Westminster Concert Bell Choir

Thursday, January 18, 2024 | 7:00pm

ADMISSION: Freewill Offering

We are delighted to host what’s sure to be an outstanding concert! The 16-member Westminster Concert Bell Choir, composed of undergraduate and graduate students at Rider University, is conducted by Kathleen Ebling Shaw.

Hailed for its virtuosity, the Westminster Concert Bell Choir uses the largest range of handbells in the world – 8 octaves, from C1 to C9. Many of the bells are made of bronze and range in weight from four ounces to eleven pounds; the Choir also uses the large “Basso Profundo” aluminum-cast bells that are a new phenomenon in handbell ringing. The Choir supplements their handbell set with a six-octave

set of Malmark Choirchime® instruments from C2 to C8 – the widest range in existence.

The Westminster Concert Bell Choir has appeared on Public Television’s “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and several holiday broadcasts of the “Today” show, including one in which NBC television personalities Katie Couric and Willard Scott joined the ensemble. Its holiday performances have been heard annually on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today,” and it is included on NPR’s Christmas Around The Country II recording.

The Choir has performed at Carnegie Hall twice during the Christmas season and was featured on New Jersey Network’s State Of The Arts program. In December 2002, the ensemble joined Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charlotte Church

and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a critically acclaimed 15-city tour entitled “A Royal Christmas.” Most recently, the Choir joined singer, Josh Groban, appearing at NBC’s nationally televised Lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

The Choir has made eleven recordings: The Pealing Bells, Westminster Concert Bell Choir, Christmas Bells, Westminster Rings!, Praise and Adoration, Christmas at Westminster: The Westminster Concert Bell Choir, By Request, Westminster Concert Bell Choir: 30th Anniversary Collection, A Time To Dance, An English Christmas and Let Freedom Ring!