December 31, 2015

Fast Away the Old Year Passes – a Look Back at 2015

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!

A look back at 2015 - with Larry and Carla

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.

A look back at 2015 - Larry and Carla with Philadelphia Bronze

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.

Photos from all our events can be found on our Facebook page.

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.

December 17, 2015

Music for Advent and Christmas, at the Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland

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!

December 19, 2014

The Sundar Shadi Holiday Display in El Cerrito

We were excited to be performing for the second time at the Sundar Shadi Holiday Display in El Cerrito! This display has been a tradition since 1950, when El Cerrito resident Mr Sundar Shadi began by placing a single star in his hillside yard. Every year, the display grew as Mr Shadi made more handmade figures from papier-mâché and recycled materials. Soon it became a much-loved place to visit. Mr Shadi considered it his gift to the people in the community. He continued to put up the display annually until 1996, when age and failing eyesight forced him to stop.

After Mr Shadi’s death in 2002, thanks to the efforts of the Soroptomists of El Cerrito, the Professional Firefighters Contra Costa County Local 1230, local businesses and volunteers, the Shadi sculptures made a triumphant return. They are now in a new location, on Moeser Lane. This year, you’ll be able to see them until December 26, lit up between 5:00pm and 10:00pm every evening.

We played handbell duets on the opening night of the display this year, and were pleased that it wasn’t as cold or windy as last year! Playing handbells on such a steep slope is a bit of a challenge, but we’re fortunate to need only our small percussion table and music stand, so there’s not too much likelihood of anything falling over.

You can find more of our photos of this year’s Holiday Display on our Facebook page.

If you have the opportunity to go to El Cerrito and see the display, we thoroughly recommend it! It’s a wonderful tradition; a reminder of times past, and a lovely way to start the holiday season.

December 9, 2014

Upcoming Performances in the San Francisco Bay Area

We have a busy few days ahead of us with upcoming performances across the Bay Area. If you haven’t yet managed to hear our Christmas handbell duets, you have four chances to see us this week!

Fundraising for the Salvation Army

This coming Thursday, December 11th, we’ll be fundraising at the Salvation Army Red Kettle. We’ll be playing Christmas carols and holiday music at Nob Hill Foods in Mountain View. Drop by and help the Salvation Army provide food, shelter and social services to those in need throughout the year.

San Jose Festival of Carols

On Friday evening, December 12th, we’ll be in San Jose, at the Festival of Carols. The Festival of Carols is at Foothill Presbyterian Church, 5301 McKee Road, San Jose, CA 95127, and starts at 7:00pm. This is an annual musical celebration that features performances by the Foothill musical ensembles. Other professional, semi-professional and amateur artists from the community will also perform at the event. The evening ends with a post-concert reception in the Fellowship Hall. There’s no admission charge. However, donations such as non-perishable food items, coats, jackets, and toys are appreciated, and benefit many local organisations.

Upcoming performances at the weekend

Saturday, December 13th, is a busy day for us. We’ll be at the annual German Holiday Market (Weinachtsmarkt) in Mountain View. The event takes place between 11:00am and 9:00pm at the plaza of the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. There will be German food and drinks, and handcrafted gifts from Germany and crafts by local artists. Students of the German International School of Silicon Valley will perform, and there will be an ice rink! The event offers an opportunity to explore the famous tradition of German Holiday Markets right here in Silicon Valley. All proceeds will benefit GISSV’s high-quality bilingual programs.

We’ll be performing between 11:00am and 11:30am, and again between 12:45pm and 1:00pm.

The Sundar Shadi Holiday Display

After the German Holiday Market, we’ll drive to El Cerrito for the opening night of the Sundar Shadi Holiday Display. This display is an unmissable holiday tradition. It’s on Moeser Lane, east of San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. The display was first created in 1949, as a gift to the community from an El Cerrito resident, Sundar Shadi. Shadi passed away in 2002 at the age of 101. However, the display he constructed on the hillside next to his El Cerrito home each year continues today. There’s a team of devoted volunteers who care for his creations and ensure they’re on display for the holidays.

The display in the hills of El Cerrito will be lit nightly from December 13th to 26th. The display features shepherds, camels, donkeys and sheep, villagers and the town of Bethlehem. It’s just as Shadi envisioned it would have appeared on the eve of Christ’s birth. We’re making it part of our holiday tradition. Why not make it part of yours? We’ll be playing Christmas carols from 6:00pm (weather permitting!) on the opening night.