The Tabernacle Choir Blog

Bells on Temple Square Spring Concert: “Bells Are Ringing!”

The Bells on Temple Square celebrate spring with their annual concert entitled “Bells Are Ringing!” The performance will take place Friday, June 8, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square.

Everyone who watches this delightful handbell ensemble perform will tell you that the artful bell ringing often looks like the performers are dancing with their bells. “With the bells, it’s not just about playing the notes,” said Teresa Winder, one of the charter members of the Bells on Temple Square. “It’s a visual art!”

The concert will be led by LeAnna Wilmore, conductor of the Bells on Temple Square and Geoff Anderson, associate conductor. The music for the evening will explore a variety of musical genres from hymns, folk music, and classical, to jazz, gospel, and patriotic. In keeping with the concert’s tradition, the bell choir numbers will be interspersed with organ solos by Temple Square organists Bonnie Goodliffe and Linda Margetts, as well as pieces by members of the Orchestra at Temple Square

Tickets for the concert are free but are required. They will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis beginning Tuesday, May 15, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. mountain daylight time, through lds.org/events or by phone at 801-570-0080. Each patron may request four tickets and admission is open to those eight years and older. Patrons without tickets are encouraged to join the standby line by the flagpole on Temple Square for last-minute seating which is often available.

The program opens with several pieces based on hymn tunes and a classical piece based on a prelude by Edvard Grieg. The Bells will then do two African-American songs (“Deep River” and “Ain’t a That Good News”), a John Philip Sousa march, and two pieces by Leroy Anderson, who composed often for the Boston Pops Orchestra, transcribed for bells (“Bugler’s Holiday” and “The Typewriter”).  The concert will also include a song by ABBA songwriters Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson, and Bjorn Ulvaeus (“Dancing Queen”) and singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka (“Love Will Keep Us Together”).

The handbell choir has been performing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and in separate concerts since 2005. Part of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir organization, the Bells ensemble includes 32 volunteer musicians drawn from a 100-mile radius of Temple Square.  In July 2017, the Bells on Temple Square was invited to be the featured ensemble for the closing performance of the 2017 Handbell Musicians of America National Seminar held in Orange, California.

Come to a Bells on Temple Square Public rehearsal!

The Bells on Temple Square’s regular Wednesday night rehearsals at 7:30 p.m. in the Tabernacle on Temple Square are generally open to the public. Please check the Choir website calendar to confirm specific rehearsal dates, as they are subject to change or pre-emption. Following the June 8 concert, the Bells on Temple Square will be on hiatus until the public rehearsal on Wednesday, July 11.