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    The Twelfth Tone E-newsletter
Area 12 Newsletter
January 2013

New years bells

In This Issue
Handbell Resources
West Coast Handbell Supply
Area 12 Board
Concerts at a Glance
A Message From the Chair
Communiqué
Area 12 Happenings
Handbell Resources
WestCoast Handbell Supply 
 
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 Handbell Music,
Supplies, and  Service
  
Toll Free  888-775-WEST

Call: 559-625-5111
Fax: 559-741-7346
 

P.O. Box 4361
Visalia, CA
Area 12 Bell Loan  Program
Picture of Handbells  
Teachers, would you like the use of a 3 octave set of handbells or handchimes to add interest and a new dimension to your music class?  Area 12 encourages schools and other educational institutions (both public and private) to develop educational programs using hand-bells and handchimes. To support the development of such programs, Area 12 has two sets of 3 octaves of handbells and three sets of 3 octaves of handchimes for loan. Deadlines for applications are 5/31 for the Fall Semester and 10/30 for the Spring Semester. To learn more about the respon-sibilities and procedures for participating in this program click here.

Area 12 Board
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Elected Officers:

Chair...................Laurie Sanders
Past Chair.................Rima Greer
Chair Elect.............Michele Sharik
Treasurer................Kathy Arnold
Secretary.............Ruben Mendoza

Appointed Officers:
Communications.....Barbara Meinke
Events....................Debbie Shaw
Education...............Tess Houston
Historian....................Beth Mays
Vendor Liaison...............Mel Tully
Webmaster................P.L. Grove

Regional Coordinators:
NorCal..................Nancy Schmitt
Bay Area................Julie Vaquilar
CenCal......................Lori Smith
LAMetro................Pearl Marshall
SoCal........................Lois Harry
Nevada.................Barbara Walsh
Hawaii..................Karen Carlisle

Liaisons:
Las Vegas.................Dixie Bailey
Concerts at a Glance
Please see the Calendar of Events
below for full details.  
 
Northern California

Redding Bronze Advanced Ring Concert

Sat., Jan. 26, 2013  4:00 p.m.

Redding, CA

 

San Francisco Bay Area
12th Night by Candlelight
Sun., Jan. 6, 2013. 6-8:30 p.m.
Pleasant Hill, CA

 

To view all the events on the Area 12 calendar click here


Or go to the Areas portion of the web site (click on your state or area at top of home page) to see which concerts and events are happening near you.

Our National Organization 

Handbell Musicians of America

There are some exciting National opportunities coming up in 2013.

 

This is you last chance to get in on National's Master Series this February with courses in conducting, ringing techniques, and basic training for directors. The event will be held in Tucson, Arizona and includes noted instructors William Payn, Bill and Carolyn Mathis and Area 12's own Mich�le Sharik.

 

Put your advanced ringing skills to use at Distinctly Bronze Westa massed ringing event of extreme proportions! Held in Bremerton, WA, this year we welcome Fred Gramann from The American Church in Paris (France!) to our podium. If you have played under his baton before, you know what a treat this is! This event currently has a waiting list, but if you want a chance to ring with Fred, apply!

  

Participate in the Handbell Musicians of America Virtual Handbell Ensemble by uploading your video by March 1, 2013. The piece, Misterium, composed by Area 12's own James Meredith, consists of 135 musical segments to be recorded separately by individuals and small groups of players from around the world. Record as many or as few as you like! Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to be a part of this special work premiering at National Seminar this July.

  

To learn more about these exciting National ringing and educational opportunities, go to the national web site .

 

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January - February

  

Sunday, January 6, 2013, 6-8:30 pm

Tapestry (featuring Canto Bello Handbell Ensemble in conjunction with Cornerstone Players) presents 12th Night by Candlelight, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 1601 Mary Drive, Pleasant Hill, California. Sherry and raffle begins at 6 pm, concert and yuletide supper begins at 7 pm. Advance ticket sales only; general admission, $5.00. For tickets and information, contact Carol Smith.

  

Friday-Saturday, January 25-26, 2013 

Redding Bronze Advanced Ring First Presbyterian Church, 2315 Placer Street, Redding, California. Final concert begins on Saturday at 4 pm. For information contact Nancy Schmitt.   

  

Saturday, February 9, 2013  1:00 p.m.

The Lighter Side of Ringing

Treble Bell Workshop

First United Methodist Church
134 N. Kenwood Street
Glendale, California
For information contact
 
Your event can appear here!
 
To view all the events on the
Area 12 calendar, click here.
Advertising Rates for the
2013 Publishing Year

The  Twelfth Tone E-newsletter
is published the first of each month, except July, by Area 12 of the Handbell Musicians of America (The Guild). The Guild is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the musical art of handbell/handchime ringing through education, community, and communication.  The editor of this publication reserves the right to reject or modify copy.

