Winter Weekend Workshop 2018

All are welcome, ringers and directors alike!

 

Join us for this exciting event, filled with informative classes, repertoire reading sessions, and many opportunities to socialize with other Area 1 handbell musicians!

Stevie Berryman

has served as the Conductor and Artistic Director of the Houston Chamber Ringers since August 2013. She is the Director of Handbells and Children’s Music at Kinsmen Lutheran Church in Houston and assists with the fourth grade chimes choirs at Frank Elementary School. Stevie began ringing handbells over 20 years ago as a founding member of the Soli Deo Gloria Youth Handbell Choir at St. Stephen’s UMC in Broken Arrow, OK. She’s been ringing ever since all over the country, and is a former member of the Houston Bronze Ensemble. She has a particular passion for teaching children how to ring, and her innovative methods have made her a sought after educator at handbell festivals and in private clinics.

 Stevie also plays violin, piano, and can bang out “The Hokey Pokey” on ukulele. She can fold clothes like a ninja, including fitted sheets (thanks, Mom). Her children are the most brilliant and beautiful creatures on the planet. She collects shot glasses from universities she has visited (about 50 so far). She quilts (occasionally) and knits (badly) and loves watching terrible action movies with her husband, Paul. Her hobbies include making puns, embarrassing her children, and buying scrapbooking supplies just to look at, apparently.

Stevie teaches every chance she gets. She has been an instructor at many events in Area 9 of the Handbell Musicians of America, including numerous Summit and FebFest appearances. She is also active as a private clinician, working with individual choirs in Texas cities including Houston, Bryan, Irving, Brenham, and Fulshear. In 2015 she taught three classes at Pinnacle, the National Handbell Festival in Dallas, TX. That same year the Houston Chamber Ringers were invited to give the opening concert for the event.

Special Opportunities

Certification Level 1 Music Theory class is being offered for an additional fee of $25 on Friday, Feb 2 from 1-4 PM.  Testing is included in the price of the class and will take place during the first session on Saturday morning.  Anyone who is interested in testing out of Level 1 Music Theory (for people who have already taken music theory and would like to receive certification credit) can take the test on Saturday morning by pre-registering and paying a $5 fee.  You may register for just the Certification Test, for the Certification Class, either the Certification Class or Test and the Winter Workshop, or  just the Workshop. Click here for more information about the Handbell Musicians Certification Program, and here for the Level 1 Music Theory Curriculum. 

Recycled Repertoire Table -- Clean out your file cabinets before you come and bring any handbell music that you are not going to use again.  We will have a free music swap table, and will sample some of these "Oldies but Goodies" during the Saturday afternoon repertoire reading session!  Leave the music you don't want any more and take home something new to try.  Any  music left on the table at the end of the workshop on Saturday will be put in paper recycling.

Group Wide Panel Discussion - Area 1 Chair Carlene Ruesenberg will lead a discussion involving ringers and directors about what they expect from the other side – what makes a good director for ringers and what makes a good ringer from a director’s standpoint.

Event Details

The event will start on Friday evening with a “Meet and Greet” with Stevie Berryman, featuring a cash bar and hors d’oeuvres followed by dinner, a sight-reading repertoire session with Jane Nolan leading some of her favorites, and a fun "ice breaker" led by Stevie!

Saturday will begin with breakfast, followed by three class session periods in which you will have your choice of attending one of three classes offered in each session. We will also be holding a Panel Discussion for all attendees on the responsibilities of a good ringer and/or conductor. After lunch together, there will be one more class session period, followed by a Master Class with Stevie.

 Classes and Activities will include:

Early-bird Registration until January 5

Registration Fees	Early Bird Rates	After January 5
Full Seminar (incl. 3 meals)	$185	$205
Saturday Only (incl. lunch)	$140	$160
Handbell Certification Level 1	$25	$25
Handbell Certification Level 1 Test Only	$5	$5

Housing will be available at the UMass Amherst Hotel for $125 (plus taxes) per room, per night (including parking for one car) using Discount Code HDS18C, when booked before January 5. For a reservation, call (877) 822-2110.

Financial Assistance

A new scholarship has been initiated by Area 1 with the goal of providing financial assistance to those in need, at the discretion of the Scholarship Committee, full or partial event registration fees for any Area 1 sponsored event. Those wishing assistance are encouraged to download and complete this application form and email the completed application to scholarship.area1@handbellmusicians.org. Directors who are members of the Handbell Musicians of America in Area 1 and have never attended an Area 1 or National event may apply for the Bradford Scholarship for Directors. Similarly, any Choirs who are attending an Area 1 or National Event for the first time may apply for the Bradford Scholarship for Choirs.

Register Now!