A Time to Dance
Westminster Concert Bell Choir
Kathleen Ebling Shaw, conductor
Saturday, April 20, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.
Gill Memorial Chapel Rider University
2083 Lawrenceville Road Lawrenceville, N.J.
Following today’s performance, there will be a reception celebrating
Kathleen Ebling Shaw in the Cavalla Room, located on campus in the Bart Luedeke Center.
Program
Blue Tango
The program will be chosen from the following:
Comedians’ Gallop
Leroy Anderson arr. Cathy Moklebust
Dmitri Kabalevsky arr. Martha Lynn Thompson
Dancing Queen Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus arr. Brian Tervo & Ron Mallory
Sean Haugh, percussion
Dorian Dance
Hungarian Dance No. 5
Lord of The Dance
Misty
Passacaglia from the Seventh Suite
Pizzicato Polka
Sabre Dance
Valse Les Adieux
Michael Joy
Johannes Brahms arr. Martha Lynn Thomson
Adapted by Sydney Carter Arr. Kevin McChesney
Erroll Garner arr. Arnold B. Sherman
George Friedrich Handel trans. William H. Griffin
Josef and Johann Strauss arr. Thompson
Aram Khachaturian arr. Thompson
Karen Lakey Buckwalter
About the Artists
WESTMINSTER CONCERT BELL CHOIR
The 13-member Westminster Concert Bell Choir is composed of undergraduate and graduate students at Rider University. Its conductor is Kathleen Ebling Shaw. This year marks the 46th year of the handbell curriculum at Westminster Choir College who was the first institution in the world to develop such a program.
Hailed for its virtuosity, the Westminster Concert Bell Choir uses the largest range of handbells in the world – 8 octaves, from C1 to C9. Many of the bells are made of bronze and range in weight from four ounces to eleven pounds; the Choir also uses the large “Basso Profundo” aluminum-cast bells that are a new phenomenon in handbell ringing. The Choir supplements their handbell set with a six-octave set of Malmark Choirchime® instruments from C2 to C8 – the widest range in existence.
Known widely across the country for its annual performance tours, the Westminster Concert Bell Choir has visited more than 40 States. Most recently, the ensemble traveled the southeast in January 2024.
The Westminster Concert Bell Choir has appeared on Public Television’s Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and several holiday broadcasts of the Today show, including one in which NBC television personalities Katie Couric and Willard Scott joined the ensemble. Its holiday performances have been heard annually on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, and it is included on NPR’s Christmas Around The Country II recording.
The Choir has performed at Carnegie Hall twice during the Christmas season and was featured on New Jersey Network’s State Of The Arts program.
In December 2002, the ensemble joined Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charlotte Church and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a critically acclaimed 15-city tour entitled A Royal Christmas Most recently, the Choir joined singer, Josh Groban, appearing at NBC’s nationally televised Lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.
The Choir has made eleven recordings: The Pealing Bells, Westminster Concert Bell Choir, Christmas Bells, Westminster Rings!, Praise and Adoration, Christmas at Westminster: The Westminster Concert Bell Choir, By Request, Westminster Concert Bell Choir: 30th Anniversary Collection, A Time To Dance, An English Christmas, Let Freedom Ring! and is featured on the recently released recording An Evening of Readings and Carols (The 30th Anniversary Live Recording)
KATHLEEN EBLING SHAW, CONDUCTOR
In her 33rd and final year, conductor of the Westminster Concert Bell Choir, Kathleen Ebling Shaw is a member of the Department of Performance Studies at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where she teaches classes in handbell training and conducts a second handbell choir. She is Vice President of Malmark Bells, Inc. and serves as the Creative Director of ChimeWorks® - an online resource community for educators who use handchimes. She is a graduate of Westminster Choir College.
Well-known as a handbell clinician, Mrs. Shaw has conducted sessions for the Handbell Musicians of America (AGEHR) both on the local and national levels. Other engagements have included sessions for the American Guild of Organists; the New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas Music Educators Conferences; Choristers Guild; Presbyterian Association of Musicians Conferences; the St. Olaf Church Music Conference; and International Handbell Symposia in Japan, England, Korea, Australia and the United States.
She traveled with the Westminster Concert Bell Choir during a critically acclaimed 15city North American A Royal Christmas tour, performing with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charlotte Church and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
The Westminster Concert Bell Choir under the direction of Mrs. Shaw made its Carnegie Hall debut in December 2001 as the first American handbell ensemble to perform there. They have also been featured on Lifetime Television, QVC, NBC’s TODAY Show, New Jersey Network, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and NBC’s nationally televised Lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. She has also produced eight recordings with the Westminster Concert Bell Choir.
