THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503160197
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover story
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 160 lines
SEVEN MEMBERS OF St. Thomas Episcopal Church stood quietly with their gloved hands at their sides, their sparkling handbells silent as night.
Surrounding these fledging musicians, participating in their first Adult Handbell Festival, were more than 1,000 other veteran and novice handbell ringers, all awaiting their cue.
``Do not listen to the sound of the trumpet. It comes behind the beat,'' warned Beth Watson, who directed the group. ``Watch like crazy!''
In snatched glimpses, the handbell ringers kept their eyes on Watson, a nationally known bell ringer and director of music at the First Presbyterian Church in Arlington, Texas.
Before the festival at the Virginia Beach Pavilion Convention Center last weekend, the bell choir from Chesapeake's St. Thomas was tense.
``For our group, eight practice sessions with the festival music just were not enough,'' said minister of music, Pat Spoettle, whose bell choir is not yet two years old. ``They really have played some nice things this past year. The festival music was hard for them.''
By the second hour of the festival, sponsored by the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, Spoettle acknowledged that her doubts had dissolved.
``We felt much better,'' she said. ``We could hear mistakes from other bell choirs and knew they were having similar problems.
``With all those people playing, the music kept going,'' Spoettle said. ``You could hear how it was supposed to sound. It gave us a lot of confidence that we could participate.''
Perhaps it helped that early on Watson led the group through the festival's customary finale. While bowing from the waist, they gave the resounding cheer: ``I love handbells!''
Most of the 102 interdenominational bell choirs wore simple matching costumes, such as burgundy jumpers and white turtle necks, T-shirts in bold colors or formal shirts with a narrow tie and cummerbund.
Because their applications were mailed late, the St. Thomas bell choir missed last year's festival. So for them, this was a new experience. But next year they'll make a good impression. During the festival, they came up with their own specially designed T-shirt.
``It will say `Ring God's Blessing - St. Thomas Church,' '' said the minister of music, Pat Spoettle.
In fact, her choir gained a lot of confidence from festival participation.
``They received an excitement that will carry over for several weeks in rehearsal,'' she said. ``The festival was satisfying and a lot of fun. I can see why people come back year after year. It was amazing to see 1,000 people working as a team. Getting to see a lot of new music was wonderful.
``I had wanted my group to have the exposure and to hear the music performed,'' Spoettle said. ``The festival was bigger than I had expected. The number of tables and bells amazed me.
``We were all physically exhausted the next day,'' she said. ``Just standing there concentrating for such a long time, staring at the music and at the conductor.''
The festival handbell classes, most of which were held next door at the Radisson Hotel, included sight reading, line dancing, chimes/bells and bell trees, advanced techniques, directors' roundtable, advanced ensemble, solo ringing and hand trauma.
``The hand trauma class emphasized the proper way to hold the bells and the proper movements to avoid stress on the wrists and elbows,'' said Mary Holloway, a St. Thomas bell choir member.
Even though the gloves worn by the ringers are aesthetically pleasing, they serve a purpose: The bell's surface can be permanently tarnished by chemicals on the skin.
The bells are available in a six-octave range and vary in size from the highest note, which is light in weight and no larger than a woman's thumb, to the largest bell, a low sounding note, which weighs around 12 pounds.
According to a representative from Jeffers Handbell Supply in Irmo, S.C., prices per bell range from $91 for the small, high-pitched bell to $2,840 for the largest bell, which has the lowest pitch. The cost of the middle C handbell is $142.
After warm-up exercises, the instructor cautioned class members to avoid exceptionally long practices.
``That was kind of funny because at the festival, we practiced long hours,'' said Holloway, a retired Chesapeake schools educational diagnostician.
``I thought the festival was quite worthwhile,'' she said. ``What I really enjoyed was seeing other groups and learning what people are doing with the bells.
``We felt good that we were able to be a real part of something that seemed like a real stretch for us and to learn from the challenge of trying more difficult music,'' she said. ``Bell ringing is kind of intriguing, and it keeps your mind active. You really have to be focused when you're ringing. If I have something on my mind, or if something distracts me, Pat (Spoettle) is very good at helping me get back in.''
``I had a ball. It was such wonderful experience,'' said Eliese Berquist, also from St. Thomas. ``I most enjoyed playing with all those bells, and I found the classes helpful. We learned to play the chimes, which have a smoother, more mellow sound than the bells,'' Berquist said. ``And we learned to play the bell tree. The handles are interlaced so that you have a tree of five or six of the smaller bells together so you have to play them with a mallet.''
Another St. Thomas bell ringer, Doreen Crabb, a native of Liverpool, England, said that the festival music was quite advanced, but she won't forget it.
``I don't read music; I don't play a musical instrument; I can't sing,'' Crabb said after a recent practice. ``But I was able to arrive at bell practice, pick up a pair of bells and play, though not very well.
``That's a really wonderful thing to me,'' she said. ``I like music very much indeed and now I am learning to read music. Now, even if I play the wrong note, at least I know where I am on the page.
``The festival was an experience that I would not have wanted to miss,'' she said. ``It was really good to hear the concert and to know what the music should have sounded like.''
``For one and a half days, we concentrated on individual pieces, on techniques and classes,'' said Dan Cooper, minister of music at King's Grant Baptist Church in Virginia Beach. ``It would take six months or a year of one-hour weekly sessions to cover this much material.
``What the choirs learned at the festival will stay with them. It paid big dividends.''
``The festival is a very popular event,'' said Joanne Heath of Kinston, N.C., the festival's program chairman. ``The applications were sent out around Oct. 1. By the middle of the month, this event was sold out.''
The festival attracted bell ringers from churches of many denominations from all across Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
``Ringing bells is just fun,'' said Jane Ring of Alexandria, who plays piano and organ. ``It's challenging and satisfying. The best thing about the festival is that you learn so much. You get to hear all those wonderful pieces massed. It's just thrilling.''
``Playing handbells involves the whole body movement,'' said Boris Bohun-Chudyniv of Rockville, Md. ``It's one of the more social aspects of music. You depend on each other. Ensemble playing with handbells is a challenging endeavor. When it works, it's wonderful.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Dave Berquist, right, and other members of St. Thomas Episcopal
Church's bell choir practice for the final handbell concert.
Jill Jaques, a junior at Bayside High School, accompanies the bell
ringers on her French horn. Jaques was one of two intrumentalists
involved in the festival.
Michael Cleveland, one of the Brethren Ringers, plays his English
handbells.
Beth Watson from Arlington, Texas, conducts the final handbell
concert.
Graphic
MORE BELLS
The American Guild of English Handbell Ringers has more festivals
planned:
Young Ringers, Williamsburg, June 22.
Festival Conference, Williamsburg, June 22-24.
Directors' seminar, Bethesda, Md., Sept. 29-30.
by CNB