Twelfth Tone Enewsletter 5-01-11

Greetings!

As the ringing year winds down, there are still many spring concerts to attend. And if you're in Central California, there's one last Spring Ring for you. It's not summer yet - bells up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Message from the Chair

Greetings, friends!

Are we all rung out from Spring Rings, Distinctly Bronze West and Easter? Well, we're not done yet - now it's time to cram for Bayview and National!

Speaking of National, I just got back from the spring leadership meeting in Minneapolis. I'm always energized by these meetings. There is so much to do, and so many choices to make about the direction the Guild should take. But I'm happy to report that the folks on the Board, the National staff, and the other Area leaders really take this all very seriously and are working hard to deliver you the best possible Guild services.

You are going to see a lot of changes, starting with the National website. If you haven't created your new password, do it now! Pretty soon there is going to be some incredible new content that you will want to access. From there, you'll see changes like certification, communications, and specialization, so you can get all the information you need without having to wade through stuff that's not for you.

Of course, all these changes will affect us here in in area leadership, too. The more tools National has, the more we have. But it's important for us all to remember that, above all, the Guild is PEOPLE. It's you and me and all our friends. Remember that we DO want to hear from you. We want to know what we can do for you. We want to hear your ideas. We want to see you, ring with you, and laugh with you at events, big and small.

So as you're making your plans for Bayview or National - or just to take the summer off - drop us a line and let us know your thoughts. And don't forget to drop another few bucks into your Disneyland piggy bank. It's just about a year away, and you're not going to want to miss it!

Rima

Area XII Chair

chair@areaxii.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Communiqué (From the Communications Director)

I've been very, very busy....

Finalizing the Composition Contest results (as your Past Chair)
Working on some preliminary details for the 2012 conference
Getting ready for the elections process next year
Attending a few Spring Rings here and there
A concert or eight....

But nothing has been more fun than preparing for a little pre-Disney Magic by way of a Treasure Hunt! You can read all about it below, but the upshot is that we're giving away some prizes to those who can find the "treasure" the fastest. And let me tell you - the prizes are nothing to sneeze at! I know, because I picked up most of them last month at Disneyland. I want to keep them for myself! Win them, please, so I will be saved from any transgression!

Let's make this really big...let's up the ante a bit. Do you know ANYONE who is not getting this enewsletter? Tell them about this contest and get them to subscribe NOW! (Subscribe by clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the page.) They won't have a chance of winning unless they're subscribed. Face it - if you win a prize as one in 1,000, it's cool. But what if you were competing against many more than that and you won. Sooooo much sweeter. No more Big Fish, Small Pond syndrome. The Pond is now a Lake!

Let's create the lake...tell a friend. We're having a contest. Must enter (i.e. subscribe) to win.

P.L. Grove
Communications Director
info@areaxii.org

AREA XII HAPPENINGS

Area XII Composition Contest Results

The adjudication forms have been returned and tallied, and unfortunately, the panel felt that no prize should be awarded for this year's composition contest. The Area XII Board has discussed the panel results and has concurred with the decision.

We encourage all composers - novices or veterans - to continue to submit selections for consideration in this and other composition contests throughout the handbell community. It is through the creativity, outside-the-box thinking and talent exhibited by the many composers who submitted works this year that we are able to expand the musical repertoire for handbells.

We look forward to receiving many incredible works in 2013!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Area XII to Launch Disneyland Treasure Hunt

Area XII invites you on a Treasure Hunt!

Yo ho! If you're not like Jack Sparrow - who would go to World's End to find a treasure - there's still good news! Area XII's Disney promotional treasure hunt is coming this summer.

From August 2011 through May 2012, each Twelfth Tone enewsletter will contain a clue. Follow the clue and find the latest treasure on the Area XII web site. To win that month's treasure, be the first person to send an e-mail with the correct answer to info@areaxii.org. Prize winners will be announced in the following month's enewsletter.

Here's a hint as to how you can prepare for the hunt and improve your chances of winning: go to the Area XII web site now! Start familiarizing yourself with where things are located and what content is already there. It will be easier to spot something new once it's posted.

Here are the official contest rules:

Winners must be attending the 2012 Area XII conference at Disneyland.
Participants must register for the conference no later than May 1, 2012. (In the event the conference is full before that date and future winners are not registered, those prizes will be forfeit and given to the next individual already registered who submitted the correct answer.)
Participants must reside in Area XII (California, Nevada, Hawaii or Guam).
Winners must be an AGEHR member or belong to a member group. (Winners will be asked to provide their AGEHR number and director's contact information for confirmation.)
Participants must send an email personally - you cannot have someone send it for you.
To be declared the winner, you must have provided ALL details outlined in that month's instructions or clue(s).
Prizes will be distributed to the winners via their registration packet and may be picked up at the registration table at Disneyland.
Winners must be willing to share their name and contact information with the other nine prize winners, in case they wish to exchange prizes.

