SUMMIT 2012 EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION SAVINGS EXTENDED TO MAY 31ST!!!
Area 9 has extended the Early Bird registration savings to May 31st!! Early Bird registration amount is $195!!
Here are shortcuts to all links related to Summit 2012 — get your registrations in now!
Summit 2012: Unlimited Possibilities ALL-STAR ENSEMBLE REP announced!
Hey Summit Ringers!
Interested in auditioning for the Summit 2012: Unlimited Possibilities All-Star Ensemble? This is a special ensemble for seasoned ringers interested in challenging repertoire under the baton of Michael Glasgow! NOTE: Ringers must complete and submit the All-Star Ensemble Application form at time of registration for Summit 2012. Auditions are held between 11am and 3:30pm on Friday, June 22. An announcement will be made following auditions for admission and ringing positions for the ensemble. All-Star rehearsals with Michael Glasgow will be included in the Summit 2012 weekend schedule, with a performance by the ensemble at the final Summit concert on Sunday, June 24th. Repertoire is the responsibility of the ringer, and will be available for purchase at Summit.
3 pieces are selected and announced in the link above — 2 of which are available for purchase now, and one very special piece composed by Michael Glasgow will be unveiled, presented, and premiered at Summit 2012!!
This is a great opportunity to review the music before auditions — see you in Conroe!
Get to know your 2012 Clinicians, Beth Judd and Michael Glasgow…
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH HANDBELLS?
My mother, Kathleen Reel, was Organist Choirmaster at a Presbyterian Church in WV. Her predecessor had ordered handbells and they arrived in 1963 when Mother took over. Ours was the first set of h
andbells in a church in WV and I began ringing in 1964. I attended my first AGEHR festival in 1965 in Washington, DC. We rehearsed on the balconies of the motel (outside!) with the conductor standing in the parking lot. The final concert was rung in the Washington Cathedral.
WHAT IS ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING PLACES YOU HAVE RUNG OR CONDUCTED BELLS?
The most interesting place I have rung handbells is South Korea, where I attended the International Handbell Symposium. The most interesting conducting I did was with 1200 ringers in the convention center at Virginia Beach. I was on a 2 story high platform. I also was privileged to conduct at the International Symposium in Toronto.
WHAT IS ONE THING THAT PEOPLE MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT YOU?
I love to fish and go hunting with my husband!
WHEN YOU AREN’T DOING SOMETHING MUSICAL, HOW DO YOU PREFER TO SPEND YOUR TIME?
See answer above!
HAVE YOU EVER CONDUCTED A FESTIVAL/EVENT IN TEXAS?
I have conducted multiple events in Texas since 1983 including Greater Dallas Handbell Association, Feb Fest, Abilene, East Texas, the Mo Ranch and Palestine Conferences on Worship and Music, Area IX summer Festival, and the National Festival that was held in Fort Worth. Then there are the wonderful city festivals I have had the privilege of conducting – most recently in Brenham. Texas has been very, very good to me! And the ringing is so excellent throughout the state! It is always fun to do Texas festivals.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF FOOD?
Sushi, yum!!
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH HANDBELLS?
Like so many handbell musicians, I began work with handbells upon being hired to work at a church with a handbell ministry. I went to my job interview having never seen a handbell or knowing anything about them at all (and way back in 1998, I couldn’t just jump on YouTube and check them out!). I’ll never forget the mixture of terror and intrigue that came from the job interview and audition. The Guild’s National Seminar was being held in Milwaukee immediately after my first month at Concordia University Wisconsim [getting my Master of Church Music]; my church said that if I received a scholarship to attend, I could have the extra time off to do so. I received National’s W.D. McKeehan scholarship, so I went. And my life literally hasn’t been the same since that event.
WHAT IS ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING PLACES YOU HAVE RUNG OR CONDUCTED BELLS?
Hands down, “Coffeehouse Handbells” at a Caribou Coffee here in Raleigh. For the first several years I worked at North Raleigh UMC, I didn’t have an office on campus. I’d do my administrative work at home, but I found that I enjoyed doing score preparation over a beverage at a Caribou Coffee between home and the church. The manager and I were talking one day, as she was intrigued by the music I was always looking at. She said, “Well, I’ve never seen these handbells rung before, you should come and ring them there!” My advanced group, the Revelation Ringers, showed up, started setting up tables, and I remember a teenager asking me what we were doing. I told him, and as I walked away, I heard him say to his friend, “We gotta get out of here before they start. My grandma plays handbells, and they are the most awful, boring instrument you’ve ever heard.” I got the ringers to set up extra-fast so we could show the guy what the instrument was capable of doing. As we launched into Bill Payn’s Pinnacle, his jaw was on the floor. He stayed the entire time. And I remember thinking the quiet satisfaction how ironic it was that our little mini-programs had printed at the top, “This ain’t your grandma’s handbell choir.”
WHAT IS ONE THING THAT PEOPLE MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT YOU?
People from outside of Raleigh always seem stunned to learn that I compose and conduct choral and orchestral music as well.
WHEN YOU AREN’T DOING SOMETHING MUSICAL, HOW DO YOU PREFER TO SPEND YOUR TIME?
An unlikely combination: gourmet cooking, and working out at the gym. My parents own a restaurant, and I grew up in food service. (I even do a little personal-chef work and catering on the side).
HAVE YOU EVER CONDUCTED A FESTIVAL/EVENT IN TEXAS?
Before I ever did a festival, I was honored to guest-conduct East Texas Handbell Ensemble’s performance of my first published piece, Carnivale, on the 2007 AGEHR National Seminar opening concert in Dallas. And Texas was the third state in which I conducted a festival, the 2009 ETHE Spring Ring in Tyler. Last January, I returned to Dallas as a handbell conductor for the Choristers Guild Mid-Winter Workshops.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF FOOD?
I get asked that so often, and I love food too much to choose a favorite! I recently became reacquainted with escargot—with lots of butter and garlic. I hadn’t had it since the first time I tried it (in Paris, 20 years ago), and I was glad to find I still loved it. Generally, Mediterranean and Italian food is a safe bet with me.
Summit 2012: Unlimited Possibilities – Tentative Class Schedule posted!
Area 9 Summit Working Schedule
Interested in planning early? View the tentative class schedule for Summit 2012 at the link above –
INCLUDING:
- Beginning and Advanced 4-in-Hand Technique
- Bass Bell Technique
- Working with Kids
- Bells in Contemporary Worship
- Beginning and Advanced Conducting
- Boomwhackers
- “Every Technique in the Book” – a study on standard and new/upcoming techniques!
- Bell Tree Music/Technique with Barb Brocker
- Special Populations – Working with individuals with special needs
- Bringing the “Drama” to your musicianship & performance — making your bell ringing dramatically musical!
- Malleting
- Community Ensemble Roundtable
- Rhythm Exercises with Michael Glasgow!
Scholarships available for Summit 2012!
Area 9 is pleased to offer two scholarships for Summit 2012 in Conroe, TX — the Marvin E. Reecher Memorial Scholarship (available for directors) and Mary Kay Parrish Scholarship (available for high school, college/university ringers)! SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR BOTH IS APRIL 15, 2012! Send completed applications to Michelle Tejada, Chair Elect, at chairelect@area9.handbellmusicians.org.
Welcome!
Welcome to the new website for Area 9.
We are hoping through this new format to be better able to keep you informed of what is going on within the area and throughout The Guild.
The site is still a work in progress, so check back regularly to see what is new.
If you have any suggestions about what you would like to see on the site, please use the comment section below to send us your ideas.
Happy Ringing,
The Area 9 Board
