Handbell Choir
"Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise in the assembly of the faithful..." Psalm 149:1
About our Handbell Choir
The PUMC Ringers play at a worship service approximately once a month. The Ringers play on 5 Octaves of Malmark Bells and 5 Octaves of Malmark Choir Chimes. They also perform two concerts a year and make visits to local nursing homes.
The Ringers meet for rehearsals every Sunday at 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. following the second worship service in the music room. The Ringers welcome musicians and speedy learning non-musicians to play weekly in this choir. Bell choir music adds distinctive sonorities to Sunday worship and to special occasions. The choir participates once a month at both services and rehearses all other Sundays. If you can read music and are eager to learn more about ringing handbells and chimes, welcome!
First Rehearsal: September 11th.
If unsure as to whether you are ready, contact Hyosang at Hyosang(at)princetonumc.org. She will guide you step by step.
The Handbell Choir Celebrates a Complete 5 Octave Set
The Handbell choir at Princeton United Methodist Church started playing on 3 octaves of borrowed bells in the year 2000/2001. In 2003, Yvonne Macdonald, the handbell choir director, was informed that the borrowed bells needed to be returned to the original owner.
Not long after everyone heard the news, a fund was started to raise money for PUMC’s handbell set. Major contributors were the Covino family and a $1000 grant from AGEHR (American Guild of English Handbell Ringer). Other smaller amounts were collected. The handbell choir, chancel choir, teen and Intermediate choirs gave a concert on June 6, 2004 to raise funds to cover the expense.
In June 2004, PUMC purchased a 3 octave set of handbells from Malmark. A church family gave a fourth octave handbell set to PUMC in 2005, another member gave an aluminum F#3 bell in memory of Peggy Fullman and the handbell choir gave G#7. Over the next four years another family gave A#7, B7, C8 and aluminum bells (G3, G#3, D3, D#3, and E3) as memorials to their friends and family. In summer of 2009, an anonymous contributor gave an aluminum C#3 to PUMC. Now the PUMC handbell choir plays on a complete 5 octave set of handbells and a 4 octave set of choir chimes.