‘It's not your grandma's bell choir anymore’: Bow River handbell choirs stretch musical boundaries

Calgary's only community handbell choir society has been performing holiday classics throughout the Christmas season, but  Bow River Handbell Musicians Society (BRHMS) co-director Jim Winslett  says handbells  aren't just  a seasonal instrument.

“We love to play music that you would never have expected to hear on handbells. We're doing Funkytown, we're doing movie and TV music. We've got Bohemian Rhapsody coming up in the future,” said Winslett.

“We're playing just a little bit of everything.”

BRHMS operates four separate handbell choirs ranging from beginners to advanced musicians. Society founder and director Annie Hergott says while anyone can pick up the bells and start playing, at the higher levels it can be a challenge.

“They're unique, and they're always in tune. So, they're an instrument that right away, a beginner can start with. And they it sounds good right away. So it's really satisfying for beginner.” Said Hergott.

“At the most advanced level, it's very hard. To keep the notes in order and to play them correctly, then you're making thousands and thousands of decisions when you're playing handbells. And I think that's the magic of it. And why so many accomplished musicians just get thrilled with playing bells.

"It's a real challenge.”

'A BIT OF AN OCTOPUS'

Players can have as many as 15 bells in front of them during a performance. While usually they are played one at a time, advanced players can be seen holding four or more of them at one time.

“You need to be a bit of an octopus.” said Winslett.  “I often wish I could go with third limb somewhere just for that.”

BRHMS operates four separate handbell choirs ranging from beginners to advanced musicians.

Wanda Costinak plays with ‘Bell Epoque’, one of BRHMS’s advanced groups. She teaches music in public school and says the modern music the group is playing is both challenging and fun for both musicians and audiences. 

“It challenges you in so many levels, it takes a lot of years just to get used to the basics. Then you have to slowly build up, it's not like, ‘okay, got the hang of it, then you can jump into this’. It can be very difficult, especially the level of some of the pieces that we're playing. It's really tricky,” said Costinak.

“It's not your grandma's bell choir anymore.”

RELATIVELY NEW DEVELOPMENT

Despite what most people think, handbelll choirs are a relatively new development on the music scene. The bells themselves have been around for centuries, but organized choirs only started forming in the mid-1900’s.

“Centuries ago, you'd have the churches with the big bell towers and the carillons. They play those by ringing, they pull the ropes, and the bells turn, and they ring.  The problem with that was when they go to practice, the whole neighborhood has to listen to them practice," said Winslett.

Despite what most people think, handbelll choirs are a relatively new development on the music scene. The bells themselves have been around for centuries, but organized choirs only started forming in the mid-1900’s.

“So suddenly, handbells were invented, so the tower bell ringers could practice without disturbing everybody in town. That's what they were for hundreds of years. It's only been in the last 50 or 60 years that they've gone to more complicated choir music like we play today.”

Handbells range in size from very small ones for playing the high notes to large five-kilogram monsters used for playing the lowest notes. BRHMS has a full five octave range of bells in its collection. The brass instruments are owned, maintained, and securely stored by the society, so individual players do not have to purchase their own.

“They get locked up when we go home, so literally the only time you get to practice your part is at rehearsal,” said Winslett.

“Now, having said that, we do go home with wooden spoons, and pantomime but the wooden spoons don't make any noise and so you don't know if you've hit the wrong note or not. But it's just its crazy. Different than any other instrument out there.”

BRHMS is ringing in the new year forming a new beginner’s choir.  For information on how to join, head to their website