ENCORE ARTS
Brian Powers
The ‘God wink’
Opposite page: Martha Matthews, left, takes over the Kalamazoo Ringers from Jan VanValey, right, who co-founded and directed the advanced choir for 37 years. Above: Handbells waiting to be rung. Top right: Kalamazoo Ringers members, Jesse Olson, right, and John Thomas, play their bells during rehearsal.
Bronze, and had directed it for 10 years. But she had recently married and had left Philadelphia, and her handbell choir, to begin a new life in Holland, Michigan. “I was in mourning, missing my team there,” Matthews says. So she reached out to Van Valey to ask if she could attend a Kalamazoo Ringers practice. “That was the beginning of an amazing event in our lives,” Van Valey says.
Matthews and Van Valey had known each other for years — both are representatives for Malmark Inc., a company that makes handbells, and were active in the Handbell Musicians of America. “We had crossed paths many times at guild events and had a distant friendship,” Van Valey says. “You know, we liked each other. We always got together. When we were together, we had a common bond." When Matthews came to a Kalamazoo Ringers practice, “I did not tell her I was sick,” Van Valey says. “I was in a lot of pain and I could just barely move, and she came in and actually it was a shock to her, but she was very gracious.” Not long after that rehearsal, Van Valey realized she could not lead the group through the rest of the season as she had intended. She reached out to Kalamazoo Ringers Board President Karen Lorenz and suggested Matthews as a possible substitute director. “When I called Martha, she and I had a conversation about this ‘God wink’ — you know, like sometimes people are in the right place at the right time,” says Lorenz. “She was in Michigan and she had come to visit and we had this need for a concert in a month.” “There was no question. Just ‘yes,’ which was amazing,” says Van Valey. “And she was at the next rehearsal.” Matthews filled in as director for the remainder of the handbell choir’s 2017-18 season, leading the group’s Tuesday night rehearsals and working on Van Valey’s repertoire for its concerts and an event in Ohio with six other advanced choirs. By May, Van Valey was well enough to co-direct and share the podium with Matthews for the group’s spring concert. By then, it was clear to the KR family that Van Valey’s substitute was more than a ‘God wink'; she was a perfect fit. w w w.encorekalamazoo.com | 35