Bell Festival II

Just a couple of additional pictures...

Bell Festival

Above: Lucy D, ever the bell diva, assiduously reviews her music between rehearsals.

Our handbell ringers were in Flat Rock, NC this weekend for the 17th Blue Ridge Handbell Festival. This was the second year the event was held under the aegis of AGEHR Area III and the second also at the Bonclarken Retreat facility. Our ringers had a nice time. They were blown away by the tempi. Luckily we're not required to use the same speeds at home when we perform the music! The weather held clear until, of course, load out. The people and the equipment didn't get too wet, but it slowed things down a bit. We're now looking forward to a joint concert (with the bell ringers at Black Mountain UMC) this fall. More on that later.

Below: Mary V, Faith B and Wilma L pause between a classroom session and rehearsal.

Impromptu Bells

'nuff said...

Next year, ladies...

Handbell Festival

The Adult Handbell Ringers attended the 16th annual Blue Ridge Festival in Hendersonville last weekend. The event has morphed into an Area event and so was somewhat expanded (237 ringers this year) and included classes this time around. Lee Afdahl was a very personable clinician, and had plenty of fans, despite his tendency to keep up to tempo on the pieces! Many of the ringers were working hard to keep up with the pace! The facilities at Bonclarken were very nice if not without a couple of issues and the weather was great for walking between classes and rehearsals. Here is a link to some photos, and the gadget in the right column is a slide show of all the photos. Thanks to Emory Underwood for attending with his darling wife, Angie, and for taking these shots and letting us share them. A couple of close-in shots reveal just how much concentration is required when one is flying through bell music at warp speed. The group from Brasstown, NC had some very cool, extra-large chimes; look for them in the show.


In the photo here (taken during the closing concert), our group is the second row from the bottom, which made us second in line right in front of the clinician; daunting to say the least. We actually had only 5 of our regular ringers, but we were augmented with three ringers from Marion, NC and a 4th from Charlotte.

Hymn Sing

This Sunday we will have a hymn sing as part of our Centennial celebration. It will be a combination of the familiar "call out your favorite" hymn sing format, and a journey through the last century through hymnody.

I have done some research and found pertinent facts and hymns for each decade, 1908, 1918, 1928, etc. You can see the planned list here. The starred items are hymns we will plan to sing. These will be interspersed with opportunities to request favorite hymns from our current hymnals, the Presbyterian Hymnal of 1990 and the supplemental hymnal, Sing the Faith. We will also have available copies of the 1955 old "red" hymnal to accommodate requests for older favorites.

We have invited other PC(USA) churches from the valley to be with us (Montreat, Warren Wilson, Swannanoa and Riceville).

The adult handbell ringers will be a special guest group at this event. They will ring two pieces, a setting of the Latin American praise chorus, "Tuya es la gloria," and a premiere of a handbell arrangement of the hymn "How can I keep from singing" by Mike Barker.

Margaret N. and Mike Barker will reprise a piano 4-hands piece they played for worship recently as part of the event also.

An ice cream bar and reception will follow the event which begins at 7PM.

Music for Worship December 9, 2007

In keeping with a more contemplative tone for worship at FirstLight during Advent, we will begin worship with a single song this week, “Prepare the way of the Lord,” a Taize piece. We will use the Korean song, “Come now, O Prince of peace” at the confession. With Donna Marie Todd giving the sermon, there are a couple of “bonus” music selections this week: we will hear “Shall we gather at the river” during the proclamation; and at the offering we will sing the gospel song “Down to the river to pray.” We will be using the Iona song “Glory and gratitude and praise” as our Doxology. Our closing song will be the jaunty “The King of glory comes.”

At both services our focus in worship this week is the call of John the Baptist to repentance and change. Olivia T. and Kaitlyn D. will light the Advent wreath for us. Donna Marie’s story-sermon will help us wrestle with the meaning of baptism and hospitality.

