April 19, 2009 performance, Be Thou My Vision

Good Friday Performance, April 10, 2009

The Hand Bell Choir performed a beautiful rendition of "Were You There?" with Heather P. playing the flute. This piece was performed for Good Friday service on April 10, 2009.

Performance from March 15, 2009

On Sunday, March 15, 2009, the AUMC Handbell Choir performed two pieces. The Prelude, Processional Jubilee, allowed us to actually process down the aisle while playing our bells. We had to memorize four measures of music in order to do this. Below you will see two video clips of Processional Jubilee. It breaks my heart, but the video file was too large to upload in one single clip, so I had to break it up. Part one is the processional, part two is the rest of the song.

As the Offertory, we played "Cantus Invenilus, Youthful Song," winner of the 1999 AGEHR-Area II Young Ringer's Festival Original Composition contest Winner. This piece requires a lot of different bell ringing techniques. The "Martalato Lift" is done by ringing the bell directly into the table pad, thus muffling the sound. The "Echo" is performed by ringing the bell in the air, then lightly tapping in on the table pad to give a "wah, wah" sound. Look and listen for these techniques as you watch the video.

If the music is less than perfect, just remember that we are ringing to praise the Lord!!

Mark your calendars

The Handbell Choir will be performing at Alliance UMC at all three services on: March 15, 2009, April 19, 2009 and May 17, 2009. The Handbells will also be a part of a musical extravaganza on June 7, 2009 after the third church service. Keep checking back for more details on these performances.

Feb. 15, 2009 Performance

The Alliance United Methodist Church Hand Bell Choir performed a beautiful rendition of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" for all three church services (8:30, 9:45, 11:00). Not only is it a beautiful piece of music, but it taught us a powerful lesson in teamwork. In this arrangement, every person must play their bell at precisely the right time or the melody will be completely lost. In other pieces, the melody may be played by several bells simultaneously, so if one person misses a bell, the gap is filled by another ringer. Not the case with "Jesu." Each individual is important, but must be part of the team in order to make beautiful music. Here is our best of the three performances of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."