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.

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!

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!

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!

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”.

A visit to Malmark Bellcraftsmen

Another highlight of the Campanelli tour was the opportunity to visit Malmark Bellcraftsmen. The Malmark factory is in Plumsteadville, Pennsylvania. We last visited the factory in 2015, when we travelled to PA to perform in concert with Philadelphia Bronze.

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 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.

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.

Next project – a visit to Estonia?