Watch next month's Twelfth Tone for a list of the prizes!

Yo ho, Yo ho!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SoCal - Michèle Sharik, Regional Coordinator

Hi, everyone!

Now that we've had a few weeks to recuperate from the Southern California Spring Ring & Bronze Vision, I wanted to tell you what an honor and a privilege it was to spend the weekend with all of you (many of whom I met for the very first time)! With over 200 ringers in attendance from San Diego to LaVerne to Phoenix to Oakland, it was an exciting day. I had a fantastic time & hope you all did, too.

I do have 2 favors to ask of those who attended the Spring Ring and/or Bronze Vision events:

Could you please take a moment or two to fill out an anonymous on-line survey about your experience at Bronze Vision and/or Spring Ring? This survey will help us know what worked and what didn't, and (most importantly!) how we might improve the event to better meet your needs next year. Here's the link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VGTCLST
As with any event like this some items get misplaced. One of our participant churches is missing one piece of 3-foot foam (covered in white muslin fabric) and one blue bag used to carry foam (the bag is empty). Another of our participant churches is missing a black music folder (some of the music should be marked for the 5 and 6 ringer). If you accidentally took these things with you, could you please let me know?

2011 Southern California Spring Ring,
under the baton of Christine Anderson

In other news, the St. Thomas More Church in Oceanside needs a substitute ringer for some upcoming dates in May. If you are available for any of these dates, please contact Douglas Lynn, Director of Liturgy and Music, at 760.758.4100 x140 or via email at douglasl@stmoside.org.

Wednesday, May 4, 6:30pm rehearsal
Saturday, May 14, 5:00pm Mass
Wednesday, May 18, 6:30pm rehearsal
Sunday, May 22, 8:30am Mass
Wednesday, May 25, 6:30pm rehearsal

Looking ahead, don't forget to mark your calendars for the Fall Directors Workshop, which will be held Saturday, September 10 in Chula Vista.

Finally, don't forget to check out the Southern California Region - Area XII Facebook page for up-to-the-minute news about Spring Ring and other handbell happenings in SoCal!

My best,
-Michèle
socal@areaxii.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LA Metro - Debbie Shaw, Regional Coordinator

Now that almost all of the area Spring Rings are over, most of you will, no doubt, be looking forward to Disneyland - I know I am!

But there's still many events coming up before that, so don't forget to stay involved locally. Next up in the LA Metro area is the Fall Workshop on October 15th in Glendale. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information!

Oh, and since the Disneyland conference is a local event too, put that on your calendar as well: June 28-July 1, 2012.

Check back at the LA Metro page of the web site for updates on local concerts and events. (And make sure to let me know if you're having a concert so I can add it to the calendar.)

Debbie

lametro@areaxii.org

Check out our LA Metro Facebook page!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CenCal - Kathie Mackie, Regional Coordinator

Greetings from Central California!

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter. I certainly had lots of bell ringing, both on Palm Sunday and Easter - which was great! But sometimes the best laid plans of mice and bell ringers go awry....

One of my church bell choirs was supposed to ring May 1st, but the day after Easter I learned that we needed not just one but THREE substitutes. Now we have a very small sub list and had secured only one sub. We thought we had found a second but, alas, due to medical reasons, he had to decline. Then I learned that another one of our ringers had spent the week ill in the hospital and wasn't up to ringing yet. And worse, I - the Director - was sick, too!

What to do? We had less than a week to find two more subs, and no time for them to rehearse with us, in any case. Have you ever had to face something like this? This was a very unusual situation for this group, as they are typically very conscientious about this sort of thing. But, as I said, the best laid plans...well, sometimes they just turn out not to be the best. After some discussion, we decided to reschedule our ringing date. Much as it goes against the grain for me to ever give up on something (of course, my spouse says I'm just too stubborn to give up), I've had to learn (and often the hard way thanks to that stubborn streak!) that sometimes the better part of valor is to go to Plan B. What's two weeks later after all? We can always use more practice time, right?

Reminder that the Central Coast Spring Ring is just around the corner on Saturday, May 14th at Atascadero United Methodist Church. Contact Margie Orchard (margie6@wildblue.net) for more information on this event. It's not too late to register and enjoy a great day of bells.

Happy ringing!

