Salt Lake City — The joyous ethereal sound of bells and chimes will usher in the holiday season at the Bells on Temple Square’s popular annual concert on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1516, at 7:30 p.m. in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
In a program titled “Holiday Reflections,” the Bells on Temple Square will perform an array of familiar hymns, classical arrangements and Christmas songs. Included in the varied handbell repertoire will be “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” “Come, Ye Children of the Lord” and “Finlandia” (known to many as the music for the hymn “Be Still, My Soul”) as well as holiday favorites such as “Ding, Dong, Merrily on High,” “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.”
LeAnna Willmore, conductor of the Bells on Temple Square, will conduct both performances with Larry Smith, associate conductor, leading the ensemble for several numbers. Willmore taught choir in the Utah area for 40 years and has served in many leadership positions for the state and national music educators association.
“It is unimaginable how such beautiful and intricate sounds can be made with 35 talented bell ringers playing 192 bells and 180 chimes of various sizes and pitches, unless you see and hear it,” Willmore said. “It will most certainly provide a wonderful evening of entertainment.”
The annual holiday bell concerts have been enormously popular with the public with the last concert distributing all its tickets in one day. For complimentary tickets, call 801-570-0080 or visit lds.org/events beginning Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 10 a.m.
Children ages eight and older are welcome. Food and beverages are not permitted in performance halls. The length of the performance is approximately 90 minutes.
The Bells on Temple Square handbell choir is an official music organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The bell choir was formed in 2005 under the direction of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The Bells on Temple Square frequently accompany the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in concerts and on the weekly “Music and the Spoken Word” radio and television broadcast.