Service music at 11 AM will include the Taize “Prepare the way…,” the Korean “Come Now…” the Iona “Glory…,” and as last week “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Congregational hymns will include “Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates” (Truro), On Jordan’s banks the Baptist’s cry” (Winchester New), and “Watchman, tell us of the night” (Aberystwyth). Our own Keithie Knowles will play two pieces for us, Max Reger’s “Marie Wiegenlied” (The Virgin’s Slumber Song) and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Greensleeves” in beautiful arrangements for violin and organ. The organ postlude will be a festive setting of Truro by Wilbur Held. The choir anthem is Anna Laura Page’s “Creation will be at peace.” We will be performing the anthem with handbell accompaniment, and with a boy soprano (Matt. B.) taking some of the melody at the beginning and end. It promises to be a stunning musical offering.

Vesting The Lord's House (Advent 2007)

Our church was a bee hive of activity today as we vested the narthex and sanctuary for the season of our Lord's nativity. Small Moravian stars were hung throughout the nave earlier this week, but today the largest star was hung at the crossing. It's quite dramatic, and it was pretty dramatic watching it being swung into place! Several dedicated women placed the Advent candle stand and wreath, the crismon tree, and various wreaths, flowers and other items in the narthex and sanctuary. Finally, with two performances coming up in the next week, Lucy D. was busy organizing handbells (she even polished a few smudged bells). It was an exciting day to see the transformation, but also to see and be part of the expression of devotion these many persons made today. We all will be blessed, and our Lord honored, by their efforts.

I know more than one of the folks I snapped today was bemused I was taking their picture. One asked, "What do you plan to do with that photograph?" I'm not sure she believed me when I told her I was going to post that one and several others on the web (for all, gasp, to see)! Yet, here they are!

Pentecost: The bells, the bells

I am not sure what stirred the idea, but I wanted Pentecost to be characterized musically this year by bells. I used most of the bells sounds I could think of and which were available to me to create an aural metaphor for the presence of the Holy Spirit. We used the Taize "Veni sancte spiritus" as the first song in worship at both services. To begin I employed a mark tree; after several seconds I added several unpitched bells (from India). Kids and choir singers handled those elements. Next came upper handbells, suspended and rung with a mallet; then we added the lower bells in a random ring; these were all rung by our adult handbell ringers. Slowly the bells settled into the rhythm and notes of the Taize piece. Finally, the choir and song leaders joined the refrain, inviting the congregation to do the same. Superimposed over that were the verses, sung by a soloist. All the while, the bells kept up their various patterns. I think it was fairly effective. For the organ prelude, I did several of the variations on "Veni Creator Spiritus" by Joseph Ahrens. For the last variation, you guessed it, I turned on the zimbelstern on the organ. The bell sonority was complete!

Handbell Festival

The adult ringers recently participated in the Blue Ridge Area Handbell Festival. The event was held at First UMC in Hendersonville, and the clinician was Hart Morris from Asbury UMC in Tulsa, OK. The ringers had a blast, and did a nice job at the event. We had already rung two of the pieces for worship at home, so we felt really good about our grasp of the music. Hart Morris was his usual ebullient self, and worked effectively with the ringers. Here is a clip of the rehearsal of one of the pieces. In the photos you can see Lucy D. and Charlotte S. putting up our banner. On the bottom is a group shot. I tried to catch Lucy and her cushy slippers; this shot of her and Sylvia B. is the closest I could get! Here is a small gallery of photos from the event. Also present for the event and in the group photo were Carla S., Mary V. A., Anita B. and Charles M. Missing the fun were Angie U., Margaret N., and our regular-sub Danny S.

Righteous Ringers Rock!

The youth handbell ensemble rang for worship today. They performed Kevin McChesney's "Grand March," which includes a French horn solo. They did a great job. We had to make some adjustments since we're only seven ringers trying to cover three octaves. But both performances (FirstLight and 11 AM) were great! Corey M. was a mighty fine addition for this piece. They rang so well I gave them the afternoon off from rehearsal! I'm not sure where the name "Righteous Ringers" came from. I think Bob Ratchford came up with it sometime earlier in the week. The kids didn't barf over it, so if we're not careful it may stick (eeeww!). I am proud of the ringers for taking on both services (offertory at FirstLight and prelude at 11 AM) with a bare minimum of complaining. Aside from Corey, the ringers are Lisle G., Austin R., Nick P., Caroline P. (AWOL for these photos: studying, between services, no less), Kaitlyn D. and Jordan R.