Kiriku Handbell Ensemble East Coast Tour

Kiriku Handbell Ensemble recently completed a tour of the East Coast - from Florida to Massachusetts. Charlotte McPherson has posted a slideshow of their Raleigh, NC, concert & has posted Griff Gall's review of the Massachusetts concert on her blog. (Griff is the director of the Back Bay Ringers in Boston.)

Kiriku's leader, Taiko Otsubo, sometimes rings with Sonos - commuting all the way from Tokyo to ring with us. She's an incredible musician and an amazing ringer - she breathes the music. When I play, I try to "channel" Taiko. My mantra is "How would Taiko ring this?"

Recently, I taught and rang a solo at the Siskiyou Summit Handbell Conference in Ashland, OR. After my rehearsal with the pianist, one of the conference attendees asked me if I had ever run with Kiriku because, she said, "You ring just like them."

I consider this to be high praise, indeed. :-)