Former MTSU music faculty members Jean and Raymond Bills, together with solo handbell artist Nancy Hascall of Lake Oswego, Oregon, will present a unique recital combining the sonorities of solo handbells, cello, and piano at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, July 16, at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 1267 North Rutherford Boulevard, in Murfreesboro. Admission is free and open to the public.
The program will feature works by Bach, Chopin, Fauré, and others, as well as spirituals, folk songs and sacred music arranged by Hascall, including several numbers from her solo handbell CD, “Ringing from the Heart”, in which her sister, Jean Bills, is also featured as cellist.
Nancy Hascall, handbell solo artist, is a native of Idaho, where she earned a degree in Music Education from the College of Idaho. She taught young children in the Yamaha Music Education System in both California and Oregon for 22 years before “retiring” to focus on her handbell career. Having performed as a soloist since 1989, Hascall is widely recognized as one of the country’s most versatile and artistic ringers. She is currently in Tennessee for the purpose of teaching and performing at “Pinnacle,” the 2010 National Seminar of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (AGEHR) being held in Nashville, July 18-21.
In addition to her graceful and innovative solo ringing style, Hascall is also acknowledged as the creator of a widely used ringing method called “traveling four-in-hand,” which she has taught throughout the U.S., as well as in Canada and Australia. She has authored several articles on ringing techniques for Overtones, the national publication of AGEHR, and is an award-winning composer with more than 25 handbell compositions and arrangements in print.
In addition to her work as a soloist, Hascall serves as Musical Director of Bells of the Cascades, a Portland-based auditioned concert handbell choir, and as Director of Handbells at First United Methodist Church in Portland. She arranges almost all her own solo repertoire, usually drawing from folk, classical, and sacred music sources.
Jean Bills has been active as a teacher and professional musician in Middle Tennessee for over 40 years. A native of Idaho, she received degrees in cello performance from the College of Idaho and Yale University School of Music. She taught cello and theory part time at MTSU, private lessons (both violin and cello) using the Suzuki Method of Talent Education, and served as director of Middle Tennessee Junior String Orchestra for 10 years.
As a professional musician she performed with the Nashville Symphony (Assistant Principal), Nashville Symphony Quintet, Nashville Baroque and Classical Society, Middle Tennessee Symphony (Principal), Sanders Trio, MTSU Faculty String Quartet and the Stones River Chamber Players. Currently retired from teaching, she continues to perform occasionally and serves on the board of the Murfreesboro Youth Orchestra, which she helped to establish in 1997.
At the piano Raymond Bills will provide accompaniment for his wife and sister-in-law. A native of Kansas City, Mo., Mr. Bills holds degrees in piano performance from Northwestern and Yale University. He has retired from the Middle Tennessee State University School of Music where he taught piano and courses in music theory and music history for 43 years. He continues to keep busy as an adjudicator, clinician and accompanist after a career that also included solo and chamber music recitals.
Mr. and Ms. Bills have played concerts for hundreds of school children. Mr. Bills has been on the Executive Board of the Tennessee Music Teachers Association, served 10 years on the Rutherford County Arts and Humanities Council and has been on two review committees for the Tennessee Arts Commission.
For further information, call Jean or Raymond Bills, 893-8638
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