UCC First Congregational Church of Wakefield
United Church of Christ
P.O. Box 809,
2718 Wakefield Road,
Wakefield, NH 03872
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 603-522-3189
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Food, Family, and Faith - Wednesday, March 17 
Choirs

The Voice Choir             The Wakefield Memorial Bell Choir


The Voice Choir

Come into His presence with singing!

The Voice Choir ranges in size from 6 to 17 people, depending on the season and on people's schedules. Most selections are contemporary or gospel, but we do attempt the occasional classical or traditional piece as well. We generally rehearse Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, with a break from July 4th to Labor Day, during which time individuals—choir members and not—fill in for those eight or nine Sundays. At present, we have no special projects, but we have been known occasionally to develop a concert for fund-raising purposes.

Anyone wishing to join is more than welcome, but should speak to the choir director (Cindy Eggleston) or another choir member, just to be sure it isn't a week we changed the rehearsal schedule (rare, but it does happen). Joining does not mean you have to commit to every Sunday, but it's nice to know from one week to the next who is planning to sing. We do not audition, nor is it required to read music, although that's always a plus.

The Wakefield Memorial Bell Choir

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the lands!

Our bell choir, The Wakefield Memorial Bell Choir, was founded in August of 1988--thus we are almost 20 years old! Some members of the current choir are charter members and have been ringing 19 years. Our church owns 3 octaves of bells with some bells of the 4th octave included. We also have 3 octaves of handchimes. The handchimes were given in memory of Charlie Fogg several years ago.

Even though we are an active bell and chime choir, we do most of our ringing in our home church. Occasionally we travel about. For many years we performed in Boston every November for the New England Festival of Bells. We had some great experiences ringing in Faneuil Hall. We rang outside so it was necessary to adapt to the cold, wind, drizzle, noise, and any other condition you can imagine ringing outdoors.

We have been members of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers since 1988. We have participated numerous times in the New England Regional Festival and Conference with up to 800 ringers from all over New England. This conference is a 4-day event culminating with a grand concert. It is filled with classes, rehearsals, fellowship, and fun.

We rehearse on Sunday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 from September through June. We take a break during January. We have been successful putting together a smaller group in the summer to participate in at least one summer worship service.

We are a Level 3+ choir which means we are capable of ringing some very nice music. We are somewhat limited because we have no space for additional octaves in the bell loft. We are pleased with our bell music library which we have built up during the years. We try to add 5 or 6 new numbers to the library every year; the cost of bell music prevents us from adding more selections.