Recordings available:

Chimera
Handbell Solo Artist Michèle Sharik

Ave Maria and Handbell Mozart
Kiriku Handbell Ensemble

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Michèle's first full-length solo CD!

Chimera

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In Chimera (pronunciation: ky-MEER-uh), her first solo CD, Michèle Sharik takes the listener on a journey from the Royal Courts of Baroque London to Avant-Garde America, and all points in between. 

In classical mythology, the chimera was a monster that had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon or serpent, and like the mythical chimera, this album is comprised of various parts.  The CD features varying styles of classical, modern, and traditional music played by solo handbells combined with instruments such as harp, organ, timpani, harpsichord, cello, vibraphone, piano, and string trio.

Figuratively, a chimera is a creation of the imagination, especially a wild creation. This Chimera pushes the limits of solo handbells into styles and combinations that previously have not been attempted. 

While the chimera is still an impossible dream, this work puts to rest Michèle's no-longer-impossible dream of recording a full-length solo album.

 

"This CD [Chimera] is a perfect example of how [Michèle] Sharik has mastered the musical and technical challenges of handbells. The CD presents a collection of 14 selections of well-known melodies by famous composers. The one exception is "Relentless", which is a contemporary work written for a full complement of percussion colors including cymbals, cowbells, drums, etc. The other works on the CD are presented in various settings, some accompanied by organ and others by piano, cello, harp or even timpani. 

The CD demonstrates her ability to cover the wide range of the tessitura, maintaining perfect balance among the bells. Her techniques include standard ringing strokes, two in each hand technique, dampening, martellato and playing with mallets. The listener will be awed on determining if this is one player or an entire handbell choir."

-George Frock, Percussive Notes, The Journal of the Percussive Arts Society, Vol. 45, No. 6.  December 2007

 

Available now!

 

Track List Composer/Arranger Performers Playing Time

Listen to an excerpt
1 Rondeau: The Prince of Denmark's March
("Trumpet Voluntary")		 Jeremiah Clarke (c.1674-1707)
arr. by Michèle Sharik		 James Meredith, organ 2:48 276kb
MP3
2 Morning
from Peer Gynt Suite, Op. 46, No. 1		 Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
arr. by Nancy Hascall		 James Meredith, piano 4:43 280kb
MP3
3 Meditation on Bach's First Piano Prelude
("Ave Maria")		 Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
arr. by Michèle Sharik		 Kevin Holsinger, cross-strung harp;
Martha Groves Perry, cello		 4:12 395kb
MP3
4 Bist Du Bei Mir
from Clavier-Büchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach, BWV 508		 probably by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690-1749)
often attributed to J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
arr. by Michèle Sharik		 Tyler Lewis, violin;
Alina Polonskaya, viola;
Patti TenBrook, cello		 3:00 517kb
MP3
5 March: Seventeen Come Sunday
from English Folk Song Suite		 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) James Meredith, piano 3:47 703kb
MP3
Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351 George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
6 La Paix arr. by Michèle Sharik James Meredith, harpsichord;
Martha Groves Perry, cello		 2:54 483kb
MP3
7 La Rejouissance arr. by Michael Kastner & Kevin McChesney James Meredith, organ;
Jason Tiller, timpani		 1:10 225kb
MP3
8 Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
from Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147		 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
arr. by Kevin Holsinger & Michèle Sharik		 Kevin Holsinger, cross-strung harp;
Gretchen Rauch, vibraphone		 3:55 229kb
MP3
9 Trumpet Tune from The Island Princess
and Air from The Indian Queen		 Trumpet Tune by Jeremiah Clarke (c.1674-1707)
Air by Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
arr. by Michèle Sharik		 James Meredith, organ 4:24 214kb
MP3
10 Fantasy on 'Finlandia', Op. 26
("Be Still My Soul")		 Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
arr. by Christine D. Anderson & Anna Laura Page		 James Meredith, piano 3:12 401kb
MP3
11 Gymnopédie No. 1
from Trois Gymnopédies		 Erik Satie (1866-1925)
arr. by Michèle Sharik		 Kevin Holsinger, harp;
Gretchen Rauch, triangle		 3:11 316kb
MP3
12 To A Wild Rose
from Woodland Sketches, Op.51		 Edward Macdowell (1860-1908)
arr. by Michèle Sharik		 Tyler Lewis, violin;
Alina Polonskaya, viola;
Patti TenBrook, cello		 2:14 606kb
MP3
13 Relentless James Meredith (b. 1945) Martha Groves Perry, cello 3:52 183kb
MP3
14 Shenandoah Traditional American Song
arr. by Christine D. Anderson & Daniel Kramlich		 James Meredith, piano 3:11 299kb
MP3

