Christmas with HMA

by J.R. Smith We all continue to say that we don’t want handbells to be considered primarily as a Christmas instrument, but there is no denying that the season is especially exciting to handbell musicians. In that spirit, we invite you to enjoy the season with things...

Getting Back to (a New) Normal

by J.R. Smith As I prepare the layout for each issue of this journal, I have found myself disheartened the last couple of years that the Events Calendar had been shrinking steadily during the time of COVID. What had once easily taken two pages, eventually dwindled...

My Dobrinski Introduction to Handbells

by J.R. Smith While writing the feature article in this issue remembering the life and music of Cynthia Dobrinski, I fondly remembered my first ever experience discovering and playing handbells. J.R. SmithPublications Director Always Looking for New Content...

You Don’t Want to Miss Symposium

by J.R. Smith The last time International Handbell Symposium came to the United States was 2008, when it was held in Orlando, Florida. I had only been on the staff of what was then the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers a little over three years.  J.R....

Coming in the New Year

by J.R. Smith The past nearly two years has certainly changed the world—in many ways negatively, but positively in others. HMA and the handbell community have certainly seen a good deal of change. Some things will likely return to what we are used to, but many...