Greetings, all!

Your Area 12 board just completed a very productive meeting held in Las Vegas at the site of our upcoming conference in July. I'm excited to say the facilities where our conference will be held are ideal in a modern, beautiful, and accessible setting.

Other outcomes from our meeting is that the board is very focused on developing more events in our local regions, finding ways to engage with our members more effectively, and focusing more on reaching out to educators and schools to expand our mission.

I am pleased to announce that Cyndi Tully has accepted the appointment of Vendor Liaison to the Area 12 board. She is filling the position her father held for so many years. Her experience in retail and a deep love and history of handbells makes her the perfect fit for this position.

We are searching for a Communications Chair for the board and are looking for volunteers who would wish to be considered. The position's main responsibility is putting together and editing our monthly newsletter as well as making sure the work and offerings of Area 12 are communicated effectively. If you are interested in this role, or know someone to nominate, please let me know.

We are off to busy year in Area 12 and I look forward to seeing you all at an event this year or at our conference in July.

'Til next time,
Scott Leggett
Chair
[email protected]

Getting Ready: The Road to Vegas 2020

The second article in a series about attending the Area 12 Ringer's Conference.

This scholarship provides registration fee and room (at half the double occupancy rate), as well as any meals provided as part of the registration fee for one ringer and for one director.

Applicants must:

• Reside within Area 12
• Be attending their first Area 12 Conference
• Be a member or associated with an organizational membership of Handbell Musicians of America (if you are receiving this newsletter, you probably are!)
• Director applicants currently must be a handbell/handchime director, or have contracted to be a director within Area 12
• Ringer applicants must be currently ringing in a handbell/handchime program within Area 12

All the fun and excitement will be happening in Las Vegas, July 2-5, 2020 -- and you should be there! Don't let this opportunity pass you by.

Greetings

September was busy, busy, busy. Bell Jubilee, South County Community Handbell Choirs' endorsed event where we worked on one piece and reviewed some fundamentals, was a huge success. The attendees had a great time, Erik Der was very thoughtful on leading the attendees in learning Grace All Sufficient and members of Cathedral Bells took time to teach the whole group as well as provided some one-on-one coaching for ringers. A huge thank you to Erik and Cathedral Bells for "Paying It Forward." A comment was made after the event, (paraphrased) "I only ring in my church choir, I did not realize what was out there in the handbell community." Events like this are a great way to discover what's out there.

Because I am a glutton for punishment, I did two solos at my church on the Sunday after Bell Jubilee. Then the next weekend was the Area 12 board meeting and then the choir I ring in rang in church the last Sunday of September. But enough about me!

I hope everyone is putting the LA Metro Spring Ring on their calendar - Ringin' at Red Hill -  March 20 and 21, in Tustin. Our clinicians are Matthew Compton and Erik Der. The repertoire can be found here (PDF). Please note that Fervent Freedom has not been published yet. Keep checking with your favorite music supplier. When it is available I will let you know. Please note that you don't have to ring all the Massed Ring and Divisional pieces. Prepare and ring what you can and enjoy the rest. My plan is to have registration forms available in November. I am also planning an "individual ringer" practice before the actual event, so that individual ringers that are coming can ring the pieces as a group before the event. (This event is sponsored by Handbell Musicians of America.)

There is still time to sign up and participate in the Pasadena Fall Fun Ring, presented by the Pasadena Arts Foundation and the artists of Timbré, Friday and Saturday, October 18 & 19 at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. The event will include classes and massed ringing. More information can be found here. The artists of Timbré are also putting on a workshop and concert, Saturday November 9th at Camarillo United Methodist Church, 291 Anacapa Drive, Camarillo, CA 93010. The workshop is from 1:00 to 3:30 pm. Registration prior to October 31st costs $25/person. The concert, titled "She Dreams the Stars," is at 6:30 pm. A freewill offering will be taken at the concert. More information including registration forms can be found here. (These events are endorsed by Handbell Musicians of America.)

