Harmony Handbells returning to BC Jan. 10

For nearly a decade, the Harmony Handbells have been entertaining Boulder City residents with their unique sounds.

This year they will be performing on Jan. 10 beginning at 5 p.m. in the old gym at the Boulder City Parks and Recreation Center. The event is being hosted by Harmony Handbells (a local community choir) and sponsored by the Boulder City United Methodist Church.

The concert is free but they gladly accept donations.

As to how they first began performing in Boulder City, Harmony Handbells President Alison Pruett said, “We were looking for a gym or similar space and one of our ringers lived in Boulder City and told us about the Rec Center and it was perfect for what we needed,” she said. “Our participants love Boulder City. They love that they can walk from hotels and restaurants to the Rec Center.”

The group started as a celebration around Epiphany, which is the 12th day of Christmas. So, this is primarily a way to close out the holiday season and, as such, it is primarily holiday music that will be played, Pruett said.

“It will all be played on handbells by approximately 80 ringers coming together to rehearse under a nationally recognized handbell conductor and then perform a closing concert together, which is the part that the public is welcome to attend,” she said, adding that the ringers come from Nevada, Arizona and Southern California.

She noted that handbells are usually associated with Christmas and Christmas music but putting on a concert prior is not always easy to do.

“Before Christmas is a challenge because all the different groups are playing various concerts in their own churches and communities,” she said. “Having it at the end of the Christmas season allows for them to use this music in their previous performances and arrive even more prepared than they might at other handbell festivals. Boulder City is the only time that we are all together as one ensemble.”

Each individual handbell choir that attends the festival ranges in size from eight to 15 people.

As to what she enjoys most, Pruett said, “Getting together with ringers from around the Southwest who I only get to see at this event. It’s also an opportunity to ring under new directors each year. It’s just a lot of fun and out of the ordinary of what we typically do.”