It was 1989 when Darrell took a new position in Indianapolis, where he fell in love with handbells. He became convinced that composers could write more creatively for handbells, no matter the size of the choir or the experience level of the ringers. By 1995, he was writing for handbell choirs, ensembles and soloists, as well as for vocal choirs and instrumental groups. His desire was, and still is, to compose music that is readily accessible and that meets a group’s needs in terms of number of ringers & difficulty level. He also wanted to be available when people requested commissioned pieces.

We all know people who have a musical gift, but lack the training to develop it. The name of Darrell’s company, Your Song Press, was born out of his desire to help those untrained musicians get their musical ideas onto paper. Darrell contracted with them to write out their works, after which he referred them to various publishers. Hence the name YOUR Song Press. It was a natural extension when Darrell began publishing his original handbell pieces to publish them under the same company name.

The concept behind Darrell’s personal compositions is keeping the music simple, yet interesting; he does this by creating unique voicings, surprising harmonic combinations and adding additional instrumentation. Oftentimes, as a handbell educator, he would write music for his students to use.

He currently composes approximately a half a dozen pieces a year. His goal is to grow in the method of writing and do something new with each new piece. Company goals are to expand his catalog of standard repertoire and make himself more available for clinics and workshops.

Two major projects that Darrell is working on right now are a fully staged Christmas musical, “The Great Christmas Giveaway”, that focuses on handbell ringing as part of the show, and the formation of a professional handbell ensemble that will incorporate percussion and other instruments, costumes and dance within their performances.

To contact Darrell about commissioning works or his availability for clinics/workshops, call him at (727) 483-2835.