The ringing of the bells: Bell Choir concert set for Saturday
Published 5:56 pm Friday, December 15, 2023
- (Special to the American Press)
The Bayou Bell Choir will be performing their annual Christmas handbell concert at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 16, at Central School, 809 Kirby St.
The choir has performed as part of the Masterworks Chorale Christmas concert nearly every year since 1999. This year, the performance is titled “On This Day Earth Shall Ring.”
Bruce Allured, Bayou Bell Choir founder and director, said that there will be a holiday song for everyone. A dozen pieces will be performed, featuring familiar carols, and classical and contemporary songs running from “Silent Night” to George Bizet’s “March of the Kings” to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”
The sound of bells has an inherent holiday spirit, he said. Handbells are often referenced in classics, like “Silver Bells,” “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and “Carol of the Bells.”
“Familiar Christmas carols on handbells are captivating to listen to and mesmerizing to watch. Many have said that experiencing the Bayou Bell Choir puts them in the mood for Christmas.”
At the handbell concert, the audience will hear the rings of five octaves of Schulmerich handbells — 63 bells — and six octaves of Malmark Choir Chimes — 75 chimes. Allured said most groups that handle this many bells have 12 to 17 members.
The Bayou Bell Choir has 11 members.
They began weekly rehearsals after labor day, and have been working overtime to prepare for the concert. Every performer is a volunteer, and together they make up a “group of talented and dedicated ringers with over 200 years of combined handbell experience,” he said.
Good handbell ensembles are like a well-oiled machine, as handbells are a “unique instrument requiring precision teamwork.”
Every bell needs to be rung at the right time at the right volume in relation to those before and after to produce the musically smooth effect for which we strive. Each ringer is responsible for multiple bells, and may share and trade bells with their neighboring ringers to accomplish tricky passages such as chromatic scales.”
For audiences, this is a special opportunity to not only hear the music, but watch the 11 handbell players produce it in real time.
Allured compared it to seeing a “30 foot-wide player piano.”
The full performance should last about one hour, but Allured said that audience participation is expected, so it could run longer.
“We encourage our audience to ask any questions that come to mind, so it’s a fluid situation, depending on what comes up and how long the director talks about the pieces.”
The performance is free and open to the public.
The same selection of songs will be performed during the Bayou Bell Choir “The Twelfth Day of Christmas” performance at 3 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2024, in FUMC’s Paxton Hall.
