Hear the chiming of the bells

 

 

By Rick Nelson

LONGVIEW — When Ann Trimble heard those bells, she knew she had 
to get involved.

Ann is one of the two mainstay musicians at Stella Lutheran Chapel, located 
up the Germany Creek Valley west of Longview.

It was 25 years ago, and the congregation had just received a two-octave 
set of handbells from a member as a memorial. Another church musician 
arranged to have a touring bell choir from California perform a concert at the 
chapel, and the music carried Ann away. 

"I thought, 'Gosh!,' when I heard those bells," she said before the start of a 
recent rehearsal. "I thought it was so beautiful that I had to be involved."

Other congregation members agreed, and they started a choir with Ann 
directing. However, none of them had any experience in performing bell music. 
There were other bell choirs in the area, and she playing with one at St. 
Stephen's Episcopal Church in Longview to learn the ropes. 

"I was one step ahead of the rest of our choir," she said. 

Twenty-five years later, the choir has 14 members ranging from 12 to 75 years 
in age. From October through May, they practice almost weekly, performing 
concerts at the chapel and in the lower Columbia area.

Patti Lamb is the senior member with 18 years in the choir. 

"The music keeps me going," she said. "This is the most unique musical 
experience I've ever been part of."

In her first year with the bell choir, Laura McCartney is the newest 
member. She has impressed her colleagues by learning to play eight bells 
and four chimes in less than a year. She practices almost daily at home, 
reading the musical notation and spoons or other implements to imitate 
the bells.

John Koehler also works on the music at home, using YouTube. 

"You can find many of our songs on the Internet," he said. "You can learn 
what the music sounds like."

When the choir first formed, there wasn't a wide selection of music for 
handbells, Ann said. However that changed quickly because there was 
a surge in bell-choir popularity.

"The number of choirs took off, and church music composers found they 
could write for them," Ann said. "Now we have music that covers seven 
octaves of bells and four of chimes."The music can be complicated and 
challenging. At times the scores look like stacks of notes, and the performers 
have to have perfect timing to get it right. "It's hard for new people to learn," 
Ann said. The choir has three children, but they come from a musical family 
and all play other instruments in symphonies. 

"It's a percussion thing," Ann added. "It's a team. You have to have teamwork."

During its year, the choir performs almost monthly at worship services in the 
chapel. During the Christmas season, they perform in churches, care centers 
and other venues in the Longview/Kelso area and usually receive free-will 
offerings for those performances. Those offerings and a Mother's Day Concert 
and Brunch at the chapel make the choir financially self-sufficient. 

The choir attends conferences of handbell ringers where they hear 
performances, learn techniques, and visit with the composers of the music 
they play. They've been rehearsing a program for the 2012 Area 10 Handbell 
Conference in Tacoma. They're working on some compositions technically 
rated a bit higher than what they normally play, but they love the music.

"You can't overstate the music that Ann chooses," said Melissa Wilkie. 
"It's so varied and interesting."  

Rick Nelson is a member of the Stella Lutheran Chapel congregation and 
the Southwestern Washington Synod Council. He also is editor and 
publisher of the Wahkiakum County Eagle.

Pictured: The handbell choir of Stella Lutheran Chapel, and handbells 
and chimes are ready to sound. Photos by Rick Nelson