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This Month
DB West Registration Opens at Noon Today
Space Available for Postponed Distinctly Bronze East
Discuss Using Tablets for Music in Our Next Member-Chat
YouTube Level 2 Music Challenge
National Events
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Announcements
HANDBELL MUSICIANS OF AMERICA MAILING ADDRESSES
Please note that any PAYMENTS sent to the Guild should now go to the following address:
Handbell Musicians of America PO Box 221047 Louisville, KY 40252
This includes membership renewal, contributions, event registration payments, invoice payments, etc.
All GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE that DOES NOT include a check payment should should be sent to:
Handbell Musicians of America 201 E. Fifth Street Suite 1900-1025 Cincinnati, OH 45202
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Distinctly Bronze West Registration Opens at Noon Today
Distinctly Bronze West, our event for advanced handbell musicians, opens for registration at 12:00 NOON (EDT) today (Monday, October 15.) The event returns to the Resort on the Mountain in Welches, Oregon with Dr. William Payn on the podium. Registration will fill quickly so be ready!
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Space Available for Postponed Distinctly Bronze East
We were saddened by the devastating impact Hurricane Florence had on our friends in New Bern, North Carolina. They have begun the recovery process and we look forward to returning there June 6-9, 2019 for the postponed Distinctly Bronze East 2018. With the change of dates, several positions have opened up for the event which are now available for new registrants.
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Discuss Using Tablets for Music in Our Next Member-Chat
November 3 • 3 p.m. Eastern
Think you’re ready to explore the world of digital music? Or just curious about the options for you as a director or ringer?
Join our next Member Chat with Brian Seemann as he discusses a variety of topics like programs, cost, utility as a ringer and/or director, battery life, pros/cons, marking digital music, and specifically how to purchase and load music LEGALLY. Questions welcome.
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YouTube Level 2 Music Challenge
We are challenging you, no matter what your ensemble’s ringing level, novice to advanced, to rehearse a Level 2 or below piece of music and make it sound like a Level 5. Give the piece as much musicality as you can through technique, style, tempo, rhythm, etc.
Throughout the month of November, post a video of your finished piece to YouTube and send us a link to it. This will give choirs who take the summer off a couple of months to rehearse. We will feature the videos in a special section of the website and invite others to comment on them. Send your link to [email protected]. Include with your submission any notes you’d like to share about what you did to refine the musicality of the piece and steps you may have taken to achieve it.
Please note: If you use a piece of music that is not published by AGEHR Publishing, then you will need to secure permission from the publisher to post it to YouTube and HandbellMusicians.org.
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Music Notes from John Behnke
Bleak Has Never Been More Beautiful
The weather is starting to get cooler. One might even say colder. Fall is here and winter is coming. Our highlighted piece this month vividly describes the deep cold of winter; the time when we experience Christmas. “In the Bleak Midwinter,” AG36061, arranged by Cathy Marker is a Level 2+ piece for 3 to 6 octaves of handbells, and bleak has never been more beautiful.
I asked Cathy what inspired her to arrange this piece. She said, “One of our ringers asked whether we could ring “In the Bleak Midwinter” during the upcoming Christmas season. This beloved carol has always been one of my favorites, so I was excited to see whether I could create an arrangement that would be fun and a little bit challenging for our group. The piece has been very well received by the ringers and audience whenever we’ve performed it, and it has become part of our regular Christmas seasonal repertoire.”
There is an eight measure introduction with an eighth note motive drawn from the opening notes of the melody. Mm. 9-24 presents the first stanza. Mm. 25-28 is a four measure interlude using the introductory material. The second stanza starts at m. 29 with a more colorful harmony. Mm. 50-53 provides a beautiful modulation to F major. Mm. 54-70 is the third stanza of the hymn with a louder dynamic and again a very attractive harmony. Measure 71 to the end is the Coda which brings back the introductory eighth note motive to a lovely and beautiful ending.
I asked Cathy if she had a favorite part and she said, “My favorite part is the lead-in to the key change starting at measure 46, which builds in intensity and dynamic level to the point of arrival at measure 54. She said the piece feels quite lush, and the use of suspensions and the alternate harmony seem to evoke quite an emotional response in many people.”