Total Playing Time:

 46:33
All tracks recorded, engineered, mixed, & mastered by Kevin Holsinger, except tracks 4 & 12 recorded by Dustin Smith
All tracks produced by Kevin Holsinger & Michèle Sharik
Cover art:  Bellerophon Fighting the Chimera - Marble, 1821
Johann Nepomuk Schaller (1777-1842)
Östereichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
image provided courtesy of the Art Renewal Center

Graphic Design by Gretchen Rauch

 

$17.00 per CD
(US Dollars)

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SHIPPING:
To the US via USPS First Class Mail: $2.50 for the first CD
$0.50 for each additional CD
   
To the US via USPS Priority Mail: $5.00 for 1-5 CDs
$7.00 for 6-10 CDs
   
To Canada: $3.00 USD for the first CD
$1.00 USD for each additional CD
   
To Japan: $6.15 USD for the first CD
$3.00 USD for each additional CD
   
To Everywhere Else: $5.70 USD for the first CD
$2.80 USD for each additional CD
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No problem!  Email us to arrange for a mail-in order.
 

Note:  if you purchase the CD from this site, you will receive it with no shrink wrap.
This does NOT mean that the CD you receive is used. It is brand new, never used!

So, why no shrink wrap?

Because eliminating shrink wrap from this CD's packaging is one easy way to reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills.  Estimates of packaging waste produced per person per year vary, but in 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that each person in the US generated 550 pounds of container and packaging waste per year!  Offering this CD without shrink wrap is one (admittedly) small step toward reducing that amount, but we each must do our part.

The CD does come in a standard plastic jewel case.  Michèle really would have liked to have it in a recycled "eco-pack", but the cost difference was just too high.  Hopefully in the future, the price of the eco-friendly packaging will come down so future recordings can be offered that way.

Additionally, we will pack your order in either re-used packaging materials (ie. material that we've received in the mail once already), or in recyclable materials (ie. corrugated cardboard and newspaper or tissue paper).  We encourage you to re-use the packaging materials you receive, too!

If you purchase the CD from another retailer, it may or may not be shrink wrapped and may or may not be packed in re-used or recyclable materials.  Sadly, Michèle has no control over what other retailers do with regards to packaging.

Chimera is also available from the following retailers:
(note:  links will open in a new window)

 

"Brick and Mortar" and online retailers:
 (where you can purchase the physical CD)

 

 

Digital Downloads:
(where you can download all or part of the album digitally)

 
Amazon.com
CD Baby
CDConnection.com
Handbell Services
iMusic.dk
Jeffers Handbell Supply
West Coast Handbells 		Apple iTunes
AudioLunchbox
BitMunk
BuyMusic
CDQuest
Great Indie Music
iMusica
Inprodicon
iSound
MSN Music
MusicIsHere
Muze
Napster
PayPlay
Rhapsody
rVibe
SNOCAP
Tradebit

(more retailers will be listed as they become available!)

 

All content © 2003 through 2008 Michèle Sharik and TheGoldenDance.com unless otherwise noted.
Original "Golden Dancer" figure by Elizabeth Kennedy.
"Scribble Dancer" figure by Gretchen Rauch.
The Golden Dance sonnet ©2002 Tamara L. Raetz.  Used by Permission.
Unauthorized use or reproduction prohibited.