For the Soloist! (session 4 of 4)
Saturday, February 27, 2021 3:45 PM EST
Instructor: Linda Krantz
Solo ringers, now is your opportunity to work with Master Class soloist Linda Krantz and take your solo ringing to the next level! This four-class track starts off with the basics of traveling 4-in-hand. From there, participants will put that knowledge to work choreographing (blocking) their T4H in their solo pieces. Finally, we will work on other important solo skills such as musicianship, performance, and incorporating other instruments.
Solo Class 4: Performance Tips for the Solo Ringer – This class will focus on the preparation, challenges, failures and recovery of performance. We will focus on discovering who you are as an artist, how to nurture your musicianship, and how to expect the unexpected.
Recommended Equipment for all 4 sessions: A table with C6 to C7 is advised, (no accidentals needed), but not absolutely necessary.
Please note: Many of the questions in the chat will have been answered verbally and will appear in the recording.
00:13:32 dp: staying in focus
00:14:47 Nikki: The random moments of doubt (ranging from “what is my next note again?” to “which piece am I playing next?”)
00:15:10 Marie Clyatt-Larson: [email protected]
00:15:57 Carrie Coenen: prayer
00:16:09 Sara Sowa: I wander around off to the side in stead of sitting down. Keeps my nerves down.
00:16:49 Nikki: The last thing I think is reminding myself, “Your hands know what to do. Trust your training”
00:17:11 Sara Sowa: I like to see the music also.
00:17:57 Marie Clyatt-Larson: I have a stretching routine, and I I stretch I “play through” the pieces in my mind
00:18:01 Nikki: I also bring extra copies of music, and tools and a few extra springs just in case I need them
00:18:07 jeff avery,ND: I think the more you play in front of people, it cuts down on fear of making a mistake or losing one’s place
00:18:51 Nikki: I think it was “Shame! Shame!
00:22:10 Denise: Here at home I quite often practice the piano, organ or bells with the TV on that helps me practice with distractions.
00:22:21 Sara Sowa: I try to get people to watch when I can. I have a bag I take out to the retreat center the outdoor performances.
00:22:42 Nikki: I have a bag where I keep a polishing cloth, a hairbrush, and all of my tools and extra springs. Those things stay in that bag 24/7. Packing for a performance, I stick loose bells in that bag (and bell tree clips, if I need them and they’re not already there), and then it’s all ready to go
00:22:42 Marie Clyatt-Larson: interesting idea Denise
00:30:47 Nikki: I’m still new enough that I’m still figuring out who I am. So far the greatest piece of advice I’ve been given was to just experiment with things, and if something brings me joy, I can keep doing it, and if it doesn’t, I don’t have to continue doing it
00:32:40 Denise: My bell-ringing was with a bell choir in a church. Several years later I took up bell solos–for a while I was quite busy playing for local clubs, nursing homes or other events in addition to my church responsibilities. When I became organist,, I didn’t have as much time to do the bell programs. Now I am back to playing them in church. As for dress, in church I always wear something that I feel is appropriate for church.
00:33:48 Nikki: I always wear the same black dress to ring, because 1) I am not creative about that, 2) my bells look fabulous on a dark background, and 3) I know that dress and I know I can move freely and comfortably
00:34:18 dp: I like having a variety as well, but I do tend to lean towards a particular genre so I try to push myself to include say jazz or more syncopated selections because those are my weakness.
00:35:06 Nikki: I’m planning to use Via Dolorosa and Sabre Dance in the same concert in May or June, if you want a strange variety ????????
00:35:20 Marie Clyatt-Larson: Syncopation and hemiola are my favorite!!! I love compound rhythms !
00:35:39 Tammera Missel: I am just getting Via Dolorosa down!
00:36:37 Mary Reindorp: church congregation and all watching our worship videos
00:37:04 Sara Sowa: church members, family, and friends
00:37:19 Jan Harper: anyone who is engaged by music and moved by it is my audience
00:37:35 Denise: Currently, my audience is the congregation at my small church—they are the best audience anyone could ask for. What I love is when you can draw the music from the instrument you are playing.
00:37:56 Marie Clyatt-Larson: yes!
00:37:57 Denise: So true!
00:38:53 Tammera Missel: One of my previous directors always said “Hands to Work and Hearts to God”
00:39:02 dp: Amen, and Amen
00:39:21 Denise: When they applaud when I am done I always say To God be the Glory!
00:39:49 Ellie Hodder: Bravo, Linda. God is high interested in what you’re doing.
00:42:47 dp: I definitley think of the words. Did that for a recent Valentine concert with music from Nat King Cole to American Tale & Sound of Music.
00:44:25 Sara Sowa: Love the message.
00:45:56 Mary Reindorp: Yes, it’s all for God. After I’ve worked out all the details and rehearsed until I feel like a wrung sponge, I begin to enter the music. And it’s there I find the tenderness, the inflections—the divine— that make it true music that reaches hearts.
