Bells at Temple Square celebrates ‘Season of Light’ during concert

With a stage decked with stars, lights and poinsettias, the Bells at Temple Square’s 32 members rang more than 300 bells as they celebrated the seasons of gratitude and of Jesus Christ’s birth during the “Ringing in the Season of Light” concerts Nov. 21 and 22 in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

The 80-minute program was streamed on The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’s YouTube channel and is expected to be available for on-demand viewing for about a year.

The concert was under the direction of conductor Geoff Anderson and the debut concert for assistant conductor Mat Ulmer. It features traditional folk songs from Canada, the United States, Spain and the United Kingdom and also popular music, including “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”

As the program progressed through music of autumn and Thanksgiving to Christmas, the bell ringers hung stockings on their music stands. The concluding “The Bell Daze of Christmas” is an arrangement of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with posters for each day.

During the concert, Linda Margetts performed two organ solos and accompanied the bell ringers. Four members of the Orchestra at Temple Square also performed: Lisa Whatcott on flute and piccolo, and percussionists Matt Nickle, Dave Featherstone and Emily Ashcroft.

The Bells at Temple Square is celebrating its 20th anniversary year, as it was organized in March 2005. The bell ringers are volunteer musicians, like the members of the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square and Chorale at Temple Square.

The handbell choir’s performances include two yearly concerts, taking part often in the weekly “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcasts of the Tabernacle Choir and having a major role in the choir’s annual Christmas concerts. The bell ringers also participate in the Spring Ring conference for the local area’s chapter of Handbell Musicians of America, the national organization for handbell groups. The bell ensemble rehearses weekly.

The 32-member handbell choir plays on two sets of English handbells and handchimes — one with seven octaves and one with 6½ octaves.

The program was as follows:

• “Festive Dance on Holy Manna,” attributed to William Moore, arranged by Kurt Meyer.
• “Shenandoah,” American folk song, arranged by Sondra K. Tucker.
• “J’entends le Moulin (I Hear the Windmill),” French Canadian folk song, arranged by Donald Patriquin, adapted for handbells by Carlos Enrique Rivera.
• “Now Thank We All Our God,” by Johann Crüger, arranged by Virgil Fox (organ solo by Linda Margetts).
• “Glad Adoration,” from “Stralsund Gesangbuch,” arranged by Christian Guebert.
• “Over the River and Through the Wood,” traditional, arranged by Geoff Anderson.
• “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” by Felix Mendelssohn, arranged by Ian Good.
• “Good King Wenceslas,” from “Piae Cantiones,” arranged by Sandra Eithun.
• “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” English carol, arranged by Alfred Fedak (organ solo by Linda Margetts).
• “Riu, Riu, Chiu,” attributed to Mateo Fletcha the Elder, arranged by Alex Guebert.
• “Fantasy on the Wexford Carol,” traditional English carol, arranged by Derek K. Hakes.
• “Do You Hear What I Hear?” by Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne, arranged by Sandra Eithun.
• “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” by Albert Hague, arranged by Hart Morris.
• “The Bell Daze of Christmas,” traditional English tune, arranged by Hart Morris.

They performed “Carol of the Bells” as an encore.