Handbell Choir's awesome performance

Chester Francis-Jackson, Gleaner Writer

It's a little-known musical genre here in the land of pocomania, ska, reggae, and dancehall, but handbell music is quite celebrated in the hallowed halls of music across the globe. It not only boasts a devoted following but is a musical world unto itself, with its own magazines, websites, language and aficionados, its devotees, running the social gamut.

Curiously however, for its Jamaican debut, the first performance by a handbell choir did not take place in the nation's capital that prides itself as the cultural capital of the Caribbean epicentre of all things cultural. But it was the St George's Parish Church in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, under the auspices of the St Peter's Anglican Church of Petersfield and patronage of Custos Owen Sinclair.

Billed as 'An Evening of Awesome Music", the featured performer was the Handbell Choir of the Church of the Good Shepherd from Bronx, New York, and dears, what an experience it was!

To begin with, when one thinks of handbells, in the mind of the layman the idea of bells making music is an oddity. The concept of being able to so manage bells to be able to create a symphony instead of a cacophony is a very hard concept to grasp. So such an event might not necessarily be one to be heralded and/or embraced as many a pundits thought it portended the hallmark of a public failure!

It was billed, however, as liturgical celebration of sorts, and in this respect, the concert coming on the onset of the Christmas season, such a concert would be more than welcome in rural Jamaica, where many a social activity revolves around the church.

My dears, the concert was hosted on Saturday, December 10 and luvs, it was abundantly clear that the community and music lovers from far and wide were not about to miss out on what was a musical experience of a lifetime!

And so it was, my dears, that it was a packed church and, we do mean standing room only, that turned out to both welcome and enjoy the Handbell Choir making its Jamaican debut and, dears, what a debut it was!

Dears, for this here scribe, the experience itself was a learning curve as both out of the love of music and morbid curiosity, I too attended the performance and, dears, the evening's billing lived up to expectation!

Church Rector, the Reverend Canon Hartley Perrin, was master of ceremonies and he proved a more than competent compère and in-between performances, managed to squeeze a near $10,000 in encore fees from patrons who had already paid $1,000 for the privilege to attend.

The English Handbell Choir of the Church of the Good Shepherd of Bronx, New York, first came to the fore in the year 2000, and since its inauguration has been a source of inspiration to music lovers all over, under the baton Jamaican-born organist and choir director, Grace Brown-Barton.

With her at the helm, the choir came, saw and conquered, as with a repertoire that showcased the classical, inspirational, praise and worship, patriotic, Christian life and service, death and atonement, American spirituals, the celebration and heralding of Christmas; and Linstead Market, thrown in for local flavour, it was a comprehensive musical presentation in an arresting programme. The audience was captivated, listening to the music and studying the performers' technique, it made for quite the concert.

Home-grown soloists

And then there was the performance by home-grown soloists 14 year-old Faizon Brown from the Petersfield High School, and Odane Bartley, who brought the house to its feet. But it was Keiffa Davis who raised the roof with his huge voice and rendition of Ave Maria, You Raise Me Up, and for his encore, The Holy City!

Dear hearts, we are talking goose-pimply fab here and nothing but!

And luvs, if ever proof was needed that the human voice is the most perfect musical instrument ever created, dears, Handbell ringer Cecilia Tucker-Myers, in her role as the Handbell Choir and into the role vocal soloist, transported guests from the precincts of the St Georges Parish Church to the realms of the heavens, as only a fabulous soprano can. She bared her very soul in what was truly nothing but a vignette of the immense musical talent that she is, but for my word, can she sing!

Pumpkins, she was all that and then some and we mean star quality here of the fabbest order and when she was finished, the church, rose in acknowledgement of her musical stardom!!

And dears, Sav fab society was out too, with among those out, included former MP, businessman Russell Hammond; Merle Hamaty; Roy Hutchinson and his fab wife, Del; the excitingly fab Cecile Levee; Courtney and Sybil Barnett, their son the affable Carl Barnett, out with his sons Kai and Chace; Carmen Joseph; Palone Williams; Virginia Turner; the lovely Anita Fletcher; the erstwhile Dave Rodney, visiting from New York; and a multitude of others.

And yes it was a musical odyssey, the kind of which Savanna-la-Mar can boast, as it was all that, in support, content and texture, and faultlessly so!