Sunday, December 11, 2022 – 3 pm
CHIME IN!
Music with a Mission
Rick Wood, conductor

CANDLELIGHT AND CAROLS
A Handbell Concert for the Christmas Season

PROGRAM

Arr. Karen Thompson
PROCESSIONAL ON LET ALL MORTAL FLESH KEEP SILENT

H. Dean Wagner
CARILLON FOR ADVENT
 
Arr. Phillip Young
WHAT IS THIS LOVELY FRAGRANCE?  

Paul McCartney
Arr. Ron Mallory
WONDERFUL CHRISTMASTIME    
 
Ross Bagdasarian
Arr. Mitchell Eithun
CHRISTMAS DON’T BE LATE
The Chipmunk Song

Arr. Linda Lamb
GOD REST YOU MERRY, GENTLEMEN

Arr. Ruth Schram
O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL
HARK, THE HERALD ANGELS SING
Audience Sing Along with
Valley Presbyterian Ringers joining Chime In!
 
Arr. Cathy Moklebust
FIRST NOEL

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ABOUT THE PROGRAM

CHIME IN! MUSIC WITH A MISSION
Rick Wood, conductor
 
Ringers:  Samantha Beschta, Farrell Brown,  Susan Fournier,  Barbara Hunt,  Ashley Kloss,  Cynthia Kloss,
Jane Pittari,  Jean Schrenkel,  Christopher Shay,  Virginia Steinway,  Dawn Stitham,  Dawn Sutton,  Susan Wilbur, Sandy Wood, Jennifer Woodward
 
Chime In! is a cooperative intergenerational community of nearly thirty years that continues to grow in membership and musicianship. Through music we create and build community and become part of something greater than ourselves. Our informal style and inclusive approach encourage anyone to be part of our Chime In! family, as we welcome and mentor people of any age and of all ranges of musical ability and experience. Chime In! always welcomes new ringers. Chime In! concerts are interactive with Q&A sessions, audience participation, and the after-concert “petting zoo” for everyone to try out the instruments. At many of our performances we invite you to play bells, chimes, and even more exotic instruments. Our home base is Bethlehem, Connecticut, but we share our handbell music at venues near and far throughout the year. From the Main Stage at the Bethlehem Fair to Carnegie Hall to local nursing homes, we feel passionate about making and sharing our music to build community.
 
 
Our Instruments
 
Today you will hear the varied resonances and timbres of five different collections of ringing instruments.
 
Schulmerich Handbells
 
If you have heard handbells ring, chances are you have heard bells from one of the two American manufacturers located in Pennsylvania. Our collection of 131 Schulmerich handbells ranges in pitch from G2 to E8. Most of the bells you will hear today come from this collection.
 
Malmark Choir Chimes
 
You may have also heard hand chimes, the long aluminum tubes that look like tuning forks. These chimes produce a wonderfully mellow tone that mixes well with handbells. Our collection of 110 Choir Chimes by Malmark, the other major American handbell manufacturer, ranges from C2 to C8.
 
Petit and Fritsen Handbells
 
You probably have never heard handbells cast by Petit and Fritsen of The Netherlands. These bells generate dark, minor overtones and sound reminiscent of tower bells. Petit and Fristsen, a major producer of bell carillons since 1660, manufactured handbells from 1955 until around the turn of the century. This collection of forty-five handbells ranging from G3 to G7 was acquired from the First Congregational Church of Woodbury last year. We are pleased to be ringing them today.
 
Silver Melody Bells
Silver Melody Bells are cylinder-shaped handbells cast by Schulmerich. With a bright timbre, these bells are generally used to highlight or contrast a melody line. Today we are using two of our twenty-five Silver Melody Bells to add accent during Dona Nobis Pacem.
 
Organ Chimes
 
Today we are using a solitary organ chime, or tubular bell. These chimes are like those used by orchestras and conjure an image of tower clocks striking. Our collection of eighteen tubular bells, once part of an organ, came to us through Sharon Brody whose father, Allen Galpin was the curator of a music museum at The Old Music Shop, Newfield, NY.

RICK WOOD, conductor
 
Rick Wood is a former elementary school teacher of computers and technology and currently stays busy as a leader in Caring for Bethlehem, a local nonprofit operating the Bethlehem Food Bank and local charitable services. Nearly fifty years ago, Rick and his future wife Sandy were part of the original Williams College Handbell Choir. Since then, Rick has directed handbell choirs in Woodbury and Watertown; and in 2011, after seventeen years of directing the Handbell Choirs of First Church of Bethlehem, Rick, with fellow ringers, transformed the handbell choirs into a non-profit community music organization, Chime In! Music With a Mission, Inc. Ringers from Bethlehem have engaged many audiences throughout the Northeast in lively performances. As a leader of workshops and massed ringing sessions, Rick has conducted ringers throughout New England. In 2015, Rick organized nearly two hundred handbell ringers who performed in the Mass of the Divine Shepherd, by Julian Revie, at Carnegie Hall. Working together with Christopher Shay in the early 1980’s, Rick led the group that incorporated the Connecticut Choral Society and served as charter president of the newly formed group.