Advertising Rates: 

We offer two different types of ads

1.(a) Ad designed and formatted by you that is exactly 100 pixels X 300 pixels and sent in a jpeg or gif file. The ad will by hyperlinked to your website.
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2.(a) 1.5" X 4" ad which can contain a picture or logo sent as a jpeg or gif file and will be hyperlinked to your website. You provide the text to be formatted by the editor.
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Payment is due before publication.

DEADLINE is the 24th of the month

Please submit your ads to Barbara Meinke, Communications Director, via email.

Make checks payable to AGEHR Area 12
and send to:
Kathy Arnold, Treasurer
1228 Isabelle Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94040
Happy New Year

Greetings!   


Happy New Year! 
 
With the new year comes new and exciting opportunities in Area 12! Read all about what others are doing, upcoming workshops, Spring Rings, and national events below!

We also have new email addresses (again!). Our national office has made a change to Google services, so our email address format took on a little modification. You just need to move the @ sign to be AFTER "area12" so all addresses read "[email protected]." All the email links below have been updated and you may easily just click on one to use it or copy it to your address book. 

Speaking of email addresses, are you getting your newsletter at the email address you desire? Are you receiving duplicates you don't need? Please drop a note to [email protected] and tell us which one to use and which ones to delete!

What's new with YOU in the handbell world?

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A Message from the Chair Elect
   Michele Sharik     

Hi, Area 12!

 

Our Chair, Laurie Sanders, is taking some extra time to spend with family, so I am taking this opportunity to write to y'all!

 

I am very excited to be your new Chair Elect. Thank you so much for the trust you have placed in me. I promise to serve you to the best of my ability as we face the challenges and rewards of new technology, new techniques, and new teaching styles.

I am looking at our Area calendar and WOW do we have a lot of events to choose from! Spring Rings in Cupertino, San Luis Obispo, Bakersfield, North Hollywood, and Temecula with clinicians like Hart Morris, P.L. Grove,  Michael Joy, and Michael Glasgow! Teachers like Christine Anderson, Kimberlee Strepka and Larry Sue! I really wish I had the time to attend ALL of these fabulous events!


I encourage you to attend any and all events you can, even if you attend as an individual (or an "orphan," as they're affectionately called), rather than with your choir. You will have a great time not only learning from such great clinicians and teachers, but also meeting other handbell enthusiasts in your region. Who knows? Maybe it'll be the start of some wonderful friendships for you!

Have a great New Year, everybody. Happy Ringing!  

 

Mich�le Sharik

Area 12 Chair Elect

[email protected] 

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Communiqu  
Barbara Meinke

So much for a "long winter's nap"!

 

After a very busy fall season full of new and exciting projects, I am ready to take the reins of your Twelfth Tone Enewsletter! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you. And thank you to P.L. Grove for many GREAT past newsletters. She is not going very far, though! You will find her managing the Area 12 website, www.areaxii.org. We will be working together to keep news flowing, calendars updated, and excitement brewing in Area 12!

 

I hope you found some peace, joy, and perhaps even a little rest this holiday season! We will need some of each of those to carry us into 2013 as we gear up for great regional, area, and national events. Find information below about upcoming Spring Rings and National events and projects. There is something for everyone, newbie to advanced ringer, concert goer to ensemble conductor, home-body to world traveler! Follow links (click on items in blue) to great information on the National and Area websites and our regional Facebook pages. Pass the information along! 

 

I would love to hear your ideas for newsletter elements and features and I want to list information for handbell events in your area. Feel free to drop me a line at my NEW email address!

 

Wishing you all a blessed new year!

 

Barbara Meinke

Area 12 Communications

[email protected]

AREA 12 HAPPENINGS
Congratulations to Area 12 Ensembles Selected
to Perform at National Seminar this Summer!

TintabTintabulations Handbell Ensemble, based in Reno, NV under the direction of Barbara Walsh, will perform the opening concert on Wed., July 24 in the evening. 
 
Timbré Ensemble
Timbre Ensemble, based in southern California under the direction of Mich�le Sharik, will perform at the lunchtime concert on Thurs., July 25. 
 
 
Area 12 Seeks Composition Contest Submissions
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Once again Area 12 is hosting a composition contest, and this year we're even giving you a little extra time to get your composition in!

 

Every other year, Area 12 sponsors a contest to encourage composers to write new music for handbells and to create an exciting new piece for our next conference.

