Woman rings her way across country
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — Sue Garton has many notes and many bells to keep straight during her performances, but most of the time, she tries to let her mind go blank.
Instead, she concentrates on the intricate dance. She chooses her partner carefully, picks it up to ring, then switches off quickly to the next one. The result is a melodic handbell show uniquely performed by a practiced soloist.
"It's really like a dance; you have to be relaxed and let it flow," she said. "I try to let my mind go blank. There's confusion sometimes but that's why you have to know (the music) so thoroughly. If you stop and think, you're in trouble."
In 16 years of performing professionally, Garton, 73, has played venues from schools to prisons and covers music from secular to sacred. She has had six of her original arrangements published, including a version of "The 12 Days of Christmas," a crowd favorite for kids.
"I throw the golden rings and other things into the crowd for them to catch," she said.
Garton is looking forward to January because her music finally will change. With one quarter of her 80 performances per year done in the Christmas season, she eventually gets tired of the seasonal music.
January isn't a time for a break, however. In fact, Garton plays the bells all year long, always with piano accompaniment.
Even her vacations involve the bells. She plans to go to Florida this winter with three concerts set up there already. In the fall, she has the "Iowa tour," where she visits her home state, entertaining several relatives along the way.
"I would go crazy without my bells," she said.
Her gigs are sometimes paid, but not always. The money has never been her motivation for playing, she added.
"I'll never make as much as I've put into it, but I just can't imagine not doing it," she said.
At high-profile places, she often offers a free concert. This year she performed at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. It was her first concert at that venue and she enjoyed the beautiful backdrop to her performance.
Garton has done shows at the Benedum Center lobby in Pittsburgh several times, including this year as the "Nutcracker" played there.
The former nurse practitioner who worked for Grove City School District originally got into the bells after taking part in the bell choir at her church, East Main Presbyterian in Grove City.
She retired in 1992 and found herself in a car accident at about the same time, which resulted in losing her sight in one eye. Tennis was her favorite hobby before that, but she found she couldn't play because of her impaired vision."That's when I became obsessed" with the handbells, she said.She bought her first set of bells for $6,000, which covers two octaves of bells. She quickly color-coded them so she could see the different notes quickly.Since then, she's collected at least twice that many bells plus several chimes, which are similar in sound but not as expensive. One of the smaller bells can cost $130, for example.At home, the bells are lined up on a long table in front of large windows so Garton can watch wildlife wander by while she practices.Family members have always been very supportive; in fact, her son and daughter in-law act as her concert accompanists when they can, Garton said.Garton said she always felt sorry for her husband, who died a few years ago. He would have to hear her practice her songs over and over. She'd try to play while he was outside cutting wood to spare him when she could."Everything has to be memorized" because it's hard to keep track of sheet music while you're playing the bells, Garton said. "It's a long, tedious process.""He'd say, 'The first couple hundred times I enjoy it, but then ...'"Garton said she has memorized between 50 and 60 songs that she can perform at any time. She takes requests from those who want to book concerts, letting them decide which music they want to hear, she said.Mary Rita Rossetti of Economy, Garton's part-time accompanist, said Garton's talent is a unique one.Rossetti, who is the music director at St. Alexis Catholic Church in Wexford, has been interested in hand bells since before she met Garton. Each year she attends the North Hills Handbell Festival and also started a handbell choir at her church several years ago."She is one of the few soloists across the country who has achieved the level she has achieved," Rossetti said.In fact, Garton is one of four members of the "Dream Team," according to Rossetti. The team consists of the best of the soloists at the North Hills festival each year."They perform extremely difficult pieces," she added.Garton is also a very innovative performer, creating her own music and even instruments at times to fit the need of the music she's playing, Rossetti said.A full schedule of Garton's upcoming concerts and a list of songs she plays can be found at her Web site at HandbellTapestry.com.
