2020 College Ring-In Scholarships
College Ring-In 2020 was held right here in Houston, Texas. We had several applications and this year we awarded 6 scholarships. Stevie Berryman conducted the ensemble. Because it was right here in our own city, this was the first time the members of Houston Bronze were able to meet the scholarship recipients. We had so much fun attending rehearsals and being there for the concert.
From: AviLashan Going into the College Ring-In, I was a little nervous. I hadn't done anything quite like it before and I felt slightly overwhelmed by how much music we were attempting to accomplish in just 3 days. This feeling was very quickly lifted as soon as our first rehearsal started. Our conductor, Mrs. Stevie Berryman, really was able to set the tone of the event with our first exercise: an activity where we tried to simultaneously bounce tennis balls as a group. With this activity, we learned to work with the motion of the conductor to keep our ringing uniform. Stevie showed us many tips and tricks throughout the event to make us better ringers and also made standing around for ~7 hours straight more bearable with her wonderful and engaging personality. I loved every moment of the College Ring-In and I hope to be able to attend another one in the future.
From: Nikki At College Ring-In, I had fun, met new people, and learned new things that are already helping me in my various handbell adventures. One of our pieces was called “Dodge Your Debts.” Sondra Tucker arranged it for us to accompany a silent film. So far, this is probably the most difficult piece I have ever played. I don’t know what level it would be, but I had a lot more trouble than I did with the level 4 piece we did. It was mostly in cut time, and the half note was at 144. We had a lot of quarter and eighth notes at that tempo, so it was extremely fast. It also had changes in tempo and time signature, and a lot of syncopation. All this to say, it was a very difficult piece to play on handbells. Several parts were doubled, including mine. For that piece, we had the option to do sound effects instead of ringing, as long as our part was covered. I seriously thought about doing that, but instead I chose to hang in there. I couldn’t play most of it at all and I was pretty much useless for the first two days, but I studied it during breaks and after rehearsals, and I could finally play it by the last day. I never did it perfectly, but I made it through the piece without getting horribly lost and confused. The concert happened to be the best I had ever played it, which was extremely satisfying after I had been so frustrated with it. I’m so glad that I stuck with it, and I think I learned something important from this experience about never giving up. I learned some new techniques, and new ways of thinking of techniques I already knew. I learned about petite damping to add clarity to quick repeated chime notes, and new ways of thinking about marts and singing bells (I even learned how to do singing bells with the high treble bells, and one time I managed to pull it off with a D7). I also feel like I gained a lot of experience (and, along with that, a little more confidence). I have only been ringing for a little over two years, and only in churches. I had never performed music at that kind of advanced level, and I had never done a full concert. As I’m continuing to grow and learn, I am very glad to have this experience with advanced music like that. I am also a solo ringer, and I am currently starting to plan for my first solo concert, so it was really helpful to have the experience of going through a full concert with handbells. Now I have a better idea of what that is like, and I feel a little more prepared to face whatever lies ahead of me in the future. Of course, it was also fun to meet new people, go out for dinner with everyone, and play games and laugh and have fun. What I learned has already made a difference since I’ve been home. My very first attempt at solo ringing on chimes occurred within a few days, and that went surprisingly well. The transition from bells to chimes was even easier because of what I learned at College Ring-In. For example, I had a repeated note, and I couldn’t really tell one from the next (it was just fast enough to sound blurred together). But since I had just learned about petite damping, I knew to do that to add clarity, and that worked really well.
