Stafford, Virginia Teen Handbell Musicians Take Dallas by Storm

Stafford, VA - August 2, 2015 - Years of hard work, hours of rehearsal and an uncompromising commitment to excellence have paid off in a big way for the 15 members of Ring It!, the Stafford Handbell Society’s premier teen ringing ensemble. The Stafford, Virginia-based group of 6th - 12th grade musicians was chosen from an international field of applicants to perform a showcase concert at PINNACLE -- an event sponsored every five years by Handbell Musicians of America. According to the organization’s website, PINNACLE celebrates the “pinnacle of handbell performance and musicianship.”

The performance -- for over 1000 professional handbell musicians was a smashing success, bringing audiences to their feet demanding encores and garnering rave reviews.

Founded in 2006 by musical director, Phillip Lanier, who holds a masters degree in Conducting from Louisiana State University and is a sought after handbell director, Ring It! is one of only a few community youth ringing ensembles in the United States. “Youth ringing,” Lanier confirms, “is popular in many churches, but it is rare to find ensembles in community settings.” The Stafford Handbell Society has a fully graded children and youth ringing program with 9 ensembles. “The musicians selected for Ring It!,” Lanier confirms, “are the most experienced and adept musicians in our organization. They play repertoire that is among the most challenging created for English Handbell Ringing.” This summer, the group will be traveling to Dallas, Texas in July where it will perform before an audience of nearly 1000 true handbell lovers. The national event includes an audience of accomplished musicians, conductors and composers. “It’s both an honor and a challenge,” Lanier says, “to be asked to play for an audience that will include many of the composers of our chosen repertoire.” Though Lanier no longer conducts the group, he is the musical director for the Stafford Society. The organization has 9 ensembles for children, youth and adults, and operates from a permanent rehearsal and performance hall. “Most of our young ringers,” says Neesa Hart, the organization’s programming director, “enter our program as 2nd or 3rd graders. Their families are seeking affordable music lessons.” It doesn’t take long, apparently, before the love of handbell ringing takes root, and many of these beginning ringers stick with the program all the way through high school. According to Lanier and Hart, whose company, Frick and Frack Music, founded the handbell society as a youth music education program, handbell ringing is absolutely the best way to involve children in music education. Bell ringing is a team activity, its physically interactive and builds cognitive skill, focus and discipline. “Bell ringers,” Lanier says, “make good students and great employees. They have hours of practice working together as part of a unit and mastering ambidextrous skill -- which exercises both the creative and cognitive side of the brain.”

Ring It! will begin their new season this September at the Society’s permanent rehearsal studio in Fredericksburg.

The Stafford Regional Handbell Society was founded in 2006 by Neesa Hart and Phillip Lanier to bring the joy of handbell ringing to the Fredericksburg area in a community setting. Full information about the society is available at their website at http://www.staffordregionalhandbellsociety.org
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