Dear Friends of BBR,

One week from tonight is the Boston Handbell Festival, our annual freecelebration of community music-making, featuring lively performances by the area’s leading handbell ensembles playing separately and
en masse (this year under the baton of the Raleigh Ringers’ Dave Harris). The BHF is always full of exhilarating performances and a few surprises . . . and it all goes to support a great cause: music making in our schools.

Founding and co-sponsoring the annual Boston Handbell Festival has been one of the achievements of our first ten years of which we’re most proud. This spring, we’re celebrating what we’ve accomplished in our first decade–and looking ahead to what comes next–with tenth-anniversary concerts in Salem and West Barnstable.

Joining us for the Salem “Reflections” concert will be composer Michael Helman, whose “Sonata in Baroque Style” will be receiving its world premiere that evening. Michael will also be leading a day-long workshop for handbell musicians, also at Salem State University. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to learn from this renowned composer, arranger, and clinician–read on for how to register (and here’s an inside tip–discounted advance registration closes on May 15)!

We look forward to seeing you at the BHF and at other BBR events this spring!

–Norah Piehl
Executive Director, Back Bay Ringers