Mrs. Shaw is also the recipient of an Alumni Merit Award from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in recognition of her dedication to the art of handbell ringing and her enthusiasm and accomplishments in the classroom as well as the concert hall.
WESTMINSTER CONCERT BELL CHOIR
Kathleen Ebling Shaw, conductor
Gregory R. Nappa, graduate assistant
Kelly Ye, graduate assistant
Kayla An, Bethpage, NY
Liberty Ashe, Quakertown, PA
Olivia Dunleavy, River Edge, NJ
Devin Embrich, West Palm Beach, FL
Alexa Farah, Northvale, NJ
Sean Haugh, Point Pleasant, NJ
Ben Kirk, Lumberton, NJ
Duomi Liu, Beijing, China
Jessica Koscak, Tamaqua, PA
Gregory R. Nappa, Newton, NJ
Samantha Noble, Jersey City, NJ
Cecilia Simon, Mendham, NJ
Kelly Ye, Hangzhou, China
The Westminster Concert Bell Choir is grateful to have on loan the lower eighth and ninth octave bass handbells, the lower seventh octave Choirchime® Instruments, and the C6 to C8 CymBells® from Malmark Bells, Inc., Plumsteadville, PA. On the web: www.malmark.com
About Rider University & Westminster Choir College
Located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Rider University is a private co-educational, student-centered university that emphasizes purposeful connections between academic study and real-world learning experience. Rider prepares graduates to thrive professionally, to be lifelong independent learners, and to be responsible citizens who embrace diversity, support the common good, and contribute meaningfully to the changing world in which they live and work.
The College of Arts and Sciences is dedicated to educating students for engaged citizenship, career success, and personal growth in a diverse and complex world. The college cultivates intellectual reflection, artistic creativity, and academic maturity by promoting both broad academic inquiry and in-depth disciplinary study, while nurturing effective and ethical applications of transferable critical skills. The College consists of four schools: the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Communication, Media, and Performing Arts, the School of Science, Technology, and Mathematics, and Westminster Choir College.
Culturally vibrant and historically rich, Westminster Choir College has a legacy of preparing students for thriving careers as well-rounded performers and musical leaders on concert stages, in schools, universities, and churches, and in professional and community organizations worldwide. Renowned for its tradition of choral excellence, the college is home to internationally recognized ensembles, including the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which has performed and recorded with virtually all of the major orchestras and conductors of our time. In addition to its choral legacy, Westminster is known as a center for excellence in musical pedagogy and performance.
Upcoming Performances
WESTMINSTER CHOIR: MUSIC OF AWE AND WONDER
Sunday, April 21, 4 p.m.
Gill Chapel
SENIOR DANCE CAPSTONE CONCERT: LIVING LEGACIES
Friday, April 26, 7 p.m.
Bart Luedeke Center Theater
ARTBEAST 2024
ARTSTAGES: CREATIVE JOURNIES IN MOTION
Friday, April 26, 3 p.m.
Bart Luedeke Center & Campus Green
SPRING THEATRE FESTIVAL IN ASSOCIATION WITH ARTBEAST AUTHENTIC INSTRUMENT II & ACTING IV SHOWCASE
Saturday, April 27, 2 p.m.
Sunday, April 28, 2 p.m.
Yvonne Theater
DIRECTING CLASS PLAY FESTIVAL: IMPRESSIONS
Saturday April 27, 4:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Spitz Theater
WESTMINSTER JUBILEE SINGERS: DONA NOBIS PACEM
Sunday, April 28, 7:30 p.m.
Gill Chapel
WESTMINSTER CHOIR COLLEGE CHAPEL SERVICE
Friday, May 10, 4pm
Princeton University Chapel
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON UPCOMING PERFORMANCES, SUBSCRIPTION AND PATRON PROGRAM OPTIONS, VISIT RIDER.EDU/ARTS.
Honoring Kathleen Ebling Shaw '85
After more than 30 years on the Westminster Choir College faculty, Kathleen Ebling Shaw '85 has announced that she will be retiring in spring 2024.
A Westminster alumna, Kathy first began teaching in the 1991-1992 academic year. She has led national and regional tours, campus concerts, and memorable holiday performances. She has also appeared on The Today Show and at Carnegie Hall, and has impacted countless students and performers.
Help to celebrate Kathy by making a gift in her honor
Help to celebrate Kathy and her remarkable career by making a gift in her honor. The funds raised will be used to commission a new piece by Cathy Moklebust in Kathy's honor and to support the Bell Choir fund, which supports the choir and its travel.
Contributions may be made online: give.rider.edu/campaigns/in-honor-of-kathleen-ebling-shaw
