Carol of the Bells

I have been playing handbells since 7th grade. I played in a choir all through high school, competed in competitions, played solos, played in ensembles, and now that I'm in college, I'm still in a bell choir.

I love it.

There are a lot of reasons why I enjoy it, but I think the thing I love most about bells is Christmas music. You can't tell me that Carol of the Bells sounds better with any other instrument. The clear sound of the bells combined with the sentimental tunes of Christmas songs is just so stinkin' gorgeous.

No matter what songs we played in high school, the Christmas songs were always my favorite. The beautiful, haunting rendition of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel was definitely one of the best, but I also loved our version of Sleigh Ride complete with jingle bells and slapstick.

This Christmas, my choir is having an "Ugly Sweater Christmas Concert". It's going to be grand! We're all going to buy 'ugly' Christmas sweaters and play a lot of popular, classic Christmas music. This includes Marshmallow World, Here Comes Santa Clause, the Christmas Song, the March of the Nutracker, Dance Trepak, the Christmas Waltz, and I'll Be Home for Christmas.

What this means is that we're started practicing this music as soon as school started. So every time I go to bells, I'm hit with a wave of nostalgia about Christmas time. There's just something about Christmas. It's inexplicable, but I think we all feel it. It's the best feeling in the world, but at the same time, it makes me think of home. And I'm not at home. Basically, this means I tear up every Tuesday and Thursday when we play 'I'll Be Home for Christmas'.

But I still love it. I'm so excited for this Christmas concert and the clear sound of the higher bells on the Christmas Song will definitely have you in an emotional, nostalgic mess by the end of our concert. So y'all should come. I'll be glad to see you there. And you'll be glad you came.

Dec. 4th
7 p.m.
Bob Jones University, SAS Assembly Room

I said it already, but . . . I love Christmas. And I love handbells.

m(r)