The Raleigh Ringers: One Winter Evening at Meymandi - A Holiday Special

See also: The Raleigh Ringers in Concert

The mention of handbells elicits a broad range of mental pictures, from church choirs dressed in unanimously bright-colored robes to a group of young children piping "Silent Night" in front of a shopping mall on a snow-covered evening. Still some people remember a group of well-meaning marching carolers, clinking their way through "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" as if it had no beat. Needless to say, "Dueling Banjos," "We Will Rock You" and "Stairway to Heaven" would not be on the top ten list of well-known handbell tunes.

Unless you're The Raleigh Ringers. An impressive group of auditioned musicians that began in 1990 under director David M. Harris with 15 people, the Raleigh Ringers perform on the largest collection of handbells and bell-like instruments owned by any handbell group in the world. Their repertoire includes everything from country to classical, religious to rock and roll, and audiences in France and almost half of the US have heard them perform.

Performing in the beautiful Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh, North Carolina, The Raleigh Ringers open this holiday concert with Sarajevo/Christmas Eve 12/24, the energetic Savatage/Trans-Siberian Orchestra neo-classic. Selections from The Nutcracker Suite along with more contemporary holiday favorites, including Blue Christmas and Sleigh Ride, round out the rest of the hour. The concert concludes with a breathtaking rendition of Stille Nacht (Silent Night).

Although listening to The Raleigh Ringers is an immeasurable experience by itself, even more impressive is seeing the array of bells and percussion pieces—337 total—including six sets of bells covering 27½ octaves. This collection includes a seven and one-half octave set of Malmark handbells, five octaves of Whitechapel handbells, four octaves of Whitechapel Cup Bells, three octaves of Petit and Fritsen handbells, two octaves of Silver Melody Bells, and six octaves of Malmark Choirchimes. With the different sets of bells, the ringers can mix sounds together, creating contrasting moods and highlighting melodic lines.

Short Trip to Fame

The Raleigh Ringers' career took off with a swift pace seen by very few in the musical world. After fifteen of the original sixteen ringers who had auditioned for the group—including the director, David Harris—announced the formation of the new community handbell choir in 1990, they immediately began receiving invitations to perform. One of only a dozen or so community handbell choirs in the country, The Raleigh Ringers spent their first year performing for church services and celebrations, festivals, and some popular Raleigh city concerts.

Word about The Raleigh Ringers also reached Malmark, Inc., a handbell and Choirchime manufacturer that enthusiastically helped out the fledgling group by lending them five octaves of handbells for six months. By the end of their first year, the ringers had collected enough money through grants, performance fees and a six-month loan to buy the handbells. Between 1997 and 2003, the group would purchase the Whitechapel English handbells, Petit & Fritsen Dutch handbells, Choirchimes and Cup Bells.

Despite their growing popularity in Raleigh and the surrounding area, the group's national success began the next year at the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers Area III Festival/Conference in Richmond, Virginia, where guest composer Dr. William Payn took notice of the group and became a helpful artistic mentor. The next five years found the ringers touring not only the southeast and northeast states, but also overseas in France, thanks to an invitation by Fred Gramann, composer of "Fantasy on King Weston," who was thrilled by the ringers' performance on his piece. In 2002, they traveled to California to perform at the magnificent Crystal Cathedral.

The young handbell choir introduced rock and roll into their selections in 1992 with "Stairway to Heaven" for handbells, and audiences clamored for more of the same. The "rock and roll" part of their performance became a permanent part of their concerts, with the ringers going backstage to change into tie-dyed shirts and headbands. The Raleigh Ringers even began marketing handmade tie-dyed gloves in 2000 to earn an income for their future instrument purchases and trips and still sell them today.

The Largest Collection of Bells

Besides their vastly diverse venues, the other feature distinguishing The Raleigh Ringers from any other community handbell choir is their collection of bells and percussion instruments. The Raleigh Ringers perform the majority of their music on the Malmark handbells. The very low bass bells are aluminum, allowing their sound to travel further; the others are bronze. The Malmark Choirchimes do not contain any bells; rather, their 73-pitch set of chimes played with exterior clappers or a mallet, depending on the size of the chime.

In 1997, the ringers acquired their five-octave set of Whitechapel bells from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, England, founded in 1570 and makers of Big Ben and the Liberty Bell. The Whitechapel Cup Bells, purchased in 2001, was the first four octave set made.

The Raleigh Ringers uses its set of Schulmerich Silver Melody bells to accent musical lines. One of only 25 sets in the world, the bells' cylindrically shaped structure makes them useful for emphasis but not for chords. The ringers' Petit and Fritsen handbells produce a "tower bell" sound, a resonance the group finds useful in change-ringing patterns or accenting melody.

An Inspiring Concert

From its initial gentleness to the final crescendo, The Raleigh Ringers: One Winter Evening at Meymandi - a Holiday Special is a program worth watching. Prepare to be awe-inspired and soothed, excited and mellow as UNC-TV and American Public Television (APT) present this handbell choir that will bring out the spirit of the holidays.

Click here to purchase a copy of this performance special and additional Raleigh Ringers merchandise.

PLEDGE NOW to support exceptional programs
like The Raleigh Ringers: One Winter Evening at Meymandi - a Holiday Special.