GoFundMe Campaign

Our goal is to raise $11,000 to purchase a three-octave set of Malmark handbells, including cases. This purchase will help us further our educational mission of musically sharing the joy and art of handbell ringing in Northeast Wisconsin.

Recently, we began an internship program to provide less experienced ringers an opportunity to ring and grow with our ensemble. To relieve the pressure of having them ring on all our concert selections they will only ring on a select handful. For the remaining selections the interns ‘shadow’ one other part, next to the assigned experienced ringer. Having the interns ring alongside experienced musicians teaches good ringing techniques, music reading, counting, and much more. However, that means we need more bells. The additional bells will:

• Allow us to eliminate bell sharing, to rehearse and ring safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Allow us to place intern/beginning ringers anywhere they are comfortable to mirror experienced bass and treble clef ringers during ensemble rehearsals.

• Allow us to solve problems at concert venues when stage/space constraints necessitate alternate bell table configurations. When this happens, we have to split our tables and are not able to share bells consistently between ringers.

• Allow for ensemble growth, expanding our repertoire, and never worry about not having the handbell we need, where we need it.

We need your support! To make a donation please go to GoFundMe at: https://www.gofundme.com/encore-acquire-handbells