Handbells will hit note during Sunday festival

Nothing says "Happy Holidays" like the mesmerizing tones of handbells. A festival using the melodic instruments is slated for 4 p.m. Sunday at the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts gymnasium, on the corner of Seventh Street and Bridger Avenue.

There is no admission charge but donations are accepted.

The event is the 12th annual Handbell Festival, appropriately named "Twelfth Night." It will consist of 14 choirs of handbell ringers from Nevada, California and Arizona. The festival will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringing.

Guest director Jane Anderson, from Topeka, Kan., will lead the group.

Sun City resident Janet Ty is the person responsible for the festival. She joined the guild in 1972 when she lived in upstate New York and established the annual event the following year. After moving to Las Vegas in 1992, she continued the tradition.

"It sounds odd to have a festival after Christmas, but the 12 days of Christmas start on Dec. 25," Ty said. "I like to think it's a way to let the season go on a little longer."

Ty directs three handbell choirs: The Sun City Ringers, established about 10 years ago and consisting of residents of her community; Harmony, made up of individuals from all types of professions; and LV Ringers, a children's group consisting of youngsters ages 8 to 14.

A couple children from the latter group use step stools to reach the table top. The older children handle the big bells which can weight up to 10 pounds. The group was formed last fall after Ty finished teaching bells at The Meadows School. The children will perform a solo song, "Sussex Carol."

The name of the youngster's group can be deceiving. People often think LV Ringers means Las Vegas ringers but it doesn't. LV is a musical notation on their sheet music. It means "let vibrate." In other words, do not dampen the sound but let it die out on its own.

All three of Ty's choirs will play at the festival with other groups in what's called a mass ringing. They will perform holiday melodies including "What Child is This," "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Noel Nouvelet," a French tune.

Nancy Brandt is one of the 10 Sun City Ringers. The group practices twice a week.

"Some of the bells are really heavy so we wear wrist braces," she said. "The hardest part is challenging ourselves to come up to Janet's standards. What I like best is it gives me a chance to keep up with my musical background."

Because about 150 people will be playing together at the festival, they will rehearse all day Saturday at the gymnasium. The public is welcomed to observe.

Ty owns the 61 bells and 61 chimes that her groups will be using. They span five octaves, ranging from low C to high C. A set costs about $16,000.

Throughout the year, Ty's groups are hired to perform at anything from school assemblies to corporate parties to events at casinos. Two years ago, one of her groups went to Mount Charleston to perform at a wedding.

"It was a disaster," Ty said with a laugh. "The wind was blowing so hard, our sheets of music were going all over the place. We had to have people come over and hold them down."

Ty was born in the Philippines, coming to the United States in 1954. Her husband, James' medical practice was on the East Coast with a few years spent in Bakersfield, Calif. They moved to Las Vegas to retire.

She spent the last few years as church organist and choir director for All Saints' Episcopalian Church, 4201 W. Washington Ave. Ty and her husband, who passed away in 1995, had six children.


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