Bells of the Cascades

"A Winter Holiday"

Sit back and relax with Christmas music and cheer presented by Bells of the Cascades! Enjoy a concert full of traditional carols and holiday favorites arranged in nontraditional ways!

We’re offering two concerts to choose from:

Saturday, December 14, 2019 - 7:00pm
Forest Grove United Methodist Church, 1726 Cedar Street, Forest Grove, OR
View more information about this event.

Sunday, December 15, 2019 - 4:00pm
Salmon Creek United Methodist Church, 12217 NE Hwy 99, Vancouver, WA
View more information about this event.

3rd Annual Bells of the Cascades Handbell Festival Concert

On Saturday, February 15, 2020 at Salmon Creek United Methodist Church in Vancouver, WA, we will be hosting the 3rd Annual Bells of the Cascades Handbell Festival, culminating in a free concert at 7:30 pm of massed handbell choirs from the Portland and Southwest Washington regions directed by clinician Alex Guebert.

It’s a great opportunity to hear handbells in a big way! In addition, Bells of the Cascades, directed by Matthew Compton, will also perform a piece or two, which means you can hear us outside of our usual concert series performances.

View complete details about this concert!

NOTE: If you are already registered for the day-long Festival that happens just before this concert, you can view the schedule for the day here. We are advising no new registrants at this time, due to the requirement of purchasing and learning the music well enough to fully participate in the concert.

Cruise XVI

Bells of the Cascade’s next handbell cruise (our sixteenth!) is in the planning stages for 2023. More information will be announced right here as we get closer, but in the meantime be sure to sign up for our email list!

Bells of the Cascades auditions — August 27, 2019

Bells of the Cascades, Oregon’s premier community handbell ensemble, is always looking for Bronze-level ringers who are interested in the next challenge!

Learn more and request an audition.

With our director and renowned composer Matthew Compton, and with our recent collaborations with The Melodica Men, Portland Choir and Orchestra, and others, we are poised to continue our excellence into the future. Join us!

Exciting News!

Bells of the Cascades has a long history of collaborating with other musical artists, like Seattle’s Bells of the Sound, the David York Ensemble, Novum Chamber Singers, Pink Martini, and the Portland Choir and Orchestra. In an exciting first for Bells of the Cascades and the handbell community, we will be collaborating this year with internet sensations the Melodica Men!

Choose from one of the following two nights….

Saturday, June 15, 7:00 pm
Rose City Park
United Methodist Church
5830 NE Alameda Street
Portland, Oregon
View more information

Sunday, June 16, 7:00 pm
Rose City Park
United Methodist Church
5830 NE Alameda Street
Portland, Oregon
View more information

What started off as two guys playing toy instruments for fun is now an internationally acclaimed musical duo. Joe Buono and Tristan Clarke became friends while studying music at the Peabody Conservatory, and they have been playing melodica together since May 2016. A melodica is like a cross between a keyboard and a harmonica because you have to blow air into it to make the reeds inside vibrate.

In July 2016, the Melodica Men funded their tour of Seattle and Paris by busking in the street. In September 2016, their “Rite of Spring” video went viral and gained over 1.5 million views in one day. In December 2016, they played their solo debut with the Jacksonville Symphony at the Holiday Pops concert series. Since then, they have been soloists with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, featured on ABC’s “The Gong Show,” briefly seen on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” and have gained 230,000+ social media followers and over 30 million views worldwide thus far. You can find the Melodica Men on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Behind the scenes, the Melodica Men are pioneering a new way of learning music as a language through the melodica. Pilot programs in elementary schools started in January 2018, and a full online curriculum is in the works. You can find out more about their music education mission on Patreon.

Tristan is a graduate of the Juilliard School and plays principal trumpet with the Jacksonville Symphony. Joe has earned two Masters degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and is currently teaching and composing.

SEE WHAT THE EXCITEMENT IS ABOUT!

Below are some videos of the Melodica Men and Bells of the Cascades in separate performances. The inspiration for this collaboration came when the Melodica Men posted a video called “Carmen Fantasy” on YouTube, a medley based on popular melodies from the opera Carmen. Matthew Compton was so impressed by their virtuosity that he requested their permission to arrange their medley for handbells and they happily agreed.

Here is the original “Carmen Fantasy”…