The Raleigh Ringers is a concert

handbell A handbell is a bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a handbell, a ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle – traditionally made of leather, but often now made of plastic – and moves the arm to make the hinged cla ...

choir based in

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. The Raleigh Ringers perform interpretations of sacred, secular and popular music, including

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

tunes, arranged for handbells. The Raleigh Ringers has performed in 39 states and the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, in several cities in France and England, and in Canada. The group plays on the largest set of handbell or handbell-like instruments in the world – 36½ octaves composed of 494 individual pieces of equipment.

History

The Raleigh Ringers was founded by director David M. Harris in 1990. The nonprofit organization consists of auditioned members and is not affiliated with a church or religious institution.

Awards and nominations

In 2014 the group was nominated for a Midsouth Emmy in the "Entertainment" category. This was the first time any handbell group received an Emmy nomination.

The Raleigh Ringers Series

The Raleigh Ringers Series is a collection of advanced handbell music that highlights original compositions and arrangements suitable for performance. There are currently 35 pieces in this series.

PBS Specials

The Raleigh Ringers have two hour-long programs in syndication with

American Public Television American Public Television (APT) is an American nonprofit organization and syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States. It distributes public television programs nationwide for PBS member stations and indepen ...

Recordings

The Raleigh Ringers have released 8 CDs and 2 videos.

CDs

* ''The Raleigh Ringers'' * ''Impressions of the Season'' * ''More'' * ''Going to Extremes'' * ''A Wintry Mix'' * ''Passages'' * ''Progressions'' * ''Midnight Clear''

Videos

* ''One Winter Evening at Meymandi'' (DVD and VHS) - Selections from this were included in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

special ''One Winter Evening at Meymandi''. * ''A December Tradition'' (DVD and Blu-Ray) - Selections from this were included in the PBS special ''Holiday Handbells''.

Additional works

The Raleigh Ringers perform on the Grand Larsen-y CD along with Terry Rhodes, soprano, Ellen Williams, mezzo-soprano, Benton Hess, piano, Steven Reis, cello.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raleigh Ringers Handbell ringers Musical groups from Raleigh, North Carolina Musical groups established in 1990