Kathie Mackie

cencal@areaxii.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SF Bay Area - Beckie Wiley, Regional Coordinator

The Bay Area School Handbell Festival celebrated a new milestone by inviting a clinician from Virginia. "Kath Wissinger did a terrific job bringing the diverging tempos together and teaching musicality, while keeping it fun," reports event organizer Dian Ruder. "The intense downpour on March 24 only dampened the clothes, pads, some bells, lunches, etc., but not the spirits of 120 musicians!" Ten bell teams represented six private schools - grades 5 through 9 - at the annual event, held at All Saints Catholic Church in Hayward.

Bay Area School Festival 2011

How do you start a handbell or chime program for elementary aged students? Connie Ormond, an Arroyo Seco Elementary School teacher in Livermore, applied for a grant a few years ago and received enough money to purchase chimes and music for her school. The group was honored to perform last December at the Livermore Valley School District staff holiday party, and on stage at Livermore's prestigious Bankhead Theater in March. Velocity Handbell Ensemble is the only other handbell ensemble that had previously performed at the Bankhead!

Like me, many of you are busy perfecting your spring concerts. During the month of May, I will perform in eight concerts, concluding with a mini-tour of Carmel during Memorial Day weekend. I have never performed eight concerts in one year, let alone eight in one month! Please keep me in your prayers, as this is a bit overwhelming. Ah well...once the music is learned, you might as well take the show on the road! Hopefully, I can attend some of the other great performances in the Bay Area during May - and hopefully you can, too.

Be sure to check the Area XII calendar and the SF Bay Area web page for details on such exciting upcoming concerts as Bay Bells' reptrospective concert series on 25 years of ringing, Tapestry's spring concerts "A Musical Tribute to the Elements," SFSU's evening of American music with the Temple Hill Choir, and an upcoming May visit from Concordia University Irvine's elite handbell ensembles.

And don't forget to send me information about your concerts and events so I can put them on the calendar.

Beckie

bayarea@areaxii.org

Add the Area 12 Facebook page to your friends list!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NorCal - Nancy Schmitt, Regional Coordinator

Mark your calendars now for the Fourth Annual Redding Handbell Festival, October 21 and 22, 2011. The event will be held once again at the Simpson University Heritage Life Center. Our guest director will be Nevada's own Barbara Walsh. And again this year we will feature a "Ringin' in the Red Zone" bronze choir under the direction of Larry Sue. The Red Zone will start on on Friday night, October 21st, with a three-hour rehearsal. And Larry will be in redding on September 10th to lead a pre-festival workshop to help us get started on the Red Zone music.

This small festival always has a big audience, so you won't want to miss it. It is a great way to get your ringing season started, and fall is beautiful here in the northern part of the state. Keep an eye on the Northern California section of the Area XII web site for further details as they become available.

The Carillons Handbell Choir is busy preparing the concert program for their upcoming mission trip to Wittenberg, Germany. The group will help Castle Church in Wittenberg start a bell choir by leading three workshops, performing a concert, and playing for two church services. They will present that church with a donated two-octave set of handbells, tables, pads, covers, mallets and music to start their own handbell program. The group heads for Wittenberg the first weekend of July during the area's sacred music festival.

As always, don't forget to send me your bell choir news and performances so your events can be posted in this enewsletter!.

Ringcerely,

Nancy Schmitt
norcal@areaxii.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nevada - Barbara Walsh, Regional Coordinator

The Ninth Annual Sierra Spring Ring was a resounding success as approximately 50 ringers gathered to make glorious music! South Reno United Methodist Church did an outstanding job of hosting the crowd with pleasant facilities, a spacious ringing set-up, and many friendly faces. Barb and Tess had the organization down pat by providing a schedule designed to give maximum ringing time, but still give us enough breaks to ensure that everyone stayed fresh.

Tess Houston has been our clinician for this event for several years. ringers in northern Nevada have come to trust her nurturing nature as she slowly helps us shape the pieces we have practiced into well-rung melodies and harmonies. This year, however, Tess brought something new to the Spring Ring: she started getting picky! No longer could we rest on the laurels of just hitting the right note on the correct beat. Tess encouraged us to ring expressively, notice the melodic line, and find the "violin" within the percussive sound of clappers on bronze. We rang our best, and then found with Tess' guidance that our best was even better than we thought!

The day flew by in a flurry of bells, notes, and music, and our concert was well attended by many local friends. Afterwards, Tintabulations entertained the audience with an hour of diverse music, from baroque to jazz. For those of us addicted to bells, the Sierra Spring Ring was possibly the highlight of the season.

To find out the latest happenings in Nevada, visit the Nevada section of the Area XII Web site.

Barbara Walsh, Nevada Regional Coordinator

nevada@areaxii.org

Sarah Bigelow, Writing Assistant

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hawaii - Karen Carlisle Regional Coordinator

Aloha!

