Bell Ringing at Church of the Ascension

My niece Alison never ceases to amaze me with her musical knowledge and talent, and her Thanksgiving visit, with her boyfriend, Nick, didn’t disappoint. On her agenda was a visit to the Church of the Ascension, off Lake Avenue, to ring their bells.

Tower bells are something I’d never given any thought to, but apparently there’s a whole organization devoted to what is called Change Ringing, and there are relatively few towers in North America (47 in the United States, and 9 in Canada, according to the website for the North AmericanGuild of Change Ringers). While it’s no surprise that Boston has three towers following this English tradition (most of the bells were made in Whitechapel, and there are roughly 6100 churches with change ringing bells in Britain), it is curious that there are three in Houston alone. Rochester is one of only a dozen on our side of the pond with 10 bells; most have 6 or 8, although Trinity Church in NYC (the only other tower in the state with active change bell ringing) and St. James Cathedral in Toronto have 12.

As they were getting ready, one of the regular ringers, Bob, explained the mechanics of bell ringing on a little wooden model. The bells start in the “down” position, and have to be rung “up” (upside down). This transfers the energy to the bell, making it easier to ring. There are special knots they tie on the ropes to indicate which position each bell is in. Once the bells are up, the ringing commenced, with Sue, on the smallest bell, calling, “look to, treble going, she’s gone.” They started the bells in sequence, finding the right pace, and then Chris would call out commands that only make sense to a bell ringer: “dodge” and “make seconds” and “plain hunt” and “stand.”

Nick's lesson

thumb ringing

Rochester’s bells are a recent phenomenon, as I learned from Helen while Nick was getting a quick lesson from Chris, and Bob, Sue and Alison were pretending to ring hand bells (which looked like they were practicing thumb wrestling). Helen is married to Chris, the “tower captain.” It was his passion that led to the bells’ installation just two years ago. Apparently, there weren’t many towers in Rochester that could accommodate the bells or the fundraising required. Helen has rung bells in over 1200 towers, mostly in England, while Chris has rung in over 2600 (she called bell ringing “addictive”). There are actually ringing tours, and the density of bell towers in England makes it easier to “collect” them. But there are English groups who tour North America as well, and three came through Rochester (and Canada) this fall. Most of those groups rang a “peal” in each location.

Sue, Helen, Alison, Chris, & Bob

A peal is around 3 hours of 5000+ changes. If you don’t want to repeat a change, a peal requires 7+ bells (7!= 5040 – yes, studying permutations and combinations is useful in real life…). Helen showed me a chart of one sequence of changes, and said it’s not as complicated as it looked – you just need to memorize the “blue line.” Alison (who Nick explained is the “ringing master” at Smith College) seemed to understand the patterns instinctively, and tried to help explain a more complicated one to one of the ringers who wasn’t getting it. It was cool, in a nerdy sort of way.

When they were finished with the practice session, they rang the bells down and put the ropes up. Nick explained that sometimes the ringers ring the bells down in a peal, instead of one a time, and that that’s particularly impressive. I can imagine – and now, I really can!

Ringing bells truly is a team sport – it requires not just the physical stamina to stand and pull the rope and understand the timing of your bell pulling to its ringing, but also to coordinate with your fellow players to ring in time, to change places in the sequences, to listen to the captain calling the changes, and to keep going when you make a mistake. It’s musical, it’s mathematical, and it’s hypnotic to hear and to watch. The Ascension ringers are always looking for recruits, and Chris is happy to teach and available for lessons. If you know someone who’d be interested in learning, visit: http://www.ascensionroch.org/change-ringing

And here's a video of Chris, Helen, Bob, Sue, and Alison ringing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcOtwyjtxCk&feature=youtu.be

Abstract Art class with Brian O’Neill

Brian with our finished works, top left to right: Charlie's,
Colleen's, Maggie's; bottom: Bill's

Years ago, before I moved home from London, I took several oil painting classes with a group of friends. My finished projects were nothing to brag about, but for some reason my teacher was so encouraging that, when asked what I wanted for a repatriation gift from my expat community, I decided against the usual Timothy Richards sculptural bookend, and asked for a set of Winsor & Newton paints. I chose poorly: I love my seeing my Timothy Richards collection on display throughout our house; the unopened box of paints taunts me every time I open the drawer it’s buried in.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve gone to Painting with a Twist several times. It’s a lot of fun, especially the BYO part, and at the end of 2+ hours you have a painting that’s ok to hang…in the laundry room. But this experience emboldened me, so when the incredibly talented Rochester artist Brian O’Neill announced a one-day abstract painting class, I signed Charlie and me up (our friends Colleen and Bill were also going to be return students). It was fun purchasing all the stuff on his supplies list – the paints, the brushes, the fake gold leaf… But then the actual day of the class came and I was filled with trepidation.

Colleen & Bill

"More red... More blue...
More beer... More light!"

