Fall Newsletter

Newsletter -Fall 2011

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From The Director-2011

As the fall color touches the trees and the group prepares music for our Christmas concerts, I am reminded that there are always good things in any changes that occur in life. The warm summer days turn to crisp and cool fall nights and the green turns to a bountiful splash of color in the trees. Then the winter comes upon us and the wonder of the Christmas season and the first snow fall.

As many of you may know, this is my final season with Bells In Motion. It has been 15 years since we started the group and I am always amazed in looking back that we have accomplished so much and garnered the support of so many. So as we prepare to perform some of my very favorite Christmas selections, I am very excited not only for where the group has been but the marvelous potential for where they can go.

Our music, like the seasons, represents a very wide variety in styles that may not seem to go together until you look closer at the themes and the harmony in the contrast. Like the many different colors on the trees, when you step back and take in the whole picture, each contrasting piece contributes to the overall effect and together weaves a mosaic of sound that can stretch the canvas that is the concert experience for our audience. In this way the exciting rhythms of the Manheim Steamroller arrangement of 'Deck the Halls' can settle into the swing of 'Blue Christmas' and then make us wonder with the Biebel 'Ave Maria' before coming full circle with'Bell Carol Fantasy'. As always, I think this concert has something for everyone, but better yet, it has the capacity to take our audience on a journey of change with us and to experience the full range of emotions that makes this time of year so amazing.

I hope all of you will be able to attend one of our concerts and join us as we paint the colors of the Christmas season together.

Michael Lamb, director of Bells In Motion

Mike getting ready for the August retreat.

"Ring Noel"

Bells in Motion welcomes all our friends as they herald in the holidays with their “Ring Noel” performances! Two performances will be presented: Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 7:00PM at First Congregational Church, 2100 Bates Ave, Springfield; and Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 4:00PM at First United Methodist Church, 619 Kitchell St., Pana. Admission is $10 and is payable at the door prior to each concert.
With additional instruments such as organ, keyboard, bass and percussion, Bells In Motion will present a wide variety of holiday music to suit every taste. Seasonal favorites such as “The Christmas Song”, “Let it Snow”, “Jingle Bell Rock” and “White Christmas” will truly sparkle when played on the bells. The group will also amaze audiences with innovative arrangements of the French Carols “We Three Kings”, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, “Pat-a-Pan” and “Masters in this Hall”. Elvis fans will appreciate our rendition of “Blue Christmas”! And finally, a haunting treatment of “Greensleeves”, will contrast with an energetic arrangement of Manheim Steamroller’s “Deck The Halls”. These works (and more!) will create a truly unique musical experience for all!

Make plans now to attend one of our “Ring Noel” concerts, and challenge yourself to bring a friend that has never heard us before! We are constantly striving to spread the joy of handbell ringing and promise you an incredible performance that will certainly put you in a joyous holiday mood!

These concerts are sponsored by the RW Troxell Insurance Agency.

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August Handbell Retreat

In August, Bells in Motion took a weekend away at a Bed and Breakfast in peaceful Kilbourne, IL.

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Sisson's Country Inn

After a delayed start (the truck hauling our equipment decided to take the day off...), we finally got everything set up and ready to rehearse! We had a great space for a weekend of rehearsing and relaxing.

Set up and ready to Rehearse!

Throughout the weekend, we spent time working on rhythym techniques, sight-reading some new songs, and rehearsing pieces for our upcoming concerts this fall. Here are some things we learned during the retreat:

1) Dominoes and Euchre are great team-building exercises (especially while your equipment and director are MIA!)
2) Derek makes a mean barbecue pulled pork!
3) Trivia facts about each ringer, disguised as a get-to-know-you game, can and will be used against you.
4) Sight-reading unites ringers together, despite not being on the same page most of the time.
5) There is never a shortage of food when Bells in Motion gets together...oh wait...we already knew that!

Now we are refreshed and ready to ring in the Christmas season! Thanks to the Sissons Country Inn for providing us a great space for a weekend getaway. The Bells in Motion retreat was an excellent way to get back into the swing of things, quite literally!

Concert Featured Selection-

      Winter Rhapsody

          Winter Rhapsody (“Anthem”) is a commissioned piece in memory of Sandra Swanson, younger sister of Bells In Motion member Cathy Rowe. Sandy, who died of cancer during the summer of 2001, was a wife and mother of two boys and a girl. She was a stay-at-home mom who also helped her husband on the family farm. She was an avid reader and loved reading to her children when they were small. She was also an artist who did charcoal drawings of each of her children when they were babies. Although she loved handbells, she never rang them herself. However, her church bell choir, of which Cathy was a member at that time, rang at her wedding ceremony. Sandy was privileged to attend several Bells In Motion concerts before her illness kept her at home.

