It is certainly nice to return to a piece that was composed over forty years ago! Also comforting: the piece still works! The Handbell Musicians of America, this country’s leading handbell organization, held its national seminar in Cincinnati this year. The opening concert, held at Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church featured a special worship service that demonstrated the many ways that handbells can be used in the church. I was pleased to have a piece on the anthem

Earlier this spring, Augsburg/Fortress released my latest publication, an album of pieces for organ, composed for the Christmas season. Heavenly Joy includes nine works that offer pieces for the Advent, Christmas and Epiphany seasons. Each hymn setting in this collection was composed for my wife Joan, who had first-performance dibs on each one! Now they are available for other organists to play, which is very satisfying to both of us. In our 45 years together, we have shared

News about a dear friend’s departure from this life is a difficult time. The news could come suddenly, or it might be expected. In this case, the passing of Bill Reyer, poet and teacher extraordinaire took all of us by surprise. Bill had just left his home in Tiffin to enjoy some time at his favorite place, the cabin at Burt Lake, Michigan; his partner Dave was with him. Bill and I had been in contact during that week concerning The Three Worlds, his latest published poetry