00:52:05 dp: spot on
00:52:06 Lise Meloy: Totally agree!
00:52:10 Ellie Hodder: Good stuff.
00:52:12 Jan Harper: Great Stuff!
00:52:27 Sara Sowa: Good stuff.
00:52:28 Marie Clyatt-Larson: When I was in high school our band played a piece by Gillingham called Heros Lost and Fallen. it is very technically difficult and we were very focused on the notes and the mechanics. Our director stopped us and read the program notes and an excerpt from Gillingham about why the piece was written. (Vietnam memorial) all of us were brought to tears. we then played it again and yes me missed notes but it was far more powerful.
00:53:02 Nikki: I like the point about rehearsing facial expressions— emotions are not always dependable under performance pressure. I do need to focus more on that in rehearsal
01:07:05 dp: thank you so much for sharing that reading. It reconfirms how I feel about what I wish to express.
01:07:07 Ellie Hodder: Amen, Linda.
01:07:10 Denise: That was wonderful–thank you so much!
01:07:27 Laura Blauch: Thank you for reading that.
01:07:50 Sara Sowa: Thanks Linda. Gave me goosebumbs also.
01:08:12 Mary Reindorp: <3
01:08:59 Ellie Hodder: The roundtable is very welcoming to beginners, too.
01:09:23 Laura Blauch: Thank you!
Jason Krug – Jason W. Krug is a native of Indianapolis, IN. He holds a degree in music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jason is a full-time freelance composer, arranger, clinician, and teacher. Since his first publication in 2006, he’s had over 400 compositions and arrangements accepted for handbells, piano, strings, organ, and choir. His works have been featured at numerous festivals and workshops in the United States and beyond. In his spare time, Jason enjoys writing. He has spent several years working on a young adult fantasy series, The Sadonian Chronicles, and recently released his first non-fiction book, The General Theory of Creativity. He frequently participates in the National Novel Writing Month event in November. Jason continues to live in Indianapolis with his wife, Ellen, and his sons, Daniel and Malcolm. You can find him on the web at jasonwkrug.com. 
Leslie Lewis – Leslie Lewis has been ringing handbells since 1979 when she was introduced to them at the Montreat Worship and Music Conference. Leslie has been ringing in the bass section for Distinctly Bronze East since the event began in 1999 and added Distinctly Bronze West in 2019; she also participated in the Distinctly Bronze European Tour in 2007. She has rung low bass in many area and national All Star Choirs, and at Virtuoso 2017 and 2019, sharing the stage with the Raleigh Ringers for the final concert. Leslie rings with Queen City Ringers based in Charlotte, NC, where she also serves as treasurer, and is treasurer for Area 3 of the Handbell Musicians of America. She enjoys substituting for choirs in the Gastonia and Charlotte areas and dabbles in solo ringing. Having added the lower 6th and 7th octave chimes to her growing set of handbell “toys” she hopes to offer her services to add the lower chimes for groups that don’t have them available once ringing returns to “normal” in the area. After graduating from North Carolina State University with a degree in computer science, Leslie worked for IBM and First Union National Bank for a combined 15 years before turning a part-time role preparing income taxes into a career. Leslie is president of Unified Income Taxes and Accounting, Inc., in Gastonia, NC, where she prepares all types of tax returns and, as an enrolled agent, represents clients during IRS tax audits and appeals. Leslie served as director of commission accounting for a Charlotte-based brokerage firm with branches in seventeen states from 2009 to 2015, when she left to pursue the role of chief accounting officer for a commercial aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul station located in Medley, FL. Other than bells, Leslie enjoys playing golf and walking on the beach as a precursor to life after retirement.
Bruna Marinho – Bruna Marinho is an energetic handbell ringer, pianist, and music teacher based in SãoPaulo, Brazil. She is the founder of Handbells Brasil, an organization that promotes the art of handbells in Brazil through performance and education. Bruna graduated in 2014 with a degree in music education from Catholic University of Santos. Bruna first encountered handbells in 2016 as a part of a music exchange led by Dr. Moorman-Stahlman from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA. Inspired by this experience, she organized a free handbell workshop in Brazil that was attended by about 40 students. Since 2017, Handbells Brasil has played in community venues and churches and has developed music education programs in elementary schools. In 2018, Handbells Brasil received a donation of three octaves of Whitechapel handbells from a church in Pennsylvania and the organization has purchased two octaves of Malmark handchimes. Bruna is the Malmark representative for Brazil. To promote the art of handbells in Brazil, Bruna spent about six months as a music ministry intern at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, in Iowa City, IA, and attended the HMA National Seminar in Grand Rapids, MI. She recently created a series of comedy handbell videos on YouTube as a way to engage people and spread the joy of handbells. 