You might remember Cathy from a recently published piece, the Prelude on Holy Manna AG35364 which has been on the Jeffers Hot 40 for a number of weeks. Cathy said, ” I was raised on my family’s dairy farm in West Hoosick, NY, where my grandmother encouraged me to play her piano and Estey pump organ from a very young age. After studying piano and composition at Summer Sonatina in Bennington, Vermont and Juilliard Pre-College Division in NYC during high school, I earned a BA in composition at Bennington College. I have served as a church organist nearly continuously since age 14. I am a member of the Portland, Maine chapter of AGO, where I currently study organ and composition with Harold Stover. Since 2014, I have served as organist and director of a very talented adult handbell choir at First Congregational Church, UCC in Wolfeboro, NH.”
When she isn’t practicing the organ or arranging music for us, she says, “I am blessed to live in the beautiful lakes region of New Hampshire with my wonderfully supportive spouse and two cats. In summer, I enjoy kayaking and tending a vegetable garden. When I’m not shoveling snow in winter, I like to snowshoe and feed the wide variety birds that visit our backyard. I’m also a Hauptwerk virtual pipe organ enthusiast and an avid, but not terribly skillful, golfer.”
I hope you will take a look and listen to this new and beautiful arrangement of In the Bleak Midwinter. Just as it has become a part of Cathy’s regular Christmas repertoire, we think it will become part of your regular Christmas repertoire as well. Enjoy In the Bleak Midwinter, AG36061, Level 2+ by Cathy Marker.
Until next month,
Happy Ringing!
John Behnke, Music Editor
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Video of the Month
Our Video of the Month is the Hastings College Handbell Choir performing under the baton of Dr. Byron Jensen in the Perkins Hall, Hastings, Nebraska, November 5, 2017. This ensemble performs on more than 60 handbells and handchimes along with a variety of additional instruments including percussion, wind, and strings. Millennial Vibe is a five-voice a capella group making their debut, time marker 43:09-47:55.
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Pre-Register for National Seminar 2019
Lock in lower registration fees with pre-registration: Deadline is October 1
Pre-register for National Seminar 2019 by October 1 with a $125 deposit and secure a registration fee of $350.
Meet us in St. Louis at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch, July 16-20 and enjoy informative classes, inspiring performances, professional networking opportunities, eclectic and varied Handbell Industry Council Exhibits, and much more at this event for handbell musicians of all levels. National Seminar offers something for everyone and is a must for ringers, directors, educators, church musicians, community ensembles, composers, and industry representatives.
Those who opt for pre-registration will have the chance to register for the full event classes and tracks before everyone else. Full event registration will be available February 15, 2019.
Pre-registration requires a $125 deposit which will be applied to your final registration fee. All but $25 is refundable if cancelled before March 15, 2019, and before you complete full event registration. If you cancel after completing full registration, the full event cancellation policy will apply. Pre-registrants must complete full registration by May 1, 2019, to receive the discounted rate. Registration completed after May 1 will be charged the non-discounted registration fee.
[button link=”https://www.z2systems.com/np/clients/agehr/eventRegistration.jsp?event=1856&” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] Pre-Register Now[/button]
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College Ring-In 2019 Registration Now Open
Registration is now open for College Ring-In, January 6-8, 2019, in Bloomington, Minnesota (near Minneapolis). College Ring-In is an event for college students and recent alumni and features three days of ringing under the direction of Carolynne Mathis and culminating in a public concert on the final evening. Participants will be given their own individual ringing assignment to prepare in advance and the join other attendees to rehearse and polish the music for the final concert.
The event also includes a reading session of unpublished compositions and arrangements submitted by participants. We’ll have publishers and editors from the handbell industry on hand to provide advice and guidance regarding copyright permissions and the publication process.
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Look WHO‘s Ringing Handbells!
Submitted by Fred Gramann
The Grinch (of Dr. Suess fame) may well try to steal Christmas again this year, but handbells may steal a bit of the show. On November 9th the new animated film “The Grinch” will be released, recounting how the grumpy green Grinch decided to ruin Christmas for all the whos in Whoville. The co-director, Yarrow Cheney, and his wife, Carrie, have been quite active in the life of the American Church in Paris where I am the Director of Music. Yarrow also co-directed The Secret Life of Pets and was a production designer in Despicable Me, The Lorax and Despicable Me 2.
Being a hardcore fan of the ACP Bronze Ringers, our advanced handbell ensemble, Yarrow decided to give Whoville its very own handbell choir for the film. His drawing shows a rather unconventional group of ringers with some unique techniques. (You’ll see me in the center of the ensemble with handbells attached to antlers, allowing me to ring 7-in-head). So, whether or not you find your Christmas stocking stuffed with tringlers, fuzzles, pantookas, dafflers or wuzzles, still plan to go see “The Grinch”. WHO knows who you’ll see?
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