Count on the Bells on Temple Square to open the holiday season with joyous concert music.  This year’s program entitled “Holiday Reflections” will be November 15 and 16, 2013 in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. So popular is this concert that this year—as last year—all tickets were gone the first day.

And no wonder. 

The ethereal sound, the fluid presentation, the exact timing and the sheer beauty of the bells in concert is provided by 35 talented bell ringers playing 192 bells and 180 chimes of various sizes and pitches.  LeAnna Willmore, director of the bell ensemble, has often associated the ringing of bells with the happy thoughts.  She says it’s like “the announcement of the arrival of a friend ringing your doorbell, the holy ringing of church bells, the tinkling of sleigh bells.”

This year’s program features an array of familiar hymns, classical arrangements, and Christmas songs. Included in the varied handbell repertoire will be “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” “Come, Ye Children of the Lord,” and “Finlandia” (known to many as the music for the hymn “Be Still, My Soul”) as well as holiday favorites such as “Ding, Dong, Merrily on High,” “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” and “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.”

For those anxious to see the performance, a stand-by line will be organized at the flagpole on Temple Square with a high likelihood of being seated at the concert.