New Musical Director!

Chicago Bronze is pleased to introduce our new Musical Director: Andrea Handley.

Andrea Handley lives in Evanston, and has been directing handbells since 1983. She holds an undergraduate degree in piano from the Indiana University School of Music, and a graduate degree in organ from the American Conservatory of Music. As Director of Music and Worship at the First Presbyterian Church of Evanston, IL, she directed a graded handbell choir program which grew to six choirs over a span of a few years, playing two sets of handbells (one seven octaves) and two sets of handchimes. More recently, she directed the handbell program at Marvin United Methodist Church in Tyler, TX. She is a published handbell composer and has written several articles for Overtones magazine.

Andrea’s husband, David, is a Presbyterian pastor, and she has three grown children – a recent seminary graduate, a professional cellist, and a daycare worker. She’s thrilled to be back “home” in the Chicago area, and more thrilled to have the opportunity to direct the Chicago Bronze!

Thanks to all of the applications who applied to the position. We were honored by your presence and interest.

Handbell Musicians of America

Chicago Bronze is a proud member of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers.

Last week, the AGEHR announced that they would change their name to the Handbell Musicians of America, "to recognize ourselves as musicians to be taken seriously by the music world at large."

Please join us in welcoming the new HMA.

Syncopated Clock

One of our newest pieces which you can hear in our concert series next week is Leroy Anderson's Syncopated Clock.

Leroy Anderson is probably most famous as the composer of the Winter favorite Sleigh Ride, but many people are familiar with Syncopated Clock even if they don't know the name of the song. In the 1950's CBS introduced the "Late Show," thinking maybe Americans would stay up a little later to watch more television - crazy, right? The producers chose Syncopated Clock as the theme music of the show, and continued to use it for the next 25 years of late-night television, leaving us with a generation of Americans who can probably hum the tune, but few who could name its title or author.

For more information about Leroy Anderson, visit his web site, leroyanderson.com. Oh, and it's /le-ROY/, not /LEE-roy/.

Member Profile: Denise Kinsey

Denise Kinsey has been a handbell ringer for 17 years. She also plays piano and clarinet. She is a music teacher in Schaumburg District 54 where she teaches junior high students General Music and Chorus. Denise has directed musicals, vocal choirs, and handbell/handchime choirs for various groups from 1st grade through adult in schools and in churches. Denise loves spending time with her two children, Chris and Cate, where they are always in baseball, basketball, football, cheerleading, and soccer!

Workshop!

We're excited about our upcoming workshop for ringers and directors! On May 1st, at Barrington United Methodist Church, Chicago Bronze will lead a hands-on workshop for handbell enthusiasts who want to learn more about ringing.

There will be classes, like score study, stopped sound techniques, techniques for bass bell as well as high bells. Each participant will get a chance to take 3 40-minute classes. Then there will be a reading session, sponsored by J.W.Pepper Music. Everyone will get a chance to play some new music, and maybe you will be able to apply some of what you've learned.

After dinner, catered by Jeff Can Cook?, there will be a Chicago Bronze concert at 7pm. It's open to the public, but tickets are included in the workshop registration.

If you'd like to learn more about ringing handbells, no matter what your current level of expeience is, we look forward to talking with you at the workshop.

To register, you will need to get the registration form and send it to BUMC.

Lamento Borincano

One of the new songs we're working on this season is a Puerto Rican classic, "Lamento Borincano" by Rafaél Hernández (1892-1965), arranged by Francisco Reneir Abad. Hernández was a prolific Puerto Rican composer, with over 3,000 songs, but the Lamento is the most famous.

"It depicts the struggles of a Puerto Rican jibaro [peasant] to survive; an archetypical hero that the Puerto Rican people immediately and always identified with closely. The identification with this poor jibaro, despondent from his inability to sell his goods in the town’s marketplace can be seen as a representation of Puerto Rico’s own struggle for national identity and self-reliance in the face of a colonial history."
--from Music of Puerto Rico

Chicago Bronze is excited to present this work, with its percussive rhythms as well as its history and significance to Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has a relatively large handbell community; we should be so lucky to visit the island some day and share their musical heritage.

Member Profile: Cathe Morse

CATHE MORSE's formal music training includes tenures at Boston Conservatory of Music, University of Denver and Eastern Illinois University. She directed youth handbells in Oregon for 6 years before moving to Illinois to be closer to her children and grandchildren. Cathe teaches several subjects to 5th through 8th grades and is excited to be ringing with Chicago Bronze. She lives in Gurnee.