WASHINGTON — A D.C.-area musical group is ringing in the holiday spirit with handbells.
On Sunday, the Colonial English Handbell Ringers performed a free show at Bethany Christian Church in Ft. Washington, Maryland.
“This is our 25th year ringing so we’re calling it our Silver Bells anniversary,” says Elie Cossa, a co-director.
And of course this year’s theme song is “Silver Bells,” which the group played during the free show. The group’s holiday show features new pieces, including Hanukkah music. There’s also sing-a-long.
The group’s name matches their outfits. “We actually wear colonial garb while we perform,” Cossa said. “It makes it more festive and more holiday like.”
There are 13 members in the group, which includes a conductor. The ringers handle 80 bells with some weighing as much as 14 pounds.
Cossa says the famous Whitechapel foundry in London — the same foundry that made the Liberty Bell — makes the group’s bells. Cossa says they still make bells the way they did back then.
Lupe Bowen, who started ringing when she as a teenager, was now in the audience at Sunday’s show.
“I’m here to watch the ringers,” she says, “and to watch my daughter ring for the first time.”
The first time her daughter Isabel Bowen heard the bells was when Lupe Bowen was pregnant with her daughter more than 15 years ago.
“It’s not Christmas until I hear them,” Lupe Bowen says. “And whether I’m ringing them or in the audience, it brings Christmas to life.”
Upcoming shows
- 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12 —The Central Library, Manassas, Virginia. Free concert.
- 2 and 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13 — The Lyceum, Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Free concert.
- 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19 — Bowie Center for the Performing Arts, Bowie, Maryland. $5. Show is a fundraiser for the arts center and school groups. Some funds also will go toward supporting the Colonial Ringers’ equipment and supplies costs.
Tickets can be purchased through our Brown Paper Tickets (service fee charged), brownpapertickets.com.