From: LaurieThe coolest things I learned were new techniques that Jr. High and highschool just don't teach. Some of these include: vibrato on chimes (with a light tapping finger), and bells (by shaking it side to side), petite damping a chime, table damping "martellato" sideways (so the audience can hear the tone of the bell rather than a clunk), thumb damping just enought to soften the sound of the bell but not to kill the sound into a clunk, using a dowel to make a bell sing (like a wet finger on a glass), that ring touches arent a race, how important the "up" is to being together on the ring, how to ring in a huge group, thinking of dynamics in terms of firetrucks, leaning into louder dynamics with our bodies, and leaning out of softer dynamics, how important breathing is when playing a fast piece, and most importantly how to give the audience a great show, rather than trying to just play every note without caring how it sounds. I most enjoyed the groups enthusiasm in playing every single piece, even the challenging and tedious "Dodge Your Debts". I also greatly enjoyed the enthusiasm of Stevie, our director. She made everything exciting, from using the wheel of musical mayhem, to the point that there was technique in the way we moved our bodies, not just our bells. I will carry with me each of the aforementioned techniques and an expanded passion for handbells, with an increased desire to share these unique instruments by gracing my friends' ears. I also feel as if I'm looking at my normal church music through new and more wise eyes, seeing new things that I can do and share with my Jubilate Deo group at Trinity Klein.I am thankful for Houston Bronze for the $100 scholarship for this event, Mr. and Mrs. Harris for helping me pay for the hotel room, Ms. Lorna for covering our music costs, Stevie Berryman for directing us, teaching us new skills, and being an outstanding director, Gillian for organizing so much of the event and literally being everywhere that I needed her, and Tom, since we were doubled on the same bells, for keeping me on track (especially at the beginning whispering measure numbers to me when I repeatedly lost my place), and making me a better handbell ringer overall with little tips and tricks.Thank you for giving me this amazing opportunity!.
From: Sophie In my own words, it is hard to describe the experience that I went through with College Ring-In, but I guess I can try. For me, this is the only time I have gotten to ring bells since my graduation. College, work, and teaching keep me pretty busy and it is hard to find a group whose practice schedule fits into my schedule. Over the years, music has become a fundamental element of who I am today. I play the flute and piano, but ringing has always held a special place in my heart. It is the only instrument that I can play that allows me to freely express what I feel when I play a certain piece. I can use special techniques to describe a certain aspect of the music rather than changing the dynamics. College Ring-In has taught me how to embrace every aspect of any instrument. As a music minor, something that is always told to me by my professor is that there is more to a piece of music than rhythm and notes. By ringing with people I hardly know, I have learned that it is okay to make a mistake and by making that mistake you are already on your way to becoming a better musician. Over the weekend I got to interact with people, I usually would not interact with which in turn left me with a smile on my face. I may not ring as much as I use to, but I still enjoy playing and one cool thing I learned with music over the years is that expressing yourself can be passed from one instrument to the other. College Ring-In, for me, has confirmed this teaching even further and for that I am grateful.
From: Gregory One of the biggest takeaways for me was the use of the sideways table martellato, so that the sound travels toward the audience, instead of sounding hollow. Another technique I learned and will be instituting was the use of physically leaning in and out of changing dynamics (crescendo/diminuendo); not only does it give ringers the desired stylistic effect, but it also looks cool to the audience. I had already shared this on the Facebook page, but as a musical director, I loved (and will institute) Stevie Berryman's use of the *appropriate* schtick to enhance the audience experience, such as the use of the gymnastic ribbons in our closer, "The Greatest Show. And speaking of the music, I very much enjoyed the diversity in the selection of the music that fit the movie theme.What I most enjoyed was networking with other young ringers. Nothing against the talented ringers I have rung with previously in my church and community settings, because the collective community of handbell ringers are some of the most amazing people I've met, but it was a fantastic experience meeting (and becoming friends with) other ringers around my age from around the country who are on fire for handbells. This was my first Handbell Musicians of America experience. However, I can say with most certainty that this will not be my last HMA event. After my nerves got the better of me and declining sending an application for the better part of a decade, I'm going to finally move forward with applying for Distinctly Bronze, and I hope to attend a National Convention within the next couple of years. Attending College Ring-In has also prompted me to apply for Handbell Musician Certification.Again, thank you, Houston Bronze, for your generosity by providing me the opportunity to ring handbells again after a brief absence! With the positive experiences I had for those three days, you have made me fall in love with handbells