Global Bronze Productions’ “Ringing in the Holidays” Concert Brings Elite Handbell Ringers to The Bushnell’s Stage for FIRST Time in its 90-Year History; Connecticut Premiere of “The Great Christmas Ring”

On Monday, November 4, 2019, the stage of the Bushnell Performing Arts Center’s Belding Theatre in Hartford, CT, will be alive with the sound of music … by handbell ringers playing Christmas carols that have been rung for over 150 years.

Global Bronze Productions’ (GBP) “Ringing in the Holidays” concert will begin at 7 pm and also mark a series of FIRSTs:

• The Bushnell’s FIRST handbell concert in its 90 years and 20,000+ performances of existence;

• The Connecticut PREMIERE of The Great Christmas Ring, a multi-movement English handbell and handchimes composition featuring adaptations of holiday favorites, from “Deck the Halls” and “Angels We Have Heard on High” to “Jingle Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

• GBP’s INAUGURAL concert. Founded in April 2019 by Julia Falkenburg, GBP’s mission is to bring handbells into the music mainstream both year-round and worldwide.

PERFORMERS

These 11 local handbell ensembles will join forces and participate in the Connecticut Premiere of The Great Christmas Ring as “The Global Bronze Ringers” under the baton of Award-Winning Maestro Kevin McChesney:

• Asylum Hill Congregational Church/Hartford, CT
• Celebration Ringers; Kensington Congregational Church/Kensington CT
• Ellington Congregational Church/Ellington, CT
• First Church of Christ UCC/West Hartford, CT
• First Presbyterian Church of Greenwich/Greenwich, CT
• Handbell Harmonies; First Congregational Church of Holliston/Holliston, MA
• Jubilate Ringers; First Church of Christ/Glastonbury, CT
• Jubilate Ringers; Music on the Hill/Wilton, CT
• Omega Bell Choir; Wesley United Methodist Church/Hadley, MA
• St. Luke’s Lutheran Church/Gales Ferry, CT
• Wethersfield United Methodist Church/Wethersfield, CT

Also showcased:

● Ring It!: A Stafford Regional Handbell Society Premiere Ensemble comprised of by audition-only youth ringers in grades 6 through 12 from Fredericksburg, VA. Conducted by Neesa Hart.

● WildRING!: A New England breakout group of experimental advanced ringers. Conducted by “RINGLeader” Rachel Cerullo.