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0000017c-60f7-de77-ad7e-f3f739cf0000Arts & More airs Fridays at 7:50 a.m. and 4:20 p.m.Theme music: "Like A Beginner Again" by Dan Barry of Seas of Jupiter

Local Handbell Choir Boasts The Oldest Continuous Choir Of Its Kind

Rebecca Thiele, WMUK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo1npaRRkZ4

The Kalamazoo Ringerssay that it is the oldest continuous community handbell choir in the country. Next week they’ll celebrate their 35th anniversary with their biggest concert ever. The free concert takes place Sunday, May 22nd at Grace Harbor Church at 4p.m.

  It’ll feature collaborations with a bluegrass band as well as tuba, jazz clarinet, flute, and percussion. Janet Van Valey founded the group with her husband, Tom, in 1981.

“We’ve walked life together,” she says of the Ringers' oldest members.

The Ringers have been to Scotland, England, Canada, and Japan. They’ve also released three full albums.

It was a rough start at first, getting the choir together. Tom Van Valey says they didn’t have anything - no bells and no music.

“All we had was us and we went to the Baptist church downtown because they had a set of bells and they agreed to let us use them and we practiced on those,” he says. 

Tom says it took some time before the group had their own full set of bells - maybe 15 years. Janet says now they have more instruments than ever.

“We used to ring on 24 feet of table, we now need 52,” she says.

Today there are handbell choirs all across the country. Janet says it’s remarkable to see how the musical instrument has come into its own: 

“They’re being recognized as a true instrument. They’re not just a toy. And I think that some of these community choirs are doing amazing work, amazing music coming out of it. And when people will comment about how musical it is and how enjoyable it is. People will comment to us that they use our recordings all the time in their car and it’s their favorite music to listen to. That’s a nice feeling.”

Tom says the group practiced at First Baptist Church in downtown Kalamazoo for 22 years until moving to Grace Harbor Church in the Westwood neighborhood. Surprisingly, no one in the choir is a member of the church. In fact, the Kalamazoo Ringers aren’t sponsored by a church at all - which Janet says gives the group a lot of flexibility.

Credit Rebecca Thiele, WMUK

“We do not play all sacred music. We can do everything, the whole gamut of music, which is really a lot of fun and challenging,” she says. 

“It’s kind of my therapy because when you ring, you can’t think about anything else," Kalamazoo Ringer Barb Woodrow says. 

"It’s just plain fun," adds Tom Van Valey. "I’ve never done anything more contagious than bells and I’ve been involved in music since I was a little kid.”

Janet says playing in a bell choir takes more teamwork than just about any other ensemble.

“They are like one piano, so they have to make the runs sound like one person is doing them. So they’re like one great big instrument and they have to have a sense of the full score even though they have only a part of it.”

For many Kalamazoo Ringers, that’s what they love about it. The handbell choir gives them a chance to be part of something larger.

“It’s the family atmosphere that’s the most fun for me. I’ve got at least four moms in this group and a lot of friends. So even though it’s fulfilling musically, it’s also fulfilling from a personal standpoint, you know, a relationship standpoint,” says Kalamazoo Ringer Steve Lieberman.

The Kalamazoo Ringers will perform a free concert for their 35th birthday bash on Sunday, May 22nd at 4 p.m. at Grace Harbor Church on Gorham Lane.