We began with 5 minutes of quiet, to reflect on the images that were our inspiration, to think about what motivated our choices, and to consider what else we could discover. It was also an exercise in getting comfortable with stillness, which we have so little of in our lives of these days. I’d chosen my photo because it was purple. But looking at it more carefully, it was more than just shades of purple – there were pinks and oranges, and to me, the sense of calm after a storm.

Brian was an excellent instructor – telling us not to judge ourselves or our work, giving us helpful suggestions and brush strokes when asked, but basically letting us explore our own creativity. I mixed some really cool shades of purple, but found I didn’t know how to blend them on the canvas, so he helped me over that hurdle.

One of Brian O'Neill's beautiful creations...

... and another...

...and another

After lunch, we took a break and visited Brian’s studio, where his talent in abstract painting, hyper-realism, and the blend of the two was on display.

Towards the end of the session, students and teacher were sharing supplies – a fellow student let me use some of her paint that gave things a pearly sheen, Colleen was using our stuff for adhering metallic leaf, and everyone was using Brian’s silver leaf with abandon.

At the conclusion, Brian had each of us talk about what we learned and how our visions had transformed through the process. As a newbie, I struggled with a lot of things, like techniques that probably could be learned if I took the time. The biggest hurdle, though, was giving myself license to be creative – to let go of the literalness of my photo and try to capture the essence instead. I didn’t quite succeed in abstracting my image, and Charlie and I both agreed that our paintings looks better in a photo than in person. Still, as the day progressed, we promoted our paintings from garage to laundry to exercise room art. Not worth framing, but still worth displaying, for the sense of accomplishment.

The class was held at the Rochester Art Club – 2^nd oldest art club in the country – in the Hungerford building. For more information on Brian O’Neill’s studio and upcoming classes, visit: https://www.brianoneillstudio.com

Wendell Castle Exhibit at the Memorial Art Gallery

Wendell Castle and the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) – two things easy to take for granted in Rochester. The museum is tiny (by big-city comparison), and the first time I went, I breezed through in under an hour. But when I returned with Nanette, a friend visiting from Florida, and apologized in advance for its size, she helped me to slow down and appreciate the art, not just treat it like speed-dating. And so I’ve developed favorite pieces that I consider old friends, that I must seek out each time I go (and they do keep moving around…), so they won’t feel ignored. One of them, in fact, is even by Wendell Castle.

Castle's Wooden Art Table

Sure, there are pieces by this artist dotted around Rochester – a church here, a synagogue there, the Rochester Academy of Medicine, outside the Chamber of Commerce building, to name a few. And there are several in the MAG’s permanent collection (including Unicorn Family, in their outdoor park). But to see a large body of his (large) work all together in one room gives you pause.

I visited early one weekday morning and had the entire gallery to myself. I suspect that this will become a rare event as the calendar closes in on December 31, when the exhibit ends. I enjoyed the perspective the people-free hall gave me to see the artworks not just singly, but as a group. And I took the time to read the descriptions on the wall (I was particularly drawn to Whimsy and Randomness), and to contemplate the objects, and imagine using them as tables or chairs, if that’s what they represented.

DO TOUCH!

When I returned with Charlie during the MAG’s Fine Craft Show, we made a beeline for the exhibit, and I ignored my “friends” – I promised myself I’d make it up to them another time. He admonished me for touching one, but I knew from my first visit readings that this one was in-bounds – in fact, you are invited to touch the three models that illustrate Castle’s process of stack lamination.

This weekend, I doubled down on my promise, since Charlie and I had brunch at the Brown Hound (awesome Country Bistro Benedict, and we gave them a photo of Todd for their wall) and we supported the gift shop, but didn’t even make it into the museum proper… But my Baltimore brother is visiting for Festivus, so I will take that opportunity to redeem myself!

These are a few of my favorite things:

Josiah McElheny's Blue Prism Painting I
(there is no good vantage point for a photo
without including the photographer..)

Angela Ellsworth's Seer Bonnet XVI

Alison Saar's maquette for Swing Low

Fritz Traumtann's Galaxy

Filharmonic and Straight No Chaser

How did I get lucky enough to see two wonderful a cappella groups perform in Rochester within two weeks?

First, we were invited by our friends Stephen and Caroline to attend the Filharmonic at Nazareth. No, that is not a spelling mistake. The Filharmonic is a group of five Filipino-American men – 3 tenors, a bass, and today’s requisite beat boxer. They were featured on the Sing-Off and in Pitch Perfect 2. Amazingly, the beat boxer at the performance we attended was a substitute, and he was incredible! These young men put on quite a show. I didn’t recognize many of their songs, but a young woman behind me with a beautiful voice did (I learned she’s studying voice at Nazareth), and she was singing along perfectly when audience participation was solicited.

