This MonthDistinctly Bronze West Comes to Portland Give Back through Volunteering Connect to Your Member Account through Facebook or Twitter
National Events
Registration for the 16th International Handbell Symposium in Jeju, Korea is now open. Please GO HERE for details.
Help build a pension for the Guild, by contributing to the HERITAGE FUND
If you’ve not yet seen our first ever Virtual Handbell Ensemble, have a look HERE. Help us get as much exposure as possible by commenting and sharing. Member Rewards
You must log in to your member account before ordering to receive the discount. Single Copy License – $1.00 – Group License (up to 10 copies) – $5.00 – Featured
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Distinctly Bronze West Comes to Portland
Jason Wells returns to the podium for the event which will take place in the DoubleTree by Hilton located in Portland’s Downtown Eastside. This location provides easy access to Portland’s Tri-Met MAX light rail system and the many activities and attractions the city has to offer. GO HERE for all the details and to register today. Pinnacle Returns in 2015
This event focuses on reaching the pinnacle of performance excellence at all levels and for all areas of handbell performance, no matter the venue or setting. The beautiful Hilton Anatole will be our host venue July 16 – 19, 2015. More details will be available in the coming months. Give Back through VolunteeringThere are many ways you can support Handbell Musicians of America beyond your membership dues. The most obvious is through tax-deductible contributions to the Heritage Fund or one of our many scholarship funds. But you can also support our mission by volunteering on a national or local level. Nationally, we are seeking volunteers to help us with member recruitment and retention and to assist in our Heritage Fund Endowment Campaign. Regionally and locally, Area boards are always looking for volunteers to serve on board committees, event planning teams, as mentors, and so much more. If you would like to give back through volunteering, complete THIS SHORT SURVEY to tell us your skills and interests. Connect to Your Member Account through Facebook or TwitterThrough just a few easy steps, you can now connect to your member account using your Facebook or Twitter login. Here’s how to do it:
Questions? Contact the national office for assistance. Music Notes from John BehnkeAlleluia, We Found Another Handbell Composer!
One of the great joys of my job as music editor is to discover the music of a new composer and then to make it available through AGEHR Publishing for many to play. Often, people have been composing music for years but have never submitted any of it to be considered for publishing. So when we find a new composer, we say, “Alleluia!” For Brian, we did literally say, “Alleluia!” Brian Tervo is a talented handbell musician, director, and composer. Brian currently directs the handbell program at Faith Lutheran Church in Redmond, Washington, and is the musical director for the Emerald City Ringers. He says, “At Faith Lutheran, I lead five handbell groups ranging from children in Kindergarten up through adults. The Emerald City Ringers is a community group in the Seattle area. We ring on 7 1/2 octaves of bells and sometimes incorporate a second 5-octave set of bells, so that we can accommodate up to 25 ringers. I have arranged a number of handbell pieces for this group to take full advantage of all the musical resources we have available.” Brian sent a large musical work, a suite, for us to consider publishing. I asked him, what inspired this composition? He said, “While leading a Bells of Praise rehearsal at his church a couple years ago, a youth ringer took a bass bell, rang it, and then held the casting near their face while opening and closing their mouth. This resulted in a very unique vibrato effect that I had not seen or heard before. The group named the technique the ‘Benson,’ after the ringer who discovered it, and I promised the group that I would write a piece of music that would use the technique.”
AGEHR Publishing rarely publishes a large musical work, but each year we do publish 20 individual pieces of music and we thought Brian’s “Alleluia” was marvelous and could stand alone as a stunning prelude. Luckily Brian consented to this, and his work “Alleluia” is now available for all of us to play. I asked Brian what his hobbies are. He said, “For hobbies, handbells is pretty much it. I’ve always had a fascination for bells, dating back to my childhood. I still remember how, as a child, I found a bell in my grandmother’s collection, marched through her house ringing it loudly (probably annoying everyone in sight), and then asked my grandfather what kind of bell it was. Sometimes it was a dinner bell, other times it was a cow bell, and when my grandfather had no clue, he told me it was a pickled pigs feet bell. In my youth, I even recalled once using the piano to identify the pitch of the bells in my grandmother’s collection, in an effort to put them in keyboard order. I was immediately fascinated with the idea of having a perfectly tuned set of bells and have been hooked ever since.” Brian currently is the chair of Area 10 and is busily planning their 2014 Festival Conference. In recent years, he has also been involved with getting equipment to Distinctly Bronze West and with organizing youth handbell events in the Seattle area. We hope you will take a listen to Brian Tervo’s newly published piece, “Alleluia,” AG35318. CLICK HERE to hear the piece for yourself. Until next month, |
Start planning now to attend Pinnacle 2015 in Dallas, Texas.
He went on to say, “The work incorporating the ‘Benson’ technique was inspired by the events of the Passion, and the result was a piece of music that was very dark and intense. I felt that the only service appropriate for this piece was Good Friday. Since I wanted my youth choir to have something that wasn’t specific to Good Friday, I chose to write a suite, with a movement for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. The Alleluia, that is published, is the second half of the Easter Sunday movement.”