Voices and bells - the essential sounds of the season! The warmth of voices and the brightness of handbells have the power to lift our spirits in the darkness and chill of winter.

We are thrilled to have again as our collaborators for our 31st season of the BCCS Festival of Christmas Music the Tommy Shead Memorial Bell Choir of Doylestown Methodist Church. Under the capable hands of their longtime director, Diana Durbin, they remain one of the outstanding handbell choirs in our region.

We are especially happy this season to include the bells not only in the traditional prelude music, but throughout the program, even for a very special version of our traditional singing of Silent Night by candlelight, something we always look forward to sharing with you, our audience.

The two featured works on our program also come from a beloved local tradition, that of Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, a popular choir and big band ensemble from the 1930’s through the renown bandleader’s death in 1984. Two of Waring’s most frequent arrangers were Roy Ringwald and Harry Simeone.

On the first half of our program, we feature Ringwald’s rarely performed The Song of Christmas from 1945. This is an unusual and subtly arranged medley of both familiar and unfamiliar carols and hymns. They make a beautiful musical frame for the telling of the traditional Christmas story.

‘Twas the night before Christmas is a much more widely known classic. If you’re a long-time BCCS subscriber, you may remember that a live performance from December 2000 is featured on our Christmas album “The Voice of Wonder.” If you’re curious about our designation as the author of this famous poem being a gentleman named Henry Livingston, Jr. rather than Clement Clarke Moore, do a search at the New York Times online archives for an article about the research of Vassar English professor Don Foster!

For many reasons, this is a year where we all can use a little extra “comfort and joy.” May the sounds of your neighbors’ voices and the ring of their bells put you in a hopeful frame of mind for the new year ahead. - TL