by P.L. Grove
You’ve no doubt seen that phrase on several materials promoting our National Seminar this summer in St. Louis, Missouri.For those of you (likely young folks) who don’t know, it’s a reference to the 1944 musical of the same name, which made the song itself famous (“Meet me in St. Louie, Louie…”), along with a host of other songs (“The Trolley Song,” “The Boy Next Door,” and that song that everyone knows, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”).
P.L. Grove
National Board President
Like the song and the musical, there are lots of reasons to meet me in St. Louis this summer.
But again, I found myself recently in a social media discussion about why. Why, when people don’t have enough resources to go around, should they spend them on National Seminar? Is there really enough bang for the buck? So I decided to do a little sleuthing to see how we stack up.
In comparing our National Seminar to, say, the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) national event (because that’s another event I would like to attend), the registration fee is nearly the same: $389 for ACDA and $395 (early bird) for HMA. While the ACDA conference offers considerably more performances (54 choirs!), I’m not sure how the participants are going to have time to see all those choirs in just four days. I would also argue that there are more vocal choirs than handbell choirs, so their performance submissions are likely higher than ours (and they don’t need as much equipment for a vocal performance!). The ACDA conference offers approximately 50 sessions, plus another 28 “poster” sessions (a 5-minute presentation in the Exhibit Hall). A quick glance at our National Seminar website shows a list of 71 class sessions, seven tracks (which includes another 33 sessions), plus the Certification classes (another 17 sessions). Many of these sessions are “all ring” type of classes, so ringers can participate, too. That’s a lot of “bang for the buck,” in my opinion, at a four-day educational event. And this year, there is a special roundtable session where seminar participants can meet the National Board. If you have questions or ideas, now is your chance to present them to the board in person.
I can’t tell you how many times I have seen a handbell director on Facebook post a question “Do you know where I can find resources for….?” Or a ringer ask “How do I….” Stop wondering and just go to the one-stop-shopping event where you can ask all those questions, find all those resources, browse through music, and be inspired by stellar performances. It’s absolutely amazing that in our handbell community the composers of the music you play just might be in class with you at National Seminar—take advantage of that!
The other thing I’ve always felt about this event is that you really can’t put a value on the interactions that occur at National Seminar. In 1983 at U.C. Berkeley, Kathie Fink and I first encountered Jim Meredith, who later became the director for the community group we wanted to create—Sonos Handbell Ensemble. I have no idea how many groups or organizations like Sonos have begun because individuals connected at a national event. But one major perk about attending National Seminar is the connections you make that enable you to increase your potential and further your dreams.
So, your name might not be Louie (and that’s not even be the right way to pronounce St. Louis), but there are still plenty of reasons to meet me in St. Louis this summer. I hope to see you there.
P.L. Grove
[email protected]
Like the song and the musical, there are lots of reasons to meet me in St. Louis this summer.
But again, I found myself recently in a social media discussion about why. Why, when people don’t have enough resources to go around, should they spend them on National Seminar? Is there really enough bang for the buck? So I decided to do a little sleuthing to see how we stack up.
In comparing our National Seminar to, say, the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) national event (because that’s another event I would like to attend), the registration fee is nearly the same: $389 for ACDA and $395 (early bird) for HMA. While the ACDA conference offers considerably more performances (54 choirs!), I’m not sure how the participants are going to have time to see all those choirs in just four days. I would also argue that there are more vocal choirs than handbell choirs, so their performance submissions are likely higher than ours (and they don’t need as much equipment for a vocal performance!). The ACDA conference offers approximately 50 sessions, plus another 28 “poster” sessions (a 5-minute presentation in the Exhibit Hall). A quick glance at our National Seminar website shows a list of 71 class sessions, seven tracks (which includes another 33 sessions), plus the Certification classes (another 17 sessions). Many of these sessions are “all ring” type of classes, so ringers can participate, too. That’s a lot of “bang for the buck,” in my opinion, at a four-day educational event. And this year, there is a special roundtable session where seminar participants can meet the National Board. If you have questions or ideas, now is your chance to present them to the board in person.
I can’t tell you how many times I have seen a handbell director on Facebook post a question “Do you know where I can find resources for….?” Or a ringer ask “How do I….” Stop wondering and just go to the one-stop-shopping event where you can ask all those questions, find all those resources, browse through music, and be inspired by stellar performances. It’s absolutely amazing that in our handbell community the composers of the music you play just might be in class with you at National Seminar—take advantage of that!
The other thing I’ve always felt about this event is that you really can’t put a value on the interactions that occur at National Seminar. In 1983 at U.C. Berkeley, Kathie Fink and I first encountered Jim Meredith, who later became the director for the community group we wanted to create—Sonos Handbell Ensemble. I have no idea how many groups or organizations like Sonos have begun because individuals connected at a national event. But one major perk about attending National Seminar is the connections you make that enable you to increase your potential and further your dreams.
So, your name might not be Louie (and that’s not even be the right way to pronounce St. Louis), but there are still plenty of reasons to meet me in St. Louis this summer. I hope to see you there.
P.L. Grove
[email protected]
P.L. Grove
National Board President