Next, we were invited by our friends Betsy and Rick to Straight No Chaser’s concert at the Auditorium. I’ve been a fan of their “12 Days of Christmas” for years. If you’re not familiar with it, here’s a YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

Straight No Chaser (SNC) is 9-men strong, including one outstanding beat boxer. It’s funny that each group had to explain to the audience that they weren’t using any instruments or recordings, and both groups gave a demonstration of beat boxing to prove it – here’s SNC’s: https://youtu.be/fXM84RR85Lw (and yes, they allowed us to video them, as long as we hashtag the videos. I'll need to figure out what that means...)

Each half of the performance was introduced with a video featuring John Michael Higgins, and he was just as funny as he was as the misogynist emcee in the Pitch Perfect films. SNC has a great patter between numbers that is just as funny as some of their songs, like their Disney Medley. https://youtu.be/R3oYUzctWzo 

Many of the group’s numbers were familiar, but their tight harmonies and percussion made them wonderfully fresh. For their final encore, SNC treated us to something you rarely see these days – they put down their microphones, and sang unamplified, as in the good old days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH3B6V7cdzw

Neither of these shows was sold out, which puzzled me (many of the performances in SNC's tour are). However, I was glad, because it meant it wasn't impossible to get tickets, like it would be in some larger cities. In fact, Charlie's cousin from North Carolina came to visit for the weekend specifically to see Straight No Chaser - whodathunkit?

Curiously, despite the Pitch Perfect franchise focusing on a female group, most of the popular professional a cappella groups are all-male (or, like Pentatonix, have one token woman). Perhaps that’s because women’s groups do ‘drama’ better than men, but men’s groups have more vocal range and sound diversity (some of these guys sing as high as many sopranos) and are somehow just, well, funnier. Did someone mention Pentatonix? Any chance of them coming to Rochester? Part of the Eastman Presents series, perhaps? Or a way for The Vine at del Lago Resort to step up their game? I'd be first in line for tickets, and it would sell out, for sure...

“The Agitators” at Geva

The Agitators is the name of the smart (and Smart…) new play having its world premiere at Geva, starring Madeleine Lambert and Cedric Mays as Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. I was captivated from the moment Lambert entered, wearing a beautiful dress that seemed to emerge directly from the painted floor boards – both the set and the costumes were understated but extremely effective in supporting the plot. I was only a bit distracted by the fact that Mays' fingering of the violin didn’t attempt to match the notes that were supposed to be coming from the instrument (although his bowing did).

Most Americans know the names Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, and know they had something to do with the abolition of slavery and the right to vote for blacks and women. Rochesterians might know a bit more, since this city claimed them as residents when they were alive, and their bones rest in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Mat Smart’s play brings these historical figures to life with dialog that is extremely believable, and reminds us not only how difficult and recent the struggle for the rights of blacks and women was, but also that the struggle hasn’t ended. This is not a quaint historical drama. The characters died over 100 years ago, but the issues they fought for still resonate in the 21^st century. Blacks and women may have gained the right to vote, but they didn’t gain equal footing with white men then, and they still haven’t today.

The two arches creatively inform the
audience of time and place

Near the end of the play, when Anthony and Douglass are arguing about sacrificing one group of people in order to advance their causes (in the case of Douglass, he sacrificed women, to focus on the rights of blacks to vote; in the case of Anthony, she sacrificed black women, to focus on the rights of all women to vote), they each ask, reproachfully, “Will you ever know what it’s like to be me?” Even if the playwright put these words in their mouths, they are powerful. Can any person ever know what it’s like to be someone else? Can a white person know what it’s like to be black? A heterosexual person know what it’s like to be gay, or bi-sexual, or transsexual? A rich person know what it’s like to be poor? A citizen know what it’s like to be an immigrant? A man know what it’s like to be a woman? Yes, you can reverse each of these questions, but the order is relevant, because it’s a question of whether a person of privilege can ever know what it’s like to be someone without it. If you have any ‘without’ characteristics, it is easier to empathize with others without. But if you are solidly ‘with’ – say, a wealthy, straight, American white man – it’s potentially more difficult to empathize with those without. I can imagine that it is especially difficult for these straight white American men to give up the privilege that was conferred simply based on their sex and skin color. No wonder many of these people, who felt threatened by their loss of (unearned) power, voted to “make America great again.”

This is a play about another time, but it is a play for our time. It’s a play about one black man and one white woman fighting for rights Americans now take for granted – the right to vote, the right to own property (instead of to be owned as property), the right to live as free people, equally. And yet it’s also about the continued fight for these exact same rights. The right to vote has been stripped of many citizens in some states (those who have been convicted of a felony, those who haven’t voted in recent elections, those without the proper identification). Women are still treated as property by powerful men who harass and abuse them (from the recent news, the list continues to grow: Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Donald Trump, and let’s not forget Clarence Thomas). There is still so much work to be done. However, as Anthony famously said, “Failure is impossible.”

In the meantime, The Agitators runs until November 12. If there was ever a Geva-created show that deserves to move to NYC and to other theatres around the country, this is it.

https://www.gevatheatre.org