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Greetings from our new Executive Director
April 2019
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Greetings! My name is Cade Murray, and I have been given the  great honor and privilege of serving as Back Bay Ringer’s newest Executive Director. I have taken over the position from Donna Matson, who has led BBR for the last five years, and has done an enormous amount to mature and strengthen our organization. Under her leadership, BBR started the tradition of donating the proceeds of our spring concerts to give back to the community, ran a very successful capital campaign to refurbish our generously donated set of Whitechapel bells, expanded the BBR Board to include people outside the organization, started an Advisory Board to include and connect with members of the larger Boston arts community, performed with the Boston Pops in Symphony Hall, and so much more besides. We all owe Donna a tremendous debt of gratitude for her vision and guidance.
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BBR shares our "notes of thanks" with Donna at our annual meeting in February.
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To give a little background about myself, I began ringing handbells when I was in High School at my church in Winter Park, FL. Because the church choir rehearsed right after the bells, and both my parents were in the choir, I was left to my own devices with several tables of bells. Naturally, I began learning solo ringing as well, and because our youth choir went on tour during the summer, I got the opportunity to perform in churches all across the south. When I went to college, I played occasionally with the MIT Change Ringers, but after graduation I fell out of playing entirely for many years. It wasn’t until the First Unitarian Church of Oakland started a bell choir in 2003 that I began ringing again, and after playing with them and with Bay Bells for several years, I moved back to the Boston area and joined Back Bay Ringers. And I have been loving it ever since!
But that's enough about me. BBR has a very exciting season this spring. We started out on March 30th by hosting a workshop at the Hingham Library, where we taught teens to play popular tunes without sheet music or any prior ringing experience. Coming up, we have the Boston Handbell Festival on May 21st at Old South Church (including an open rehearsal the night before at First Church Boston), followed by our Season of Giving Back concert series, which will be supporting the group Stop Handgun Violence. We will also be hosting a special event in June for our alumni in honor of 15 years of BBR. Check out the BBR web site for more details on all these exciting events!
Cade
Cade Murray
Executive Director
Back Bay Ringers
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Are you a Boston Globe subscriber? If so, you can help BBR to get a free advertisement in the Globe to promote our spring concerts. The GRANT (Globe Readers And Non-profits Together) program enables readers to support local non-profits by choosing which ones can receive free advertising space in the Boston Globe. Visit BostonGlobe.com/GRANT, enter your subscriber number, and choose Back Bay Ringers as your charity of choice to help us with this opportunity! We need your vote by April 30th, so don't delay. And thank you!
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We are busy preparing our 2019 Spring Season of Giving Back in this our 15th Anniversary Year. Visit backbayringers.org/events for more details.
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Don't miss the Boston Handbell Festival on May 21 at Old South Church in Boston, where once again BBR will present our annual award of a two-octave set of handchimes to a local school music program. Details available at backbayringers.org
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To make a gift toward BBR's mission of "promoting excellence in handbell artistry through performance, education, and community," please visit our donation page.
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