 

The Area 12 Board is hard at work planning for the next conference in San Luis Obispo, and they have chosen the theme of percussion for the event. Seasoned and budding composers - and especially Area 12 members - are encouraged to be creative and bring out the percussive nature of handbells in this year's contest.

 

All contest submissions must be received by February 28, 2013 and should be emailed to:

 

Rima Greer 
Immediate Past Chair 
Area 12 Composition Contest 
[email protected] or
[email protected]

 

For full details of the 2013 Area 12 composition contest, go to the Area 12 website

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NorCal - Nancy Schmitt, Regional Coordinator
Nancy Schmitt 
Doctors Learn to Ring Handbells!

 

The Carillons of Redding recently performed a one-hour concert at Mercy Hospital's Winter Wonderland Black Tie Gala, which included a fundraiser to purchase a portable X-ray machine for the hospital. We were asked to be the first item on the live auction list and were asked to do bell training. The plan was for people to nominate a doctor or an administrator of the hospital to come on stage and learn the art of handbell ringing. Nominations would cost $100 per person. We expected to have a few doctors nominated, but instead there were 25 doctors and administrators nominated, and even the CEO of the hospital participated. A grand total of $2,500 was raised to fund the X-ray machine! The doctors were such good sports and seemed to have fun. They even played an entire song (once they had learned how to ring and damp).

 

I want to remind you all that there is still time to sign up for the Redding Bronze Advanced Ring on January 25-26 here in Redding. Larry Sue will be the director and all the information and registration form are on the Northern California part of the Area 12 website.

 

Wishing you all a Happy New Year of handbell ringing!

 

Ringcerely,

 

Nancy Schmitt

NorCal Regional Coordinator
[email protected] 

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CenCal - Lori Smith, Regional Coordinator
Lori Smith
  

Hi CenCal Ringers, 

 

This month I'm reporting on the fantastic opportunity enjoyed by Opus Handbell Ensemble in Modesto, Ca. On Thursday, December 13, Opus presented an educational program to almost 800 children and their teachers gathered from eight schools, home school families and two child development programs in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties. To accommodate such a large audience, the program was presented twice that morning in the Foster Theater at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto. The Gallo's "Pathways to Creativity" Arts Education Program asked Opus to prepare a 45 min program. Opus answered that challenge with nine pieces from their Christmas repertoire, two pieces played by the Opus Quartet, and four members sharing info about bell basics, bell sound effects, what a conductor does, and how quartet ringing differs from a large ensemble. They topped it all off with a skit about a little bell that rang off-key and a visit from Santa. Whew! It all moved pretty fast. One of Opus' requirements as a non-profit is to provide opportunities for musical education. They have previously taken their presentations directly to the schools. This time they were so fortunate to enjoy the professional lighting and staging offered by the Gallo Center.

 

I'm looking forward to hearing about your ringing opportunities in 2013.

 

Lori Smith

CenCal Regional Coordinator  

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SoCal - Lois Harry, Regional Coordinator
Lois Harry  

Greetings fellow ringers!

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful, blessed Christmas that included much great music, many great friends and lots of love! I'd love to hear about your wonderful musical experiences of the holidays, as it's always fun to hear about who played what and how it turned out! At our church, our two special pieces were "Carol of the Bells" by Arnold Sherman and "A Caribbean Christmas" by Dan Edwards. Our congregation enjoyed them so much, they even applauded after each (keep in mind that our bell group is made up of ringers ranging from very beginning level to intermediate, so these pieces were a challenge for us!).

 

In other bell news,I hear several so-cal ringers just returned from a tour of Japan with Sonos Handbell Ensemble. I'm sure that was an amazing experience that we'll be hearing a lot more about!

 

Our April 19-20 Spring Ring news is out! We welcome the inimitable Michael Glasgow for both our Bronze Vision and massed ring pleasures! Thank you for your patience as I am learning how all these things work. Now that the holidays are over, I can devote a lot more time and energy to fulfilling my duties. Keep your eye on email, US Mail, our website and our Facebook page for updated information.

 

Please continue to keep me updated on articles and happenings that you would like to have included in the monthly newsletters.

 

Happy New Year!

 

Lois Harry

SoCal Regional Coordinator

[email protected] 

 

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Nevada - Barbara Walsh, Regional Coordinator
Barb Walsh Headshot

 

Howdy!  

 

Some exciting news for Tintabulations, the Northern Nevada community handbell ensemble. We were selected to play the opening concert at the guild's National Seminar in Portland, Oregon this July! 

 

Speaking of National Seminar, it's finally on the West coast, so people in Nevada and California should attend! There are many classes to choose from, covering just about any handbell topic, taught by the best in the business. The other really great thing is after you've attended the classes, you get to sit down and rub elbows with those same people! If you've never been to National Seminar, this is the year you should go. Plus, we need some "locals" to cheer us on!

