'It just makes me happy': Building a love of music on the South Shore one bell ring at a time

Alyssa Fell, The Patriot Ledger
·3 min read

NORWELL – Between weekly practices, monthly performances during services and the winter concert, the joyful sound of hand bells rings at the United Church of Christ in Norwell all year long.

Ringing has filled the halls since hand bells were introduced to the church in the 1990s by Minister of Music Karen Harvey.

Performers say their passion for the instrument keeps them coming back.

"I love the sound, I love the camaraderie among the people in the bell choir, I like making music with other people," Louise Bombardieri, of Pembroke, said.

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In 2002, after encouragement from Harvey, Bombardieri played the hand bells for the first time. Since then, she said she's been "hooked." Over time, she has learned different techniques, including how to ring the bell to make the sound and pitch she wants.

The Celestial Ringers perform during the "Spring Ring" hand bell concert at the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Sunday, June 12, 2022.
The Celestial Ringers perform during the "Spring Ring" hand bell concert at the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Sunday, June 12, 2022.

"If you take the bell and you drop it, it doesn't ring as if you bring it forward and bring it up," she explained while making the motion with her arm.

Other skills  include using your chest to stop the bell, using mallets and thumb dampening, she said.

Ellie Hill, of Marshfield, has been playing since 2016. She was inspired by attending a church hand bell concert. When asked what her favorite thing about playing is, she said, "It just makes me happy."

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Harvey said coordination and a sense of rhythm are necessary to play hand bells, and knowing how to read music is helpful.  Performers play only two to four notes, so it takes teamwork.

"When you play a piece week after week, you know there's kind of a group groove that happens," Harvey said.

Performing on the hand bells are Celestial Ringers members, from left, Paul Allen, of Pembroke; and Dave Won Jr. and Jack Murray, both of Norwell, during the "Spring Ring" hand bell concert at the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Sunday, June 12, 2022.
Performing on the hand bells are Celestial Ringers members, from left, Paul Allen, of Pembroke; and Dave Won Jr. and Jack Murray, both of Norwell, during the "Spring Ring" hand bell concert at the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Sunday, June 12, 2022.

Norwell UCC rings in the season

The performers' enthusiasm was evident at the "Spring Ring" concert, the second sole hand bells and chimes concert by the church, on Sunday, June 12.

The church adult group called the Celestial Ringers, the youth group the Rockin' Ringers and students in second to fifth grade from the Rose Conservatory took the floor.  Rose Conservatory students played the chimes, which they started learning about two weeks ago with chimes borrowed from the Norwell UCC.

"The kids really took to it and it's been helping sight reading music, really intonation, helping them hear pitches," Gregory Fernandes, founder of the Rose Conservatory, said.

Greg Fernandes directs his students from the Rose Conservatory of Brockton during the "Spring Ring" hand bell concert at the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Sunday, June 12, 2022.
Greg Fernandes directs his students from the Rose Conservatory of Brockton during the "Spring Ring" hand bell concert at the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Sunday, June 12, 2022.

All 28 students from the conservatory play West African drums, piano, sing, take music theory and will be starting to learn guitalele – a guitar-ukulele hybrid – in July and violin in September.

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Royalties for spirituals

The Norwell UCC introduced a program called "royalties for spirituals" about two or three months ago, inspired by a church in Brookline.

"We use spirituals in church all the time. The spirituals were written by slaves, and they never received a penny for any of their music," Harvey said. "So we usually highlight one week a month, and we'll sing some spirituals, and we have special envelopes for our special collection of what we call 'royalties for spirituals.' "

Nearing the end of the concert, a new set of chimes was given to the Rose Conservatory  thanks to the royalties for spirituals program and the Linden Ponds Community Church in Hingham.

Students from the Rose Conservatory of Brockton perform under the direction of founder Greg Fernandes during the "Spring Ring" hand bell concert at the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Sunday, June 12, 2022.
Students from the Rose Conservatory of Brockton perform under the direction of founder Greg Fernandes during the "Spring Ring" hand bell concert at the United Church of Christ in Norwell, Sunday, June 12, 2022.

"My kids now have something to hold over my head. They said, 'Mr. Fernandes, were you crying up there?' " Fernandes said. "I was like 'Yes, I was.' That was super-, super-kind and super-thoughtful."

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Reach Alyssa Fell at afell@patriotledger.com. 

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: South Shore hand bell players share love of music in Norwell