I recently attended my 10th Distinctly Bronze Event (yes, I am completely addicted to the entire experience!) and met a super young man who was both a first-timer and the William H. Griffin Scholarship recipient. He hails from Area 12! I asked him to write a little bit about his experience and am pleased to share it with you!

Hello! My name is Andrew Scher and I am currently a senior studying Civil Engineering at Purdue University. I have been ringing handbells since the third grade at San Dieguito United Methodist Church in Encinitas, CA, and am currently a ringer in and manager of Purdue Bells. In early October, I had the privilege of attending Distinctly Bronze East in New Bern, North Carolina, a massed ringing event for advanced handbell musicians.

I learned so much about musicianship through attending this event. I was able to meet and interact with many enthusiastic ringers and others who have really helped shape and improve handbells as an art form. This has allowed me to build on my own skills as a ringer, to learn different ways to approach difficult music, and to explore how to interpret music beyond what is written on the score to enhance the musicality and performance of a piece. Ringing challenging music with complete strangers and under the direction of Beth Judd and Al Reese was a blast! One aspect of the event that I valued most was coordinating bell sharing with table partners, "problem solving," and really making each piece a group effort.

I received the scholarship through William H. Griffin Scholarship Fund to attend the event. This helped drastically reduce the costs of attending the event and really lessened the financial burden of attending (especially as a college student!). This event is a great challenge, a great way to meet other handbell enthusiasts, and a great learning experience. I highly suggest it to anyone interested!

-Andrew Scher

and other opportunities, click here.

 

Hello Northern California,

 

Did you ever hope that you and your bell choir could perform some place special to spread the art of handbell ringing? The opportunity to do just that came to The Carillons! In November, the Carillons will be ringing around Redding on a local TV station and then down by Turtle Bay Exploration Park at the Sundial Bridge which spans the Sacramento River. Hopefully people taking a casual stroll across the bridge will enjoy the bell ringing and decide to join a bell choir!

HELP NEEDED

As your Northern California Regional Coordinator, I am in need of a liaison in Sacramento to help keep me informed of bell workshops, concerts, festivals and other happening in that area so I can help promote them. I know there must be a lot happening in Sacramento and we would like to hear about it. If you are interested in helping me and Area 12 this way, please contact me and I will help you get started.

Ringcerely,