Barbara Walsh

Nevada Regional Coordinator

[email protected]

 
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LA Metro - Pearl Marshall, Regional Coordinator
Pearl Marshall Photo
  

Happy New Year Ringers and Directors!

We have two wonderful events coming up in 2013.  The first is a half-day workshop inspired by actual ringer requests.  The second is our annual LA Metro Spring Ring.

 

NEW WORKSHOP

On February 9th, we are offering "The Lighter Side of Ringing" - a half-day workshop focusing on topics and skills most often used with our lighter instruments.  Class offerings include Beginning Doubling, Beginning 4-in-Hand, Handchimes, Interlocked 4-in-Hand, Travelling 4-in-Hand, and Even More Belltrees!  Beginning and intermediate ringers are welcome. We'd even love to see some bass/battery ringers who are just curious about the "lighter" end of the table.  The information flyer and registration form can be found on our website as one pdf file.  Directors, please offer this opportunity to your ringers now, as the January 11 registration deadline is approaching quickly. 

 

SPRING RING - March 2 - Michael Joy!

This year we are presenting a fresh approach to our annual SPRING RING.  The informational flyer and registration form are posted on our web page.  There are many exciting facets to this reimagined event.  We've tried to include something for everyone! 

  • Inspiring Venue - The Beverly Garland Hotel in North Hollywood.
  • Catered Lunch - The menu is on the registration form.
  • Focus on the Massed Ringing Experience
  • Two universally appealing classes led by nationally known teachers, Kimberlee Strepka and Christine Anderson
  • Ringing Only Option (ring all massed and division music, no classes)
  • Classes Only Option (morning and afternoon)
  • Bronze Division (includes an opportunity to ring Dorian Dance with Michael Joy himself!)
  • Activity for Youth (a Michael Joy processional that will open our final concert!)

Here is what one regional director has to say about this event:

 

"I will be happy to pass the info on.  Sounds like a wonderful workshop.  I think you have made an excellent choice in bringing Kimberlee to share her knowledge at the conference.  I took her in-depth track at the National Conference in Cincinnati this past summer on Laban theory applied to handbell ringing.  It was fabulous, and in my view, what she has to say regarding whole body involvement in playing handbells is critical to the future of handbell music as a legitimate musical art form."

Ramona Miller, Director

Cathedral Bells

St. John's Lutheran Church, Orange, CA

 

Please note that the registration deadline is January 28, and that there is a $10 late fee.  Remember that you don't need to bring a whole choir to participate, but more ringers equal more fun so invite everyone you know!  I'd be delighted to answer any questions you have.  Please don't hesitate to contact me.

 

Joyfully Ringing,

 

Pearl Marshall

LA Metro Regional Coordinator

[email protected]    

 

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SF Bay Area - Julie Vaquilar, Regional Coordinator
Julie and Martalina


Happy New Year, Bay Area Ringers!

Here is an oportunity to start ringing in the new year and get prepped for this year's Bay Area Spring Ring in Cupertino.



 
What: Advance Preview of Spring Ring music
For Whom: primarily directors but ringers welcome
When: Saturday, January 19, from 10am to noon
Where: Valley Church in Cupertino
If interested, contact: [email protected]

For more info on spring ring, click here.

Happy ringing!
 

Julie Vaquilar

SF Bay Area Regional Coordinator

[email protected] 

 

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Hawaii - Karen Carlisle Regional Coordinator
Karen Carlisle

Aloha All and Hau'oli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year)!

 

As we all recuperate from the holiday season, we are able to breathe and then get back to rehearsing music for the spring.

 

I have a report from Guam! They are out in their community sharing their music all over the island. The Bells of the Marianas played at The Joyful Noise music festival. It is comprised of several island churches that come together in praise and worship to the benefit of Pacific Islands University, a Christian university on Guam. All the other performances were vocal, so they really stood out. They performed at the Seaside Holiday Concert, along with the Guam Symphony and other musical groups. They have also recently started a small ensemble and performed in their church service on Dec. 23 and 24. It is really exciting to hear how bells in Guam have come alive and that they are sharing their music with their congregation and out in the community. 

 

Mele Mai Paki Lima Community handbell choir was out and about on Oahu. They played with The Honolulu Chorale, and for our annual Christmas concert at Mililani Baptist Church and Bank of Hawaii Family Fun Day at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. It was a full Christmas season. 

 

Looking into the new year, I am working with Tim Waugh to see if we can set a date for him to come back to Oahu and do another workshop in October. Stay tuned!  I will announce the date soon.

 

Aloha! 

 

Karen Carlisle

Hawaii Regional Coordinator


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