Despite the Storm
Westminster Concert Bell Choir
Kathleen Ebling Shaw, Conductor
May 14 – 23, 2023
SPRING TOUR Program
The program will be selected from the following:
Africa David Paich and Jeff Porcaro arr. Roger Emerson
Handbell arr. Carol Lynn Mizell
Allegro Maestoso
Bound for South Australia
George Frideric Handel arr. Frances Callahan
Traditional Sea Shanty arr. Alex Guebert
Despite the Storm Cathy Moklebust
Olivia Dunleavy, flute
I’m Still Standing
Now The Green Blade Riseth
Elton John & Bernie Taupin arr. Kevin McChesney
NOEL NOUVELET arr. Kevin McChesney
Over the Rainbow Harold Arlen arr. Tammy Waldrop
Promise Land Matilda D. Durham Southern Harmony, 1835 arr. Brian Childers
Singin’ in the Rain Nacio Herb Brown arr. Brian Tervo
Tempest Kevin McChesney
The Swan Camille Saint-Saëns arr. Martha Lynn Thompson
Valse No. 2 Peter I. Tchaikovsky from Le Lac des Cygnes arr. Hyosang Park
Wade in the Water African American Spiritual arr. Hart Morris
About the Artists
Westminster Concert Bell Choir
The 15-member Westminster Concert Bell Choir is composed of undergraduate and graduate students at Rider University. Its conductor is Kathleen Ebling Shaw. This year celebrates the 45th year of the handbell curriculum at Westminster Choir College who was the first institution in the world to develop such a program.
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! .
WESTMINSTER CONCERT BELL CHOIR
Kathleen Ebling Shaw, Conductor
Jordan S. Allen, Graduate Assistant
Jordan S. Allen, Plainsboro, NJ
Kayla An, Bethpage, NY
Liberty Ashe, Quakertown, PA
Samuel Day, Narragansett, RI
Olivia Dunleavy, River Edge, NJ
Devin Embrich, West Palm Beach, FL
Jessica Koscak, Tamaqua, PA
Shayna Lee, Brea, CA
Rachel McNamara, North Attleboro, MA
Jordan Mongell, North Andover, MA
Gregory Nappa, Newton, NJ
Samantha Noble, Jersey City, NJ
Ashley Reinhardt, Stroudsburg, PA
Cecilia Simon, Mendham, NJ
Kelly Ye, Hangzhou, China
The Westminster Concert Bell Choir is grateful to have on loan the lower eighth and ninth octave bass handbells, the lower seventh octave Choirchime® Instruments, and the C6 to C8 CymBells® from Malmark, Inc. – Bellcraftsmen, Plumsteadville, PA. On the web: www.malmark.com
KATHLEEN EBLING SHAW, CONDUCTOR
Conductor of the Westminster Concert Bell Choir, Kathleen Ebling Shaw is a member of the sacred music department at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where she teaches classes in handbell training and conducts a second handbell choir. She is Vice President of Malmark Bells, Inc. and serves as the Creative Director of ChimeWorks® - an online resource community for educators who use handchimes. She is a graduate of Westminster Choir College.
Well-known as a handbell clinician, Mrs. Shaw has conducted sessions for the Handbell Musicians of America (AGEHR) both on the local and national levels. Other engagements have included sessions for the American Guild of Organists; the New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas Music Educators Conferences; Choristers Guild; Presbyterian Association of Musicians Conferences; the St. Olaf Church Music Conference; and International Handbell Symposia in Japan, England, Korea, Australia and the United States.
She traveled with the Westminster Concert Bell Choir during a critically acclaimed 15-city North American “A Royal Christmas” tour, performing with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charlotte Church and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
The Westminster Concert Bell Choir under the direction of Mrs. Shaw made its Carnegie Hall debut in December 2001 as the first American handbell ensemble to perform there. They have also been featured on Lifetime Television, QVC, NBC’s TODAY Show, New Jersey Network, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and NBC’s nationally televised Lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. She has also produced eight recordings with the Westminster Concert Bell Choir.
Mrs. Shaw is also the recipient of an Alumni Merit Award from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in recognition of her dedication to the art of handbell ringing and her enthusiasm and accomplishments in the classroom as well as the concert hall.
About Rider University & Westminster Choir College
Located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Rider University is a private coeducational, student-centered university that emphasizes purposeful connections between academic study and real-world learning experience. Rider prepares graduates to thrive professionally, to be lifelong independent learners, and to be responsible citizens who embrace diversity, support the common good, and contribute meaningfully to the changing world in which they live and work.
The College of Arts and Sciences is dedicated to educating students for engaged citizenship, career success, and personal growth in a diverse and complex world. The college cultivates intellectual reflection, artistic creativity, and academic maturity by promoting both broad academic inquiry and indepth disciplinary study, while nurturing effective and ethical applications of transferable critical skills. The College consists of four schools: the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Communication, Media, and Performing Arts, the School of Science, Technology, and Mathematics, and Westminster Choir College.
Culturally vibrant and historically rich, Westminster Choir College has a legacy of preparing students for thriving careers as well-rounded performers and musical leaders on concert stages, in schools, universities, and churches, and in professional and community organizations worldwide. Renowned for its tradition of choral excellence, the college is home to internationally recognized ensembles, including the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which has performed and recorded with virtually all of the major orchestras and conductors of our time. In addition to its choral legacy, Westminster is known as a center for excellence in musical pedagogy and performance.
Westminster Concert Bell Choir
2023 SPRING TOUR
Sunday, May 14 at 7:00 p.m.
Lancaster Church of the Brethren – Lancaster, PA
Monday, May 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Christ Episcopal Church – Warren, OH
Tuesday, May 16 at 7:00 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church – Granville, OH
Wednesday, May 17 at 7:00 pm
St. Peter’s United Church of Christ – South Bend, IN
Thursday, May 18 at 7:00 p.m.
East Congregational Church, UCC – Grand Rapids, MI
Sunday, May 21 at 5:00 p.m.
First United Methodist Church – Downers Grove, IL
Monday, May 22 at 7:00 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church or Ann Arbor – Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday, May 23 at 7:00 p.m.
Church of the Master United Methodist – Westerville, OH
For full concert details and updates, visit rider.edu/arts
