Bells at Temple Square auditions
The Bells at Temple Square is accepting applications for bell ringers through Friday, Jan. 26.
Requirements include:
- Be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in good standing.
- Bell-ringing experience is ideal; percussionists and keyboardists all do well with bell ringing.
- Have a background in music, have played an instrument and be able to read rhythms and notes at an advanced level.
- The age range for the Bells at Temple Square is 20 to 50 years old. Applicants should be 20 to 45 years old.
The handbell choir’s performances include two yearly concerts, taking part often in the weekly “Music & the Spoken Word” and other Tabernacle Choir broadcasts, and in the choir’s annual Christmas concerts. The choir also performs in the Utah Spring Ring and, on occasion, travels out of state to perform, according to conductor LeAnna Willmore.
The ensemble has weekly rehearsals on Wednesdays year-round.
Right now the choir isn’t accepting students into the ensemble as there are too many scheduling conflicts, according to Willmore.
“We are looking for ringers that have a happy countenance and smiling faces,” Willmore wrote in an email to the Church News.
Those who meet this criteria should email the choir offices at TheTabernacleChoir@ChurchofJesusChrist.org, and they will be sent an application.
Applications are due by Friday, Jan. 26.
Past audition notices have included that applicants should be living within 100 miles of Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
About the Bells at Temple Square
The Bells at Temple Square was created in March 2005 as part of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square organization. The bell ringers are volunteer musicians, like the members of the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square and Chorale at Temple Square.
For the concerts in 2022 and 2023, the 33-member handbell choir, led by Willmore and associate conductor Geoff Anderson, played on two sets of English handbells and handchimes — one with seven octaves and one with 6½ octaves.
The group also performed at the Handbell Musicians of America national seminar in Irving, Texas, on July 14, 2023.
Watch the bell ringers’ 2022 holiday concert “Visions of the Season,” the 2023 spring concert “Bells in Motion,” and see the Bells at Temple Square playlist on YouTube. (The 2023 holiday concert in the Salt Lake Tabernacle was canceled.)
2022 holiday concert: ‘Visions of the Season’
2023 spring concert: ‘Bells in Motion’
More photos of the Bells at Temple Square
Editor’s note: This was initially published on Jan. 13, 2024, and was updated on Jan. 22, 2024.
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