The Highland Park Presbyterian Church bell choir literally rang down the curtain on another season last week.
Janet Reed, who has been a member of this nine-member incarnation for almost eight years and a church member for almost 30, said she will miss it.
“It was something I could do with my daughter at church,” she said of her original decision to participate.
Beyond the music, the professional piano player and singer (and “closet percussionist”) most enjoys the unique camaraderie of the bell choir.
“Unlike (vocal) choirs, everybody is essential,” she said. “Nobody else can play your part. You may be playing two notes in the melody, someone else is playing two notes before and another two notes after. You really have to listen to each other. It develops relationships.”
Randall Manges, the church’s music director, said he likes the inclusiveness of a bell choir.
“Whereas other kinds of (musical) expression require more carefully aligned levels of skill, a bell choir is open to people with varying degrees of musical ability who can really work together on a musical piece and achieve something,” he said. “Our handbell choir members have a broad range of musical experience. It just plain works.”
Handbell sets are measured in octaves, which consist of 13 bells pitched a half-step apart.
The usual number of octaves played by church handbell choirs is three.
“Sometimes I’ll pick up some bells if the piece requires more hands than we have available,” Manges said.
The bell choir’s repertoire mostly includes arrangements of hymns and other church tunes that people will recognize, Manges said.
“I will often take 18th century French organ music and arrange it for the choir. We also will perform pieces written for handbells,” he said.
One such piece was commissioned to mark last year’s centennial celebration of the church building. The piece, composed by Susan T. Nelson, who is affiliated with the Westminster Choir College, was for handbells and other musical instruments.
“We have a lot of musical talent in the church,” Manges said.
There are benefits to performing in the handbell choir beyond spiritual uplift, Janet Reed said.
“It’s a real mental challenge,” she said. “You cannot think about anything else when you are performing. It’s a good memory aid and good for concentration.”
The handbell choir rehearses once a week throughout the school year. The ensemble is busiest during the Christmas season and holy week.
More Top Picks Best Noise Canceling Headphones For Classrooms
They also perform at nursing homes in Evanston and Highland Park.
“The level of dedication is very, very high,” Manges said. “We seldom have absences (for rehearsals). In my eight-year tenure here, we have come a long way from playing pretty simple music to commissioned brand new pieces. It’s part and parcel of that dedication.”
“Pretty” is the operative word in reflecting on the singular allure of a bell choir. Manges said.
“(With a vocal choir), a particular singer may be ill or in bad voice even, but with a bell choir, if you play the wrong note, it’s still a pretty sound,” he said. “It’s always a beautiful sound.”