         Cathy states, “Having this piece written accomplished two things for me. First, it becomes a permanent and beautiful memorial to a very special person in a musical medium that we both love, and second, it furthers the art of handbell ringing as an original composition with a higher level of difficulty.” The composer, Kevin McChesney, presented the finished piece as one that is not very difficult technically, but challenging to play musically. He described it as a simple melody and variations on that melody that build to a triumphant end.   As stated by Bells In Motion member Vickie Courtney shortly after the group played it through the first time, "It starts so simply, and then just gets more interesting as it goes along. To me it unfolds so much like our life--simple and easy as we begin, but as we grow, things become more complicated and difficult."

        Cathy would like to thank everyone in BIM for taking this piece on as their own and for ringing it “from the heart”, as evidenced by its incredible sound! Anthem has been published with this dedication line: "A commissioned piece for the Bells In Motion Handbell Ensemble by Cathy Rowe in loving memory of her sister Sandra Swanson."

P.S. Sandy is also a star in the Orion constellation as her brother had a star named after her!

Bells In Motion Annual
Longaberger Basket
Raffle

Enter to win the 2011 Holiday Hostess Basket - "Falling Snow" filled with holiday goodies to help Celebrate the Season! ($150+ value).

Raffle Tickets are $10 each, or 3 for $25 and will be available at the Springfield concert. The raffle ticket winner will be drawn at the conclusion of the Springfield concert on December 3.
You need not be present to win.

"Sleigh Bells"

$15.00
Available for purchase at the concerts.

Many of your favorite songs from the concert!

Tracks and Sound Clips:

Jingle Bells	Christmas Tidings
Sleigh Ride	Puer Natus Est
The Christmas Song	Still, Still, Still
Masters in this Hall	For Unto Us A Child Is Born
Winter Rhapsody	Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Traditions of Christmas	Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Blue Christmas	Ukrainian Bell Carol Fantasy
A Charlie Brown Christmas	Jingle Bell Rock

Behind the Bells- Meet our Members

Angi Chase

Angi Chasegrew up in Geneseo, IL and currently lives in Taylorville with her husband Keith and son Connor. She holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Music Management from Luther College in Decorah, IA, and a Master’s Degree in Music Education from University of Illinois. Angi teaches music in Kincaid, IL and also directs the choir at Taylorville Presbyterian Church. She also teaches private piano, guitar, and French Horn lessons.

Angi started playing handbells in her church youth bell choir in Geneseo, IL in the seventh grade. She played all through high school and college, and has played in and directed numerous adult and youth bell choirs throughout the years.

Angi’s most memorable experience playing bells with BIM was a concert in Petersburg, where they played for a special church anniversary celebration. She will never forget how full and appreciative the audience was that day. She also loves the “Bass Bell Train” that always forms during set-up and take-down! Finally, she loves the challenge of the difficult music and techniques that Bells in Motion tackles every year!

In her spare time Angi avidly roots for her beloved Chicago Cubs, and also loves to watch her son play baseball! Her family enjoys taking vacations to places with historical interest. She is especially fascinated with anything Frank Lloyd Wright, and anything related to architecture. She also loves watching “American Pickers” and “Pawn Stars” on TV.

Other musical talents of Angi include playing French Horn in the Taylorville Municipal Band and leading music for her church’s Vacation Bible School in the summer. Sharing music with kids is one of her true joys! Angi is also an accomplished vocalist and she especially enjoys listening to Classical Rock and World Music.

When asked what is an interesting fact about herself, Angi would say that three of her goals in life are: to visit every Frank Lloyd Wright building, every baseball park, and every state capitol building in the United States!

Submitted by Nancy Leigh, editor

Become a Friend of Bells In Motion: Bells In Motion has been approved by the IRS as a Chapter 501(c) 3 Charitable Organization. As such, all contributions and donations to Bells In Motion are fully deductible for Federal tax purposes. We hope that YOU will consider making or increasing your tax-deductible donations in 2011 to continue supporting Bells In Motion.

To book Bells In Motion for a concert or as entertainment for an event, please contact our Concert Coordinator Helen Ely:
info@bellsinmotion.org

Editor: Nancy Leigh

Comments and Suggestions? email: msncl@wiu.edu

Calendar of Events

Event	Date/Time	Location
Concert Series	Sunday November 13, 2011 4PM	St. Paul's Episcopal Church 10 East Third St. Alton IL
"Ring Noel"	Saturday, December 3, 2011 7PM	First Congregational Church 2100 Bates Ave. Springfield, IL
"Ring Noel"	Sunday, December 4, 2011 4PM	First United Methodist Church 419 Kitchell St. Pana IL

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Bells In Motion
P.O.Box 9791
Springfield , Illinois 62791-9791
US

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