by Paul McKlveen
Paul McKlveen has been involved in handbells in various roles over the last 49 years. He started as a handbell ringer, and over the last 40 years, he has been conducting and composing/arranging handbell music. He has conducted ensembles in churches of various denominations in North Carolina and Wisconsin and is currently serving as the Conductor of the Encore! Handbell Ensemble in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Before that, he helped organize the Rezound! Handbell Ensemble in the Kansas City area, which he conducted for a couple of years. He has over one hundred published handbell compositions and has won multiple composition contests. For Area 3, he served on the board in various roles, including Chair, and has also served on the Area 6 board. He also developed a handbell symbol font to be used with music notation software. He resides in De Pere, Wisconsin, with his wife and three dogs.
Earlier this year, the handbell ensemble I conduct had a wonderful experience participating in a joint handbell concert with another handbell ensemble. I sincerely wish that the following recount of the planning process will inspire and motivate other ensembles to follow suit.
About a year ago, one of the ringers in our community handbell ensemble was chatting with Kaethe Grabenhofer, the musical director of the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble, and during their discussion, the idea of holding a joint handbell concert was raised. When I learned of this, I immediately thought it was a great idea worth pursuing. Further discussions were held, and we finally decided that each ensemble would host one concert in their own locale—one in the Milwaukee area and one in the Oshkosh area. Why two concerts? Several benefits immediately came to mind: expanding our audience base, providing the community with a unique handbell concert experience, and, hopefully, whetting the appetite of our ringers for broader and larger events. For those unfamiliar with Wisconsin geography, Oshkosh and Milwaukee are about ninety miles apart—close enough to allow both ensembles to commute there and back in a single day.
In my six years as the director of Encore! Handbell Ensemble, we have been presenting concerts mainly in our immediate vicinity. Most of our concerts have been held in the Oshkosh and Appleton area with some concerts held a bit further out in the Fond du Lac and Green Bay area. Although several ringers actively participate in Area and National sponsored events, not all the ringers have experienced these broader and more enriching events. Participating in a joint concert was a terrific way to expand into new geographical and development areas.
Once both ensembles committed to the concerts, planning commenced. At the onset, we decided that for our ensemble, a single person would be the point of contact for all communications with the other ensemble. This arrangement worked very well for us as it minimized the risk of miscommunication and gaps in understanding.
One of the first decisions we had to make was setting the concert dates. Kaethe suggested we have a concert around Valentine’s Day in February and include selections appropriate for the occasion. Finalizing dates was no small feat, as finding one that worked for both ensembles where all the ringers were available was a challenge. We picked the best dates possible—one where all my ringers were available, and the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble would be one or two ringers short. The initial idea was that the positions would be filled with ringers from my ensemble. Ultimately, Kaethe was able to secure one alum ringer from her ensemble and use one ringer from my ensemble. The concert dates were set for one weekend, with one concert on Saturday evening in the Milwaukee area and the other on late Sunday afternoon in Oshkosh.
Early on, Kaethe and I discussed the repertoire for the concert. We both wanted to have solo selections for each ensemble as well as joint selections. After multiple discussions, we agreed that, with an hour-long concert in mind, we would have twelve selections—four joint and four solo selections per ensemble. Each of us would conduct two joint and four solo selections.
Repertoire selection for our ensemble was especially important. With the concert scheduled for early February, we did not feel we had time to learn eight new pieces after performing our holiday concerts in December. So, for our four solo selections, we decided to carry over two from our holiday concerts that were more “winter” themed (ones in which the lyrics do not specifically mention Christmas) and one “love” themed selection from our previous spring concert. For the joint pieces, I worked with Kaethe, and we chose another piece from our spring concert as well as two others we had played in the last five years. This worked well for us, and we were able to be well prepared for the concerts. One of the joint selections, United by Jason Krug, has two independent parts where each can be played separately, or both can be played together. Since the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble was one ringer short, I volunteered to fill in and play in the vacant position.
Since we decided to include joint selections, we needed to plan for at least one joint rehearsal. We decided to have one 90-minute rehearsal on Saturday afternoon on the day of the first concert. Prior to the joint rehearsal, per Kaethe’s suggestion, I went to one of their rehearsals and worked with their ensemble on the two joint selections I was to conduct, and Kaethe came to one of our rehearsals and did likewise. This was greatly beneficial as it allowed the ensembles to work with the different conductors in advance of the joint rehearsal.
Each ensemble was responsible for choosing the venue in their locale. The amount of space needed by each ensemble was carefully considered so that each would fit comfortably and where each ringer would have a good line of sight to the conductor. We visited the prospective venues to check if they would meet our requirements. Seating arrangements for the ensemble were also considered since each ensemble, at some point during the concert, would not be ringing.
We also had an opportunity to socialize with each other as Kaethe took the lead and planned for a dinner between the joint rehearsal and concert. It was an enjoyable time for all of us to relax and converse with each other.
Overall, both concerts went very well, as each ensemble was well-prepared for the event. Some of the takeaways I personally had from this experience are to be flexible, communicate often, plan in advance as much as possible, and be prepared. I look forward to our next joint concert experience in December
with the Holy Family Conservatory handbell ensemble led by Sandra Eithun.
