History
The Lansing Area Ministry of Bells (LAMB) was founded in 1984 by Jane C.
Wright to promote the art of handbell ringing and to provide a structure to
support the Spring Ring, a local massed ringing event held in the Lansing,
Michigan, area each year in the late winter or early spring. Jane also founded the Capital City Community Ringers (now the Capital City Ringers,
Inc.) in 1984, and still directs this group. The Lansing Area Ministry of
Bells and the Capital City Ringers are officially sister
organizations. Jane, who is currently the Minister of Music at Westwood United Methodist
Church in Kalamazoo, was for many years the Minister of Music at Mt. Hope United Methodist Church in
Lansing and directed the handbell choir there.
Spring Ring
The major event sponsored by the Lansing Area Ministry of Bells is the
Spring Ring, a gathering of about 250 ringers from about 25 churches each
year. We have had many well-known handbell directors and composers/arrangers as guest conductors of the Spring Ring, such as Arnold
Sherman, Tim Waugh, Douglas Wagner, Hart Morris, Susan Berry, Lee Afdahl, Bill Griffin, and Carl Wiltse, to name a few.
25th Annual Spring
Ring - 2009
Next Spring Ring: Saturday, March 7, 2009
Location: Waverly High School, Lansing, MI
Guest Conductor: Jane C. Wright
 |
Jane C. Wright founded
both the Lansing Area Ministry of Bells (LAMB), which promotes the art of handbell ringing through local festivals and
workshops, and the Capital City Ringers, in 1984 when she discovered a need for advanced ringers and directors to ring more frequently and to ring more challenging and varied music.
Jane is the Director of Worship and Fine Arts at Westwood United Methodist Church in Kalamazoo. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Central Michigan University and a Master of Choral Conducting degree from Michigan State University. Jane has been in the
mainstream of music education and conducting since 1973 and has taught public and private music education, band, choir, and handbells. She served as Director of Music Ministries at Mt. Hope UMC
in Lansing for 19 years.
She is a clinician for
new directors and handbell ringers and serves presently as a guest choral conductor around the Lansing area. Jane has had the privilege of serving 4 years as Secretary on the Area V Board of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, and has been a clinician for various handbell events, all of which have given her the opportunity to get to know a lot of "great people."
|
The following Spring Ring publications are available for
download; most are in .pdf
format:
Newsletter - Winter
2009
Registration Form - for Spring Ring 2009
Repertoire for 2009
Publicity Article
- for 2009
Map
to Waverly High School - MapQuest map with directions
Map to Waverly High School - in
.pdf format
Restaurant Guide for Waverly HS area
- in .pdf format
Rehearsal
Notes from Jane Wright - 2009 - Additional
Notes for Renaissance
Confirmation
Letter - now available
Director's Choir Assignments and Info
Quick notes - for 2009 now available
Schedule for Saturday - now available
Floor Layout (know where
your group will be) now available
Repertoire
Reading Session music list
Capital City Ringers newsletter: "Ring
Tones"
Michigan Ringer
article featuring Capital City Ringers' and LAMB's 25th Anniversary
Frequently Asked Questions
Page
is here...
Beginning Ringers
and Beginning Directors
Workshops
LAMB also sponsors a Beginning Ringers Workshop and
Beginning Directors Workshop in late September each year. These sessions help new ringers and
directors gain confidence in their ringing ability and learn the various handbell techniques commonly found in handbell music.
Nicole Leppala, Music
Director at Hope Lutheran Church in DeWitt, Michigan, leads the
Beginning Ringers Workshop and Jane Wright leads the Beginning Directors Workshop. Kim and Lorraine Finison demonstrate basic handbell techniques as
well as advanced treble bell and bass bell techniques.
Next Workshops: Saturday, September 26, 2009 (tentative)
Location: Mayflower Congregational Church
2901 W. Mt. Hope Ave., Lansing, MI 48911 [click
here for map and directions]
Registration forms are available for download in .pdf
format:
Ringers Registration Form
Directors Registration Form
Map and Directions to Mayflower Congregational Church
Links
American Guild of English
Handbell Ringers (AGEHR)
Area V - AGEHR (Michigan,
Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia)
Capital City Ringers -
Lansing area community handbell ensemble & sister organization of LAMB
LAMB Board
The current members of the LAMB Board of Directors are:
President - Jennifer Scholes,
handbell director, University United Methodist Church, East Lansing.
President-Elect - Gary Masters,
handbell director, Grace United Methodist Church, Lansing
Past President - Shelia Conrad,
handbell director, First Presbyterian Church, Lansing.
Treasurer - Eileen Ellis, handbell director,
South Church, Lansing.
Secretary - Lorraine Finison, ringer, Capital City Ringers
and Mayflower Congregational Church, Lansing.
Member-at-Large, Webmaster, Go-fer,
& All-around Good Guy - Kim
Finison, Capital
City Ringers & Mayflower Church.
Any questions about the Lansing Area Ministry of Bells and the events it sponsors should be directed to Secretary Lorraine Finison at
BellGoddess (at) hotmail (dot) com or by calling 517.321.3221.
Last update: 03/05/2009
Lansing
Area Ministry of
Bells
© 2003
All rights reserved
