The concert will feature both traditional and contemporary
holiday music performed by a full six-octave choir and smaller ensembles.
You may especially enjoy hearing the following:
Uncommon Adoration, a dazzling original composition for 6-octave
choir arranged by Hart Morris. With constant movement between 10/8,
3/8 and 5/4 time and rapid chromatic modulations, the rhythm and harmony
of this exciting contemporary work are guaranteed to send more than
just your tapping foot into motion!
Passacaglia, a transcription for 6-octave choir of one of Handel's
most majestic works. Have you ever heard the clarity of a tiny G-8 bell
over the mellow ring of an enormous G-2? William Griffin's superb transcription
of this intensely moving work showcases these bells in a setting which
brings out the beauty of each octave's particular sound even while blending
these voices over a stunning ground bass.
Feliz Navidad, a medley of Catalonian, Puerto Rican and Spanish
carols arranged for bells, choir chimes, castanets, snare drum, tambourine
and triangle. From the boisterous foot-stamping of a gypsy flamenco
dancer to the mellow tones of a Caribbean steel drum, this arrangement
will carry you across borders and oceans to Christmas in other lands.
"Your concert was stunning! I had no idea handbells could produce such
a variety of splendid sounds." - Joan Masters of Cross Plains, WI, commenting
on last year's concert.
WHAT IS MACH?
Madison Area Concert Handbells (MACH) is a six-octave, auditioned,
community handbell choir in the Madison, Wisconsin, area. It brings
together eighteen experienced handbell ringers from all over South-Central
Wisconsin under the direction of Susan Udell, Ph.D.
Established as a nonprofit organization in the summer of 1997, MACH
serves the community through high-quality performances of handbell music,
promotes the art of handbell ringing, encourages public appreciation
of handbell music, and provides educational and performance opportunities
for skilled handbell ringers.
In its first year, MACH gave two major concerts and performed at the
Wisconsin Sesquicentennial celebration on the Capitol Square, the Monona
Terrace, two nursing homes, a Shriner's dinner at the Madison Club,
a wedding, and an anniversary celebration. Upcoming performances include
the Madison Downtown Rotary Club on November 11, the Madison Mennonite
Church on November 29, prior to the Capitol Pageant at the Monona Terrace
on December 6, and prior to the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" as a benefit
for Habitat for Humanity at the Esquire Theatre on December 31.
The members of MACH bring a collective experience of approximately
150 years of handbell ringing to their performances. MACH has been able
both to share experience as well as to benefit from interaction with
other handbell choirs in the area by sharing substitutes, repertoire
ideas, technique tips, and equipment.
MACH AUDITIONS
Handbell ringers who are interested in joining MACH should call Susan
Udell, our Music Director, at 271-3514, to schedule an audition for
the evenings of December 14 or 15. The idea of auditions may seem a
little frightening, but they can also be fun as you show off your rhythmic
coordination and basic handbell techniques such as plucking and martellato.
You get a chance to challenge yourself to sight read music and do some
bell changes. Make sure you keep that legato sound when you need it,
ring those bells in full circles, and a good smile doesn't hurt, either!
An important note: MACH has a policy to uphold ringers' commitments
to their current handbell choirs; they are encouraged not to leave their
choirs to join MACH.
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TECHNIQUE TIP
Situation: You are playing repeated martellato notes
in fast repetition and getting some residual sound between marts.
Solution: You can play the martellato notes with your
thumb (and perhaps a few fingers for larger bells) on the body
of the bell as you would for doing a thumb-damp so that the sound
is fully stopped between marts.
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AGEHR - huh?
Some of our readers will recognize this acronym right away. Others
will not, so let us shed a little light…
AGEHR is the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers. Membership
in AGEHR (often called "the Guild" - it's easier to say) has many benefits.
The Guild is full of people with all kinds of experience ringing handbells
and directing handbell groups. It publishes music for handbells and
chimes, books on ringing and directing techniques, and Overtones,
the Guild's monthly journal. Each issue of Overtones is filled
with useful information for ringers and directors - ringing techniques,
rehearsal planning, bell maintenance tips, and so on.
The Guild also presents and sponsors workshops for ringers and directors.
These range from the 3-4 day National and Area Festival/Conferences
for hundreds of ringers to half-day workshops for a single group of
20 or 25 ringers from a small area. These activities are not, as a rule,
limited to AGEHR members, but if you're not a member, how will you find
out about them?
Write to AGEHR, Inc., at 1055 E. Centerville Station Road, Dayton,
OH 45459-5503; call 800-878-5459; email theagehr@aol.com;
or see their web page at http://www.agehr.org/
...AND THEN THERE WERE SIX!
Due to a generous matched donation, the ringers in MACH are excited
to be the first Wisconsin handbell group to own the full 6th octave
of handbells, to complement the five octaves MACH borrows. These bells
include the distinctive tones of C#8 through G8 on the high end of the
scale and the low tones of G2 through B2. These very large bells are
actually lighter than our C3 bell, which is a bit heavier than a gallon
of milk. This is because they are made with aluminum instead of bronze.
You'll have the opportunity to hear these bells in their debut at our
holiday concerts on December 12 and 13.
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