Achievements

1 This year (2004) we had the honour to be invited to play at the Concert of the National Rally of Handbell Ringers of Great Britain. Only eight groups nationwide can play each year. We played a version of Skye Boat Song using both handbells and recorders. After this we were joined by Aidan Fozard of Walingford Ringers to play the "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" as a trio. Finally we played our favourite published handbell duet "Glory" by Kevin McChesney. 2 We have been awarded honours certificates and the Clifford Rose Bowl for handbell tune ringing at Hounslow Festival of Music on three occasions 3 We have both been soloists for many years in the Heart of England Recorder Orchestra 4 We have won a cash prize for performance of contemporary music at the UK National Recorder Festival 5 We were the featured group at the National Residential Ringing Week 2001 and performed items in the Concert given in Dunblane Cathedral as well as in the Great Hall of Stirling Castle. 6 We were selected by Wantage Music Festival to make a presentation for 300 primary age children 7 We gave the only UK group performance at the International Handbell Symposium 2002 in Korea, among performances by teams from Japan, Korea, the USA and Australia. Furthermore we were also invited to present a workshop, on arranging and playing music for duet. We had 110 pupils and everything we said was translated into Japanese and Korean! As well as meeting and comparing notes with ringers from all over the world, this was also a chance to see a very different culture and we spent a week touring South Korea. 8 Gay won a cash prize at Oxford Music Festival for her performance using both recorder and solo handbells in the Jean Loughmann memorial recital class. 9 We led a workshop at the National Rally of Handbell Ringers of Great Britain (HRGB) in Glasgow 2004. We taught how to combine the sound of handbells together with that of other instruments, which is a particular feature of most of our own playing. 10 In July 2004 we attended the Exultation of Bells tour of the UK under the baton of William Payn. We also auditioned to play our duet items in the concerts. We played three items Skye Boat Song Glory (McChesney) Scarborough Fair at concerts in Pershore Abbey in Worcestershire and at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.