The Bells at Temple Square to kick off the holiday music season

SALT LAKE CITY — People throughout the world have heard of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, but there is also The Bells at Temple Square.

KSL attended a rehearsal for the upcoming "Ring Out With Joy" concert on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21 at the Salt Lake Tabernacle at Temple Square — considered to kick off the holiday music season.

Holiday music has a unique, magical sound when played by a bell choir.

"We have arrangements that we play," said bell choir Conductor Geoff Anderson. "And so there's some things that you would probably hear that are familiar but like you mentioned a little bit different way."

Anderson is preparing the members of The Bells at Temple Square for their upcoming concert. Each ringer has a note in the melody and must be precisely on count.

"It's this trust exercise where if we don't work together, there's never going to be a melody or harmony or anything else that's going to happen."

Janine Scott-Silva started ringing 20 years ago and is a charter member of the choir. A lot of her job isn't just reading the music, but managing up to two dozen instruments.

"In my position, I think there's about 15 bells and probably about 10 chimes," she said. "So, it's a lot. I keep them in order like a piano — My C's are always where they're supposed to be. My D's are where they're supposed to be. And then the tricky part is setting down the octaves. So when the music calls for the octaves, a lot of times I'm having to reach for them without actually looking. And so they need to be where I want them to be in order to pick three."

The choir stretched and warmed up like they were getting ready to work out.

"Because there are a lot of heavier bells," said Daniel Gibby, one of the 33 bellringers in the choir. "The heaviest ones are about, I don't know, 10 or 11 pounds, some of them, but they're not right here; they're out here, so it's not much more, so you got to kind of get your back the right way. It's yeah, it's a it's a whole exercise thing."

For that reason, ringers can usually play until age 50.

"This is my last year, I guess," Gibby said. "I turn 50, so now I'm aging out, but it's been so much fun.

"It definitely feels like you're part of something bigger than yourself."

There's an art and purpose to how the bells swing.

"The bronze bell has a bright, tinny sound to it," Gibby said. "This bell, you get a top-end sharpness. Then the bell chime, you get a different tone because of the shape."

It's not just an auditory experience, said Scott-Silva.

"Half of what we do is visual. And so when you see those big arms, it draws the audience's attention there."

Music has always been part of the tradition at Temple Square. And ringers hope to provide a memorable start to the holidays.

"It seems to bring in the joy of the season, something that's there," Anderson said. "And so to have an ensemble like this that is completely dedicated to ringing. I think absolutely brings in that joy of the season."

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