Rooke Chapel Ringers
Bucknell Music Department
The Bucknell University ROOKE CHAPEL RINGERS were organized in 1983 under the direction of William A. Payn. The choir consists of 15 members who are selected by audition and who represent diverse major fields of study at Bucknell University, including the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, business administration, education, and engineering. The choir plays regularly for Protestant worship services on campus and participates in the traditional ringing-in-of-Christmas at Candlelight services in Rooke Chapel each December. This popular performance, taped and repeatedly televised by PBS for national distribution, was nominated for an Emmy in 1996 and 2004. A Christmas compact disc, which also includes the Rooke Chapel Choir, was released by Albany Records in November 1995.
Since its founding, the choir has participated in 2 festivals at the Riverside Church in New York City and was chosen to play for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Conference in the spring of 1985. In January, 1986, the choir embarked on its first 2-week European concert tour of Switzerland and Austria. Twelve concerts included performances in Lucerne, Montreux, Salzburg, and Goetzens. The Rooke Chapel Ringers were honored to have been invited to perform at the Tenth-anniversary celebration of Handbell Exploration in Tempe, Arizona, in 1995, and the Hershey Handbell Exploration at the Hershey Hotel Syracuse Symphony for three holiday concerts. They returned to Syracuse for the 2006 holiday concerts this past December. The annual Senior Winter Tour took place January 5-12 in Herndon, Va, Doylestown, PA, Whitehall, PA, Bethlehem, PA, and Middletown, PA. Following the tour, the ringers played for a four-day masterclass in conducting at Bucknell, with Dr. Payn serving as clinician.
