The George Nelson Memorial Concert Series will present a concert by the Virginia Handbell Consort at 4 p.m. Sunday in the sanctuary of Bethany United Methodist Church, Gloucester Point. The concert is free and open to the public.
On Sept. 22, 1996, an announcement appeared in a newspaper stating, “handbell group looks for ringers.” Forty people answered the call to audition. Founder Tex Minter chose 18 ringers who became charter members for the new Virginia Handbell Consort. The ensemble started with ambitious goals that included a full schedule of nine Christmas concerts, and took the huge step of purchasing a 5-octave set of Schulmerich Bells and a 3-octave set of chimes. Twenty-eight concerts were performed in the first year and lots of fundraisers were held in order to pay for this initial investment.
In the 25 years VHC has been a performing ensemble, 253 pieces of music have been performed and 75 ringers have been members.
Minter was the founding director until 2005. Since then, ...