festive music as you shop for unique, handcrafted gifts and locally-made holiday treats!

Kerstmarkt – Holland

150 W 8th St
Holland, MI 49423 United States
+ Google Map

Street Performing in Downtown Holland

Since moving here in 2016, we’ve enjoyed street performing in Downtown Holland. Thank you to everyone who stopped to listen to our music at the first of this year’s Downtown Holland Street Performer Series. We played our handbell duets for more than two hours on Thursday evening, in perfect spring weather.

Street performing in Downtown Holland - handbells
It was a beautiful evening for music in Downtown Holland!
Downtown Holland handbells - Carla Sue
Carla at our first Street Performer Series of 2019

If you missed the first evening, the 2019 Street Performer Series runs on Thursdays until the end of August, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. We’ll be performing again on the following dates:

  • Thursday, July 25, outside the Knickerbocker Theatre at 86 E 8th St;
  • Thursday, August 29, outside Resthaven Warm Friend at 5 E 8th St.

We also play our handbell duets in Downtown Holland at other times during the summer. Look out for us on 8th Street on Sunday afternoons! If you’re going to be visiting Downtown Holland and you’d like to know when we’re planning our next street performance, please contact us. Sreet performing tends to be weather-dependent, so here in Michigan it’s often a last-minute decision!

Calliope House – one of the pieces we played in Downtown Holland (recorded in California)

Thursdays evenings are always fun in Downtown Holland. Stores and restaurants are open, and 8th Street is full of entertainment. The event is free to attend and enjoy, but tips for the performers are appreciated!

Downtown Holland street performers - handbell duo

Getting Back to Duet Performances – in California!

We’re finally getting back to handbell duet performances – in California! After Larry’s surgery in January, we had to take a break from playing handbell duets for a while. We’d had a busy run-up to Christmas, so we cleared our schedule for a few months to give Larry the opportunity to relax for a while and make a good recovery. Larry’s not the kind of person to sit around and be idle, so he made good use of his time, and wrote lots of new handbell music. However, now the “relaxation” is over, and we’re excited to be preparing for some spring handbell performances!

We’re excited to be going back to the Bay Area Spring Ring!

Our first performance weekend is almost upon us. We’ll be heading to the San Francisco Bay Area, for the Bay Area Spring Ring. We’ll be teaching classes on bass handbells and British-style four-in-hand ringing, and presenting the lunchtime concert on Saturday. We’re looking forward to going back to the Bay Area and seeing some of our California friends again!

Duet performance in California - handbell concert
Returning to the San Francisco Bay Area for a concert!

While we’re in California this weekend, our home city of Holland will be holding its annual Tulip Time Festival. There will be parades, Dutch dancing, five million tulips… and a lot of visitors in town! On Sunday afternoon, we’ll be joining the celebrations by presenting a concert of handbell duets at Los Altos Lutheran Church. Our program, All the Way from Holland, will include a selection of our favourite hymns and traditional melodies, with a few Dutch tunes too!

After Sunday’s concert, we’ll have just two days before we fly back to Michigan. We’ll be trying our best to visit a few of our favourite California locations while we have the chance. We’re hoping to return to Point Lobos and Half Moon Bay, and, if time allows, to go to Santa Cruz in search of sea lions! We’ll enjoy being tourists in the Bay Area for a couple of days, then we’ll be heading back to Holland to enjoy the last few days of Tulip Time!

All the Way from Holland - tulips
Tulips in Holland, Michigan – bright and beautiful!

Spring Concerts with the Kalamazoo Ringers

We’re excited to have joined the Kalamazoo Ringers for their spring concert season. Concerts with the Kalamazoo Ringers are always exciting!

The Kalamazoo Ringers (KR) is one of the oldest continuously-operating community choirs in the country. Janet Van Valey founded the group in 1981, and Martha Matthews recently took over as director. We first connected with Martha in 2015, when we travelled to Pennsylvania to perform with Philadelphia Bronze. We were delighted when she invited us to be part of the Kalamazoo Ringers for the spring 2019 season!

As we usually play duets, it’s an exciting adventure to be performing as part of a bigger group. In particular, Larry’s happy to have the opportunity to get back to playing those aluminum bass bells again!

Concerts with the Kalamazoo Ringers - bass handbells

The first concert of the spring season

We enjoyed the first concert of the spring season on Sunday. This took place at First Congregational Church of Battle Creek, Michigan. The Kalamazoo Ringers performed as part of the Sunday Afternoon Live concert series.

The theme of the concert was The Versatility of Handbells, and the varied program included Cathy Moklebust’s beautiful arrangement of Greensleeves, Arnold Sherman’s Misty, a lively In the Mood arranged by Hart Morris, and the cherry blossom-inspired Moon Over the Ruined Castle arranged by Kazuko Okamoto.

We appreciated the considerable talents of Gary Matthews, who played organ and trumpet, and Rose Wiersma, who played the clarinet. Rose is a dear friend of ours who directs the Zeeland Community Band. We’ve been taking a break from collaborating with the band while Larry’s been recovering from surgery, but we’re hoping to get back to performing with them soon!

The next concert is in Holland!

If you missed Sunday’s concert, there are still several more opportunities to see the Kalamazoo Ringers this season. The next concert is on Sunday, March 24th at 5:00pm in Holland!

Kalamazoo Ringers spring concert

Further information about the Kalamazoo Ringers and their upcoming concerts can be found on their website. We’re looking forward to making more beautiful music with the group in the next couple of months!

Kalamazoo Ringers - Larry and Carla