A message from Linda and Jim Simms

The impact music has on our lives is more significant than many people recognize. If you extract music from your favorite movie, you can better understand how music changes the way you feel…even when watching a movie. I have dedicated my life to making music available to others via the classroom, my studio, various churches, and in my workshops.

This is what drove me to create a community handbell ensemble to take the music to our communities. In April of 2004, I met with a small group of ringers in Dover, Delaware, to begin to create a community handbell ensemble that could create shared musical experiences for audiences.

This new community ensemble would largely ring music that was secular, making it a contrast to the music rung in churches. My hope was that we would build a following and perform music that touched lives.

Adding a visual presentation was something my husband, Jim, and I tested in 2005 when we created a PowerPoint to accompany Michael Helman’s “Prayer for Peace,” a handbell composition dedication to the lives lost on 9/11/2001. We received such an incredibly positive response, Jim and I knew this was important to maintain, and we have done so since then. This PowerPoint was published by The American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, now known as Handbell Musicians of America.

I am proud of what Jim and I have accomplished. It has been a labor of love for us to create these shows, but we are looking forward to expanding other parts of our lives. Jim intends to continue to create promotional videos and visual presentations for churches and organizations, while I continue to conduct handbell workshops and events, in addition to teach piano to students of all ages in my Dover studio.

What we will miss the most are those of you who attend our shows, those of you who say “Wow” after the final notes of a piece, and share your enthusiasm at the conclusion of a performance. The next time we see you, will be when we sit with you in the audience and experience Capital Ringers from “the other side”. See you then.

– Linda and Jim Simms