Four men join Bells on Temple Square choir

SALT LAKE CITY — Jeremie Jones, Nathan Tanner, David Krueger and Daniel Gibby are answers to Tom Waldron's prayers.

The director of the Bells on Temple Square choir was worried early this year when no men showed up to audition for the choir. With a number of male bell ringers graduating, taking new jobs and leaving the choir, Waldron was worried about maintaining a gender balance in the 28-member group.

Plus, men are needed to heft the bigger bells so Tanner, Gibby, Jones and Krueger are good finds, Waldron said.

Jones, 28, and a carpenter for the LDS church from Kaysville, successfully auditioned with his newlywed wife, who also made it into the Bells on Temple Square.

__IMAGE1__"I had no bell ringing experience before I auditioned," Jones said. "Up until four weeks ago, I had no idea this was something I'd do in my life, but I am very pleased to be called to the group!"

Tanner, a returned Mormon missionary and married man from West Jordan, said the large bells are extremely heavy and anyone working with them would need tremendous upper body strength.

He's been handling the bells that ring two octaves below middle C, which hasn't been difficult for him. "I have a strong upper body," he said.

"For me, the hardest part is remembering what to do when. The first week, I was very nervous. The second week, because I was called back, I was a lot more confident," he said.

Tanner played in a high school bell choir as a junior and senior in high school, but that was 10 years ago.

"It's fun but a little intimidating after 10-plus years," he said. "I love music so when I saw the story (in the Deseret News) I decided to try it."

Krueger is a graduate student at Brigham Young University who will be making the drive from Provo to Salt Lake City at least once a week to rehearse.

He's excited to be asked to join the bell choir.

"I've always dreamed of being in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I've been a singer all my life," said the 26-year-old Lone Peak High School graduate. "This is pretty close to that."

Krueger played the chimes once in a concert for the BYU Men's choir and he's conducted music for his high school choir on tour.

"I never felt overwhelmed (at the tryouts)," he said. "They gave us good instruction."
He's not overly challenged with the music either. "If you had to play all of the notes, it would be hard," he said. "But you just have to play yours."

Gibby, a 33-year-old web developer from Layton, never expected to be in a bell choir either.

He's played the piano and the organ and sung most of his life. He thought that maybe someday he'd sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir but didn't consider ringing bells until his wife saw a news story about the need for men in the bell choir.

He now has four weeks of bell ringing experience from attending workshops.

"I've been playing and singing music all my life, but bells is new. The music we've played is quite challenging. I imagine there are such things as 'easy' bell choir songs out there, but so far the songs we have played have been more challenging than anything I've sung or played on piano or organ."

He's thrilled with the opportunity.

"I'm very happy to be a part of Bells on Temple Square. I've always enjoyed the bells in performances by Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I think the bells really make an impact and bring out feelings of joy that otherwise wouldn't be quite as expressed with choir, organ and orchestra. Elation is the best word I can think of that comes to mind that describes those feelings. It is quite heavenly."

E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com