Join the Merrimack Valley Ringers for an afternoon of workshops at Wilbraham United Church on May 31st. Class sessions will be held from 1:15 – 4:35pm. This will be a hands-on workshop taught by some of New England’s best bronze-level ringers, focusing on learning new techniques or honing skills you already have. Come early and join us as we ring through the Festival Conference music selections. You can ring your part or try your hand at site reading a different part if you are feeling brave. Registration and Festival ringing hour start at 11:45 am. The cost is $15 for the workshop.
Join other workshop participants and the Merrimack Valley Ringers for a potluck dinner from 5:30-6:30 organized by the Wilbraham United Church, followed by a concert featuring the Merrimack Valley Ringers at 7PM. You may register to attend the workshop independent of dinner and/or the concert.
If you have any questions please email MVR at info@mvringers.org or the host Audrey Pierce at westernma.area1@handbellmusicians.org.
If you are interested in attending, you can register here. Registration will be open until May 28th. Schedule and course descriptions can be found below.
Schedule
Course Descriptions
| Festival Nightmare Resolutions – Susan Capestro, Jenn Stack, Karen Leonard | ||
| Let’s Ring and Resolve the Festival Conference music together. During this session you’ll have the opportunity to ring the Massed Festival repertoire and work through some of the more challenging spots in the music. | ||
| Basic Ringing Skills Review – Sue Lee | ||
| This class is designed to be an important review for ringers of all levels. We will review the basics with the current theories of ringing and damping, using the body and not just the hands, how to look good when ringing, changing bells, and how to decide “when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em.” You are never too old or too professional to review the ABCs of anything. | ||
| Getting Untangled: Learning to Weave – Lisa Arnold | ||
| Do you struggle with changing bells? Don’t know where the bells are after you have made a change? End up cutting one note short in order to drop that bell and pick up a different one? Weaving can solve all those problems. This class will begin with a review of basic weaving skills and move towards being able to weave a simple melody. | ||
| Marking Music – Carlene Ruesenberg | ||
| Have you ever forgotten to pick up a bell in time for a bell change? Have you ever heard your director say, “it’s marked piano there-please play piano” at the same place every rehearsal, and you’re still not playing piano? Have you ever put a marking on your music that just didn’t make sense to you at the next rehearsal? If you’ve answered “yes” to at least one of these questions, then this class is for you! We’ll explore ways to make markings in your music that are consistent and concise so that you can easily remember from rehearsal to rehearsal what you are meant to do, and you can go beyond the notes and make music. | ||
| Friendly 4’s: Playing the Bass – Jenn Stack | ||
| Discover the secrets to safely hefting those bigger bass bells and getting musical results! Come discover how to lift, ring, damp and execute all those special techniques with health and wellness in mind. | ||
| Mallets & Stopped Techniques – Evie Sessions | ||
| There are a number of ways to initiate sound with a handbell beyond the straight ring technique. Participants will be instructed in the proper way to perform the pluck, tap pluck, thumb damp, hand damp, martellato, martellato lift, hand mart, ring touch, and malleting. This is a hands-on class. Please bring gloves. We recommend taking Basic Ringing Skills as a precursor to this course. | ||
| To Weave or Not to Weave – Advanced Weaving – Lisa Arnold | ||
| It’s one thing to know HOW to do something, but yet another to actually apply the techniques you’ve learned ON-THE-FLY, in the heat of the moment. In this class, we’ll focus on solutions for passages in the music that call for quick bell changes – using real-world examples – and figure out together what works best. The solution may be different for each person… and that’s OK! Feel free to bring your own examples. NOTE: participants must be comfortable with weaving and some Shelley/4-in-hand. | ||
| How to Become your Director’s Favorite Ringer – Diane Burke & Karen Leonard | ||
| Yes- chocolate is definitely one of the best ways…but there are so many more! In this class, we’ll explore some strategies for ringers to maximize your musical and social preparation for rehearsal, your methods of comprehension and advancement during rehearsal, and the follow through that leaves everyone feeling empowered and energized for the next one. It’s not much of a secret- directors love ringers who are dedicated, and who embrace each challenge with a strategy and a smile. Let’s consider some of the ways to take the next step in your ringing experience…your director will thank you!! | ||
| Ring Better, Ring With Confidence | ||
| So you’ve arrived! You finally feel like a true handbell ringer. You’ve got the ringing stroke and damping thing down pat and you can “play nice” with others. But wait, there’s more. You get four bells; you have to share; you have three bells to ring in succession; grace notes; shaking and ringing simultaneously; and oh my, how about that speed. Maybe you are ringing right in the middle, B4 through B5. You wonder: Am I melody? Am I accompaniment? Should this note be emphasized? Should this note be background? How do I ring one note soft and another loud at the same time? Do I mallet or thumb-damp? Where do I fit in? How do I blend? This course will help you become a more confident ringer. | ||
| The Trouble with Trebles – Diane Burke | ||
| “How can I get more of these bells in my hands and still make it sound really cool?” Come learn the basics of 4-in-hand ringing: WHY we do it, WHEN we do it, and most importantly, HOW we do it! This workshop is for ringers who generally ring from C6 and up, but is open to anyone who wants to add this helpful skill to their handbell repertoire. You can DO this!! We recommend having experience with weaving or taking “Learning to Weave” as a precursor to this course. | ||
| Director’s Roundtable – Jenn Stack, Karen Leonard | ||
| Are you a new conductor? Or thinking about being a conductor? Bring your joys, concerns, questions, and challenges to talk with your peers. | ||