35th Annual Southern Colorado Handbell Festival Concert

The Southern Colorado Handbell Alliance announces the 35th Annual Southern Colorado Handbell Festival on February 17 at the historic Colorado Springs City Auditorium. The community is invited to join the celebration as the festival culminates in a free public concert at 7 p.m. The 2017 Festival Conductor will be Dr. John Behnke, director of the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble and the Music Editor of AGEHR-Handbell Musicians of America publications. He is also Emeritus Professor of Music at Concordia University Wisconsin.

Nearly 300 handbell ringers, representing 29 handbell ensembles from across the state, will begin rehearsing at 8 a.m. Saturday morning to prepare for their exciting closing concert. Joined by the Colorado Brass Arts (a professional brass and percussion ensemble) and Fred Correll, Master of Ceremonies, the concert is free to the public. However, the audience will be able to show its appreciation for this unique concert through a free-will offering near the end.

Of interest to many musicians in the Colorado Springs area will be the demonstration of the theatre organ, The 1927 Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Pipe Organ, which is housed in City Auditorium, at 7 p.m., followed by the handbell concert at 7:30.

Begun in 1983 as a way to bring together hundreds of dedicated ringers with the general public, the Southern Colorado Handbell Alliance, Inc., received its 501(c)(3) designation in May 2014.