Beethoven’s “Hymn to Joy” set the tone for the 16 handbell choirs at the Arkansas State Handbell Festival Feb. 22 at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock.
Much enthusiasm and hard work went into the preparations for the annual festival in the weeks preceding it. Early Saturday morning in McDonald Hall, board members from the Arkansas Handbell Musicians of America and Cathedral volunteers were on hand ready to greet the 130 ringers as they arrived.
Allan Pieroni, music director for the Cathedral, said, “This large gathering is considered a ‘mass choir,’ coming together for what is known as a ‘mass ringing’ to perform later in the afternoon.”
The Cathedral of St. Andrew is the first Catholic church to host the statewide festival. Other denominations represented at the event included Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Episcopal. Handbell choirs from Lonoke, North Little Rock, Searcy, Little Rock, Hot Springs Village, Conway, Texarkana and Monticello attended.
Pieroni was appointed to the Arkansas Handbell Musicians of America board in October.
To expand interest in handbells and hand chimes, the Arkansas chapter now will lend a complete set of chimes to churches and schools for one year.
“We do it to raise interest in hand chimes and the program allows time for a group to invest or purchase handbells,” Pieroni said. “It is an expensive operation, but a true art form. There is a lot of artistry that goes into it. There are so many techniques to utilize that are more than just a standard ring.”
The 11-member handbell choir at the Cathedral of St. Andrew was created in 2001. It started as a two-octave hand chime choir and now has grown to a three-octave handbell choir and a three-octave chimes choir, making it a medium-size choir.
“We function very much like a vocal choir,” Pieroni said. “We will play anthems for special music. We will play with the organ for festive celebrations like Christmas Mass or Easter to add depth and color to the repertoire of the Mass.”
Other music directors in the diocese also are making an effort to include handbells and chimes as part of their liturgical music program.
At Immaculate Conception Church in North Little Rock, music director Steve Guilmet oversees a 10-member adult handbell choir and 14-member children’s handbell choir.
“The children’s handbell choir is unique in that the members are all second-graders at our school — 10 girls and four boys,” he said.
Several years ago the five-octave handbell equipment was donated to the parish, which has enabled the music ministry to create the two handbell choirs for the church.
Linda Kelly, music director at St. Joseph Church in Fayetteville, said its handbell equipment is on loan from St. Paul Episcopal Church in Fayetteville. The parish is able to have both a 16-member adult handbell choir and a 12-member children’s handbell choir.
“St. Joseph’s is a big church with a lot of potential,” Kelly said. “I’ve only been on the job for six weeks. But I’ve found that the adult choir members are like a couple of kids when it comes to the handbells. They are very curious and very enthusiastic.”
Pieroni said a three-octave set of bronze handbells in cases similar to what the Cathedral has would cost a church about $10,000. Pads, tables, risers and mallets would be additional.
Because one octave of handbells can range from $3,000 to $30,000 and choirs need at least two octaves for making music, hand chimes are a cheaper and more child-friendly way to establish a choir. An octave of hand chimes ranges from $650 to $1,400.
In Fort Smith, Dianne Heinrichs, music director at St. Boniface Church, said, “At present we are using the chimes because of the expense of the handbell equipment.”
She is currently working with a 10-member children’s choir in grades 3-8.
“St. Boniface already had this program when I became music director four years ago. We are a small parish, but the response to the kids’ work with the chimes has been wonderful,” she said. “Everyone enjoys watching and listening to them as they perform.”
At St. Jude Church in Jacksonville, Ann Razor now works with the six-member adult handbell choir, conducting practices twice a week.
Two choir members, Mindy Wagner and Juanita Osgood, joined the handbell choir at St. Jude two years ago. Wagner, a mother of four, said she had always enjoyed music.
“I started in second grade playing the piano and then played handbells in the eighth-ninth grades. But what I like now about my participation in the handbell choir is getting together as a group to play the music. It is nice to have that camaraderie with friends.”
Osgood, a retiree from New Hampshire, moved to Cabot in 2010 with her husband.
“When trying to decide what hobbies to take up and ways to meet new people, I have always turned to my church,” she said. “This is the way I discovered the handbell choir at St. Jude. I love to sing and I can read music, but it had been a long time.
