Autumn will bring a new musical experience to Rochester, when a set of ten new bells are hung in the tower of the Church of the Ascension on Lake Avenue.
Chris Haller is a retired Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield employee, who has had a life-long passion for bell music known as change ringing. He and his wife Helen have been spearheading the effort to install a ring of bells in a Rochester church for more than 10 years. The Church of the Ascension has a tower that will accommodate the structure, weight and motion of over three tons of bells plus the framework and mechanisms to hang and ring them.
The 10 bells will not play melodies, but instead will use a process called change ringing. Change ringing requires a ringer for each individual bell, pulling on a rope, and working in tandem with the other ringers. Each bell is assigned a number, and the ringers play mathematical patterns to create the changes. Change ringing requires a lot of team work and a lot of practice. Each pull of the rope must be timed in coordination with all of the other ringers, so that a steady tempo is maintained.
The 10 bells were delivered to the Church of the Ascension on August 6th. They’re being held in storage while the structural framework is assembled in the tower. After that, the bells will be lifted into place and prepared for their inaugural ring. Once the bells are hung, a 10-person band will be trained to ring on Sunday mornings and for special occasions.
