Feature
Remembering Cynthia Dobrinski
Her life and career as a virtuosic organist led her to become a prolific composer of handbell music
Anyone who has regularly played handbells for almost any length of time certainly knows the name Cynthia Dobrinski and has almost definitely performed a good deal of her work. With more than 175 of her handbell works in print, she has served the church community, taught at the collegiate level, and, throughout her lifetime, has [...]
Chiming In
My Dobrinski Introduction to Handbells
While writing the feature article in this issue remembering the life and music of Cynthia Dobrinski (page 34), I fondly remembered my first ever experience discovering and playing handbells.
Executive Notes
Focus on the Overwhelming Positive
For the past few years, we have all had to experience various levels of transition and compromise. Gatherings ceased, jobs were changed, communications moved online, and the communal creation of music stopped. For many of us, the missing musical component may have been the hardest challenge of all.
Membership Matters
This time of year, when the geese are migrating, always reminds me of the extraordinary example they set for a handbell choir.
What's Happening
The Handbell Industry Makes a Splash at the TMEA convention
Leaders in the handbell industry gathered together last February to bring educators and students a glimpse of how handbells can be used in the music classroom.
What's Happening
Now Accepting Nominations for National Board
Who should serve on the next national board of directors of the Handbell Musicians of America? Whoever it is, YOU will play a vital and essential role.
Community Connections
Creating a Joint Concert
Interview with Matthew Compton and Alex Guebert about the creation of their combined concert at National Seminar in Phoenix, Arizona
Lauran Delancy asked Matthew Compton and Alex Guebert to describe how they went about creating the joint concert they presented at the 2021 National Seminar. It is my hope that insight into their inspiration, collaboration, and the logistics of how they brought their ensembles together will encourage other collaborative efforts within our artform.
Handbells in Worship
What Are Your Summer Plans?
Ways to Stay Involved Over Summer Break
I like the rhythm of church programs years: a beginning and an end, with a fairly predictable middle, then we have a few months off. Now what? Let’s talk a bit about our “off-season.”
Solo, Ensemble, Bell Tree Enthusiasts
Learning from the Best
A Special Invitation Helps a Soloist Into Ensemble Ringing
I was recently given an opportunity to play with an advanced ensemble, but I had no experience doing so. I have wanted to try ringing with a small ensemble for a long time, but I had never had the chance.
Handbells in Education
Nuts and Bolts
Helpful odds and ends to have at students’ tables
I love the unique culture of individual handbell groups. When directing festivals, I often walk the ringing rows, talking with ringers and noting interesting odds and ends they have on their tables, many hand-crafted to fill a particular need. I call these home-made inventions, small adaptations, and useful tools “Nuts & Bolts.”
Handbell Musicians Roundtable
This month let’s put a positive spin on the changes so many of us have made to our programs after what, for many of us, was nearly two years of pandemic ringing or even non-ringing. The pandemic has made it challenging for some programs to recover.
Tips & Tools
Making Table Leg Extenders with PVC Pipe
When we had our first ever handbell concert, we were in the Chapel of my church. The stage was 16.5 feet wide—and we needed 18 feet of tables. What’s a director to do? I will now share the secret solution that has bailed me out of probably 1000 fixes in my life. PVC and gaff [...]
