Handbell Musicians of America

[Anne Bowman Blume]

Oh, what memories! I was fortunate enough to be a member of the Wesleyan Bell Choir from 1967 through 1971 at First Methodist Church in Lake Charles, Louisiana. We were 10 "young" teen age kids (5 girls and 5 boys) who gathered to play these individual musical instruments called "English Handbells". The majority of us had musical backgrounds which helped in the journey that we were about to begin! And what a journey!! With each piece of music that Mr. A wrote or arranged for us to play, he took us to the next level of perfection! He taught us, not to just play a bell or read a note, but to hear the music……to listen to the music……..to feel the music…..to depend on each other…….to anticipate each others next move…….to make the music flow…….and to play as one!

And when we were on, we were on! There is no better feeling than to finish a piece of music or better yet, an entire performance and look at him with this huge smile on his face! We new we had "nailed" it! But, it was not always perfection! I remember when we played the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor at the AGEHR Regional Festival at Lake Texohoma (late 60's,early 70's). The first time we played it at the festival was for the Workshop for the Directors and it was perfect! The next evening we played it as our concert piece for all of the ringers and it was awful! If you weren't paying attention, you missed it! We played it so fast that I am sure Bach's head was spinning and he was saying "Oh my, what was that?" And then there was the look from Mr. A, (as we played the last un-precise cord and ended 5 beats ahead of his last baton), as if to say (out loud) "I can't believe you just did that". He tried his best to slow us down and pull us back together but to no avail. Through the years, I think we actually taught him some patience!

It wasn't until I was older that I realized what a truly talented man he was and how his talent came through us and how good he made us become! Some how, through it all, Mr. A managed to mold us into "one" powerful precisioned musical instrument! It was a once in a lifetime experience and for that, I thank him!

Anne Bowman Blume