the asu ringers
Story By Mike Overall, Photo submitted

The ASU Ringers, a sublimely musical handbell ensemble, will perform the most singular concert in its twenty-five year history on July 19 at Pinnacle, the Mount Olympus of handbell ringing in Nashville, Tenn.

Pinnacle, the national convention of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, will be held at the Nashville Airport Marriott. The Arkansas State group, under the direction of Dr. Ellis Julien, professor emeritus of music, is the only collegiate ensemble of 10 showcase choirs slated to perform at the prestigious gathering. The ensemble was the only collegiate choir that auditioned, and was selected based on the convention’s rigid standards of excellence.

“I submitted a DVD of our complete 2009 spring concert at Riceland Hall for the audition process,” Julien said, “and we were invited to ring” at what will be the ensemble’s apex concert. (The “Centennial Bells” DVD contains an entire unedited concert from start to finish. The live recording was released last year, the centennial year of ASU and the sesquicentennial year of the founding of Jonesboro as a city in 1859.)

“Performing at Pinnacle is a distinct honor and a capstone event in our history,” Julien said. “Our program will include a variety of music based on familiar sacred hymn tunes as well as a number of compositions that exploit sound effects unique to bell choirs.”

Members include music majors, non-music majors, university faculty and staff, alumni and local citizens. When the musicians “ring” on tours throughout the Mid-South, whether in churches, in Riceland Hall or at other venues, their music encapsulates a centuries-old musical tradition that began in England long before the Industrial Revolution.

The chamber ensemble will present the entire convention concert for the public on July 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the chapel of Holy Angels Convent “so the locals may hear us before we ring in Tennessee,” Julien said.

Observing the choir members perform is almost as fascinating as the sounds that emanate from their instruments. The ensemble’s largest bell weighs seven pounds and two ounces, with the smallest tipping the scales at a mere eight ounces. The bells are placed on special tables and each musician is responsible for ringing between four and eight bells throughout an entire composition.

“Imagine what it would be like for thirteen individual people to make musical sense as they gathered around a large keyboard of five octaves (61 different keys),” Julian said.

He described handbell ringing is the ultimate chamber-music experience. “I have had more than one ringer who has been accustomed to performing in a traditional string or wind band, small ensemble, jazz ensemble, or traditional choir tell me that they have learned more about actually making music by playing handbells.”

The musicians also utilize hand chimes, which have a more mellow, organ-like sound than bells, at integral intervals during their performances.
Professional caliber handbells are extremely expensive, the director said, and the musicians handle the instruments with great care when transporting them to and from the concert stage.

Established by Julien in 1985 as a required performance course for students enrolled in the no longer extant bachelor of sacred music degree curriculum, the ensemble has endured as a self-supporting elective course offering.

Since 1993, the ASU Ringers have made annual tours throughout a dozen states in the Mid-South and Midwest. In addition to annual Christmas and spring concerts, the group has presented an average of 10 off-campus concerts every academic year for the past 16 years.

Two compositions on the Pinnacle program are special to the ensemble. “Sunrise and Wheatwaves” (from “Reflections on the Plain”) by Cathy Moklebust is a musical tribute to the victims of the 1995 bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. “Cascading Waters” was written by ensemble member Dr. David Gilmore, a microbiologist at ASU.

Handbell choirs are more common in this country than Europe, Julien said, although there are few professional choirs here and abroad. “There are probably two or three dozen collegiate choirs in the nation,” he added, which makes the director beam with pride that his was the only collegiate-level group selected for Pinnacle.

A Chicago native, Julien retired from his 40-year teaching career at ASU in spring 2008. Since 1977, he has been director of music at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Jonesboro.

The Pinnacle Tour will feature 14 musicians: Andrew Bleignier, Meagan Conley, Amy Dennis, Dr. Gilmore, Ashley Hall, Jennifer Hall, Ben Light, Christy McElroy, Jonathan Monroe, Tommy Russell, Jenny Shell, Jon Stevenson, Rylan Williams and John Yerger.