:: Review ::

"This CD 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.

Chimera

$17.00

In Chimera (pronunciation: ky-MEER-uh), 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 work 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 Chimera puts to rest Michèle's no-longer-impossible dream of recording a full-length solo album.

Track List

1.	Rondeau: The Prince of Denmark's March ("Trumpet Voluntary")
2.	Morning from Peer Gynt Suite, Op. 46, No. 1
3.	Meditation on Bach's First Piano Prelude ("Ave Maria")
4.	Bist Du Bei Mir from The Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, BWV508
5.	March: Seventeen Come Sunday from English Folk Song Suite
6.	La Paix from Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351
7.	La Rejouissance from Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351
8.	Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring from Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147
9.	Trumpet Tune from The Island Princess and Air from The Indian Queen
10.	Fantasy on 'Finlandia' ("Be Still My Soul")
11.	Gymnopédie No. 1 from Trois Gymnopédies
12.	To A Wild Rose from Woodland Sketches, Op. 51
13.	Relentless
14.	Shenandoah