Stevie Berryman – Stevie Berryman is astonishingly good at the game Boggle. She can fold a fitted sheet so it looks like it came right out of the package. Likewise, her skills as music director and teacher have also been acquired through long hours of arduous and dedicated practice. For much of her career Stevie has directed seven or more ensembles each week, meaning she has 98 years of experience (in dog years). Her effusive energy and wild creativity found a perfect setting in 2013 when she became the Artistic Director of the Houston Chamber Ringers, which has let her smash together her love for music, laughter, and tacos in a truly remarkable way. She has a particular passion for teaching children how to ring, and her innovative methods have made her a sought-after educator at area and national handbell festivals. Stevie loves helping other choirs as a private clinician, or planning epic concerts for them as a creative consultant. Her next step in global domination is to take over the card game world with the company she owns and founded with her husband, Paul, Truly Horrible Things. In real life she is the handbell director at First Congregational Church in Houston, TX.
Lisa Arnold – Lisa Arnold started ringing in 1976 with the Wesley Bell Ringers of Salt Lake City, UT, and toured for four summers, performing in 49 states and nine Canadian provinces. The first community handbell ensemble Lisa rang with was Bay Bells in San Jose, CA, and has been a member of the Merrimack Valley Ringers since 2010 when she moved back to New England. Lisa has regularly taught workshops at Area 1 Spring Rings and festivals in topics such as exercises for ringers, bass bell technique, weaving, solo ringing, and handbell notation. Lisa and her husband, Chuck, use handbells as an excuse to travel and ring all over the world. She spends her free time learning Italian and riding bicycles. Lisa serves as Past-Chair of Area 1 of Handbell Musicians of America.
Mark Arnold – Mark Arnold has been an active church musician for most of his life, currently serving as Director of Handbell Ministries at the First Baptist Church of Keller, TX. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas, with bachelor’s degrees in music education and music theory and advanced study in computer science. Mark’s professional experience includes many years of directing handbells, teaching school orchestras, leading adult and children’s choirs, playing horn in community ensembles, and an occasional gig playing bass in jazz or rock groups. In addition to leading workshops and clinics, he has published arrangements for both brass and handbell ensembles. In his “spare” time, he manages software development projects for a major North American transportation provider. Mark and his wife, Robin, have three grown children and reside in Fort Worth, TX.
Ed Rollins – Ed Rollins is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Columbia Handbell Ensemble, a position he has held since 2006. The ensemble has performed on four occasions for HMA national events and numerous regional and area events. For the last 20 months, Ed served as Interim Executive Director of HMA. He has been active in this organization for many years, serving as Missouri State treasurer, Missouri State chair, Area 8 chair on two occasions, area representative to the national board, and President of the board of directors. For 31 years, Ed was associate pastor for music and administration at First Baptist Church of Columbia. During his tenure at the church, he promoted many ecumenical concerts (including the 9/11 Memorial Concert and the 10th Anniversary Memorial Concert), created an extensive program of liturgical art, and co-founded the highly successful Odyssey Chamber Music Series. Ed is married to Jess Wolfe, a teacher with Columbia Public Schools. He has four terrific step-kids, and in March he and Jess welcomed Iris Mae Wolfe Rollins into the family.
Karen Van Wert – With an insatiable thirst for knowledge and a passion to share what she has learned, Karen Van Wert is at home in a classroom or at the podium. She will tell you, “There is nothing more rewarding than witnessing a ringer grasping a concept and executing it in their music. Building skills and instilling confidence in a ringer is the goal of every rehearsal, for then we can make music.” Karen and her bellboy, James, make their home in Savage, MN.
Barb Walsh – Barb Walsh has been the Northern Nevada/Eastern Sierra Regional Coordinator for Area 12 of Handbell Musicians of America since 1993, and was a public school music teacher in the Reno/Sparks, NV, area for 33 years. She received Educator of the Year Award from the Nevada Music Educators Association in 2014. She has developed handbell programs ranging from elementary school children to the adult community group, Tintabulations, known for their high energy, innovation, and musicianship. When not teaching, directing, or ringing, Barb plays flute and piccolo in local orchestras and shares backcountry adventures with her husband, dog, and horses. 
Linda Krantz – Linda Krantz is an accomplished and widely recognized solo handbell artist, has an active performing career, and regularly teaches at the local, regional, and national level. Linda’s greatest love is to perform solo concerts, where she most enjoys playing classical music. She has performed as far away as Paris, and most recently with David Lockington, cellist and maestro of the Pasadena Symphony. Linda was a student of Nancy Hascall, learning all she could about traveling four-in-hand (4iH) and the nuances of artistic solo ringing. Linda is a founding member and president of L.A. Bronze, a past president and current advisory board member of the Pasadena Symphony, and a founding artist and past board member of Timbré. She has served as secretary of the Area 12 board of Handbell Musicians of America, and currently serves on the National Development Committee for Handbell Musicians of America.