I am here to help you in any way that I can. Please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Sharon Guilliams
[email protected]

For information on LA Metro's concerts, events,
and other opportunities, click here.

Aloha, Area 12!

Two weekends ago we had a great board meeting in Vegas. We did lots of planning, but we also did some team building at both days of our meeting. As we have many new board members, some of us really don't know each other that well. It was a great way to get to know each other more and learn a little bit our lives outside of the meeting.

We threw "thumb balls," one with team building questions and another with handbell questions. We learned that some of us can't throw or catch very well, Ha Ha!! We had laughs and learned a lot about each other.

Thumb balls with various topics are available commercially, but you can make your own with a kids' beginning soccer ball or beach ball -- the softer the ball, the better. When you catch the ball you answer the question where your thumb is, answer it, and then throw it to another team member.

In the handbell world, there are groups that have retreats and times away from the bell tables to help build that rapport. But some groups can't seem to find the time to do so. There are many ways to find a team building activity that takes 10-15 minutes, so it doesn't take much time but really builds the sense of "team" that is needed for handbell ringing. My community group uses a snack break -- they mingle and catch up with each other -- but there are many other ways to do this. It could be playing a quick game or having members ask questions. There are a lot of ideas out there! Find them, try them, build your group, and they will work well together and the music will blossom!

Mark your calendar!
Aloha Ring
Clinician: Ellie Hodder
Saturday, November 9, 2019
8:30 am - 2:45 pm
Aiea United Methodist Church
99-101 Laulima Street
Aiea, HI 96701

This event is endorsed by Handbell Musicians of America.

Mahalo,
Karen Carlisle
[email protected]

For information on Hawaii's concerts, events,
and other opportunities, click here.

Hi there, SoCal!

I recently attended the Area 12 board meeting in Las Vegas. We visited the UNLV campus to tour the conference facilities. Wow, it's a beautiful place and I think it'll be perfect for our 2020 Conference!

Speaking of the 2020 Conference, I hope you are as excited about it as I am! We have great clinicians and classes lined up for you. The Conference Committee has really worked hard on this event and I think we're all going to be blown away by the awesome-ness of it all!

All of us are committed to helping you prepare for the conference as much as possible. As part of that effort (as is our custom in SoCal), once again our Spring Ring will feature three pieces from the Conference repertoire. Can't make the SoCal Spring Ring? The LA Metro region is also featuring Conference music at their events, some of which are conveniently-located for us SoCal people. There's no reason for you to miss out. Get thee to an event! :-)

Save the date:

Saturday, May 23, 2020

SoCal Spring Ring

featuring music from the Vegas 2020 Conference!
(See the Conference rep list here!)

This event is sponsored by Handbell Musicians of America.

My best,
Michèle Sharik
[email protected]

Hey Vegas folks!

You've no doubt started seeing the notices about the Area 12 Conference being held right here next summer. This is the first time that it's been held in Las Vegas and only the second time it's ever been in Nevada.

We will be looking for folks to volunteer themselves and equipment (bells, chimes, and foam). So, please start thinking about how you might want or be able to help. Reach out to me anytime with your ideas. We'll show the Area how awesome the Vegas bell community is!

Hello, Bay Area!

Last fall the Area 12 Composition Contest returned. Composition contests are always so exciting. I'm always eager to see what new and exciting music is being created - and it's fun congratulating friends who win every now and then. But what excites me most are new composers!

As a new composer myself, one of the things I need most is to hear what I've composed. It makes such a huge difference for me and probably for other composers, too. Colors and textures are given breath and they come alive, while chord inversions and harmonies haunt your dreams!

Any new or aspiring composers out there? Anyone looking for feedback on their compositions? Plan ahead with your director and ask if your group wouldn't mind reading it through two or three times. Make sure to record it! Even when I can't find a way to hear my composition live, I find it helpful to convert the notation file to an mp3 and listen in my car or home stereo.

Many of your Area 12 board members direct really great church groups. Reach out to us! We'd be happy to help with reading your composition or offering any advice. I definitely would!