Earlier this year, the handbell ensemble I conduct had a wonderful experience participating in a joint handbell concert with another handbell ensemble. I sincerely wish that the following recount of the planning process will inspire and motivate other ensembles to follow suit.
About a year ago, one of the ringers in our community handbell ensemble was chatting with Kaethe Grabenhofer, the musical director of the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble, and during their discussion, the idea of holding a joint handbell concert was raised. When I learned of this, I immediately thought it was a great idea worth pursuing. Further discussions were held, and we finally decided that each ensemble would host one concert in their own locale—one in the Milwaukee area and one in the Oshkosh area. Why two concerts? Several benefits immediately came to mind: expanding our audience base, providing the community with a unique handbell concert experience, and, hopefully, whetting the appetite of our ringers for broader and larger events. For those unfamiliar with Wisconsin geography, Oshkosh and Milwaukee are about ninety miles apart—close enough to allow both ensembles to commute there and back in a single day.
In my six years as the director of Encore! Handbell Ensemble, we have been presenting concerts mainly in our immediate vicinity. Most of our concerts have been held in the Oshkosh and Appleton area with some concerts held a bit further out in the Fond du Lac and Green Bay area. Although several ringers actively participate in Area and National sponsored events, not all the ringers have experienced these broader and more enriching events. Participating in a joint concert was a terrific way to expand into new geographical and development areas.
Once both ensembles committed to the concerts, planning commenced. At the onset, we decided that for our ensemble, a single person would be the point of contact for all communications with the other ensemble. This arrangement worked very well for us as it minimized the risk of miscommunication and gaps in understanding.
One of the first decisions we had to make was setting the concert dates. Kaethe suggested we have a concert around Valentine’s Day in February and include selections appropriate for the occasion. Finalizing dates was no small feat, as finding one that worked for both ensembles where all the ringers were available was a challenge. We picked the best dates possible—one where all my ringers were available, and the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble would be one or two ringers short. The initial idea was that the positions would be filled with ringers from my ensemble. Ultimately, Kaethe was able to secure one alum ringer from her ensemble and use one ringer from my ensemble. The concert dates were set for one weekend, with one concert on Saturday evening in the Milwaukee area and the other on late Sunday afternoon in Oshkosh.
Early on, Kaethe and I discussed the repertoire for the concert. We both wanted to have solo selections for each ensemble as well as joint selections. After multiple discussions, we agreed that, with an hour-long concert in mind, we would have twelve selections—four joint and four solo selections per ensemble. Each of us would conduct two joint and four solo selections.
Repertoire selection for our ensemble was especially important. With the concert scheduled for early February, we did not feel we had time to learn eight new pieces after performing our holiday concerts in December. So, for our four solo selections, we decided to carry over two from our holiday concerts that were more “winter” themed (ones in which the lyrics do not specifically mention Christmas) and one “love” themed selection from our previous spring concert. For the joint pieces, I worked with Kaethe, and we chose another piece from our spring concert as well as two others we had played in the last five years. This worked well for us, and we were able to be well prepared for the concerts. One of the joint selections, United by Jason Krug, has two independent parts where each can be played separately, or both can be played together. Since the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble was one ringer short, I volunteered to fill in and play in the vacant position.
Since we decided to include joint selections, we needed to plan for at least one joint rehearsal. We decided to have one 90-minute rehearsal on Saturday afternoon on the day of the first concert. Prior to the joint rehearsal, per Kaethe’s suggestion, I went to one of their rehearsals and worked with their ensemble on the two joint selections I was to conduct, and Kaethe came to one of our rehearsals and did likewise. This was greatly beneficial as it allowed the ensembles to work with the different conductors in advance of the joint rehearsal.
Each ensemble was responsible for choosing the venue in their locale. The amount of space needed by each ensemble was carefully considered so that each would fit comfortably and where each ringer would have a good line of sight to the conductor. We visited the prospective venues to check if they would meet our requirements. Seating arrangements for the ensemble were also considered since each ensemble, at some point during the concert, would not be ringing.
We also had an opportunity to socialize with each other as Kaethe took the lead and planned for a dinner between the joint rehearsal and concert. It was an enjoyable time for all of us to relax and converse with each other.
Overall, both concerts went very well, as each ensemble was well-prepared for the event. Some of the takeaways I personally had from this experience are to be flexible, communicate often, plan in advance as much as possible, and be prepared. I look forward to our next joint concert experience in December
with the Holy Family Conservatory handbell ensemble led by Sandra Eithun.
Paul McKlveen has been involved in handbells in various roles over the last 49 years. He started as a handbell ringer, and over the last 40 years, he has been conducting and composing/arranging handbell music. He has conducted ensembles in churches of various denominations in North Carolina and Wisconsin and is currently serving as the Conductor of the Encore! Handbell Ensemble in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Before that, he helped organize the Rezound! Handbell Ensemble in the Kansas City area, which he conducted for a couple of years. He has over one hundred published handbell compositions and has won multiple composition contests. For Area 3, he served on the board in various roles, including Chair, and has also served on the Area 6 board. He also developed a handbell symbol font to be used with music notation software. He resides in De Pere, Wisconsin, with his wife and three dogs.