Calling all Hawaii ringers! We need YOUR help to make our Aloha Ring a reality. For the past two years, I have been working with the Area XII Board to hold an event here in Oahu. Our main problem is finding a location with enough space to hold approximately ten choirs in a massed ringing setting, along with breakout classes for the day. We have an ongoing commitment from the amazing Tim Waugh to be our conductor if we can find a place to hold the event.

If you or someone you know has access to a church, school or social hall that we can use, please contact me immediately. Come on, Hawaii...let's make this happen!

Karen

hawaii@areaxii.org

NATIONAL NEWS

NATIONAL NEWS: National Seminar in Minneapolis in July

Online registration is now open for the National Seminar to be held July 14-17, 2011 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis boasts some of the best musicians in the country, including handbell groups like Twin Cities Bronze and Bells of the Lakes. There will be classes, tracks, and, if you want, you can even spend the entire time ringing.

Check out the web site where you can find schedule, class, clinician, and online registration information.

And if this will be your first time attending, check out the article above for information on the Patty Marquart scholarship.

ON THE CALENDAR

Calendar of Events May-June

Sunday, May 1, 2011, 4 p.m. Opus Handbell Ensemble in concert, Trinity United Presbyterian Church, 1600 Carver Road, Modesto, California. Tickets $10 at the door. For more information, visit www.opushandbell.org.

Sunday, May 1, 2011, 4 p.m. Cathedral Bells in concert, St. John's Lutheran Church, 185 South Center Street, Orange, California. For more information, contact Ramona Miller at brmiller2@cox.net.

Friday, May 6, 2011, 7 p.m. Tapestry in concert (featuring Canto Bello), Walnut Creek United Methodist Church, 1543 Sunnyvale Avenue, Walnut Creek, California. Pie party following the concert. A freewill offering will be taken. For more information, contact Carol Smith at carolsmith2@comcast.net.

Saturday, May 7, 2011, 7 p.m. Tapestry in concert (featuring Canto Bello), First United Methodist Church, 1600 Bancroft, San Leandro, California. A freewill offering will be taken. For more information, contact Carol Smith at carolsmith2@comcast.net.

Friday, May 13, 2011, 7:30 p.m. Bay Bells presents its Originally Bay Bells concert, celebrating 25 years of ringing, Grace Lutheran Church, 3149 Waverley Street, Palo Alto, California. For more information, go to www.baybells.org/upcoming.html.

Saturday, May 14, 2011 Central Coast Spring Ring, Atascadero United Methodist Church, 11605 El Camino Real, Atascadero, California. Clinicians Tess Houston and Barbara Walsh. $15.00/ringer. For more information, contact Margie Orchard at margie6@wildblue.net or visit the Central California web page.

Sunday, May 15, 2011, 2 p.m. Bay Bells presents its Originally Bay Bells concert, celebrating 25 years of ringing, Stratford School, Morgan Hill Grammar School Building, 410 Llagas Road (at Hale), Morgan Hill California. For more information, go to www.baybells.org/upcoming.html.

Sunday, May 15, 2011, 4 p.m. The Power of Music, Walnut Creek U.M.C. Annual Handbell Concert, Walnut Creek United Methodist Church, 1543 Sunnyvale Avenue, Walnut Creek, California. For more information, contact Jane Patty at janeepatty@aol.com.

Sunday, May 15, 2011, 4:30 p.m. St. Mark's Handbells Spring Concert, St. Mark's United Methodist Church, 3502 Clairemont Drive, San Diego, California. A freewill offering will be taken. Childcare provided; reception following concert.

Sunday, May 15, 2011, 6 p.m. Bay Bells presents its Originally Bay Bells concert, celebrating 25 years of ringing, Immanuel Lutheran Church, 14103 Saratoga Avenue, Saratoga, California. For more information, go to www.baybells.org/upcoming.html.

Saturday, May 21, 2011, 7 p.m. Concordia University Handbell Choirs on tour and in concert in the San Francisco Bay Area, Valley Church, 10885 N. Stelling Road, Cupertino, California. For more information, phone 408-739-4642.

Sunday, May 22, 2011, 4 p.m. First Presbyterian Church, 2020 Fifth Street, Livermore, California. For more information, contact Catherine Griggs at crgriggs@comcast.net.

Sunday, May 22, 2011 Handbell Ventures Open House. For more information, contact William Kyle at william@baybells.org.

Sunday, May 22, 2011, 7:30 p.m. SFSU Handbell Choir with the Temple Hill Choir presents an evening of American music, Mormon Church, San Francisco Stake Center, 975 Sneath Lane, San Bruno, California. Open to the public and free of charge. For more information, contact Caroline Harnly at charnly@sfsu.edu.