Chautauqua Series Summary
Bell tolls greeted patrons at the Madison Public Library Saturday morning. The youth handbell choir of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod played as part of the Madison Area Arts Council Chautauqua Series.
Julie Gehrels, director of the Wentworth handbell choir, introduced the players, who were Dakota Alfson, Alex Tammen, Daniel Voy, Isaac Heidelberger, Nathan Gerry and Mackenzie Hemmer. The choir is for children in kindergarten through fourth grade.
Gehrels told the audience she first heard a children’s handbell choir play at a church in Flandreau. She saw how much the elderly folks in the congregation enjoyed the music and thought it would be a great addition to her own church.
The choir and its music not only brings joy to the congregation, she said, but it’s also a way of bringing God’s word to the youth of the church. Gehrels quoted Proverbs 22:6, which says, “Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it.”
The children demonstrated the different types of rings they can make with the bells, such as chimes, chords, thumb rings and dead bell – where the player grips the base of the bell instead of the handle as they ring it.
Six songs were played, including “Amazing Grace,” “Jesus Loves Me,” and “Hear Those Bells.” They played one song, “Hallelujah,” with Alfson accompanying the handbell choir on the keyboard. Forty-five people listened to the performance.
The handbell choir follows along to a DVD Dot system where they watch a computer screen for their cues to play the instruments. Gehrels said the choir members can remember most of the music on their own.
“You have to want to do it to be able to memorize it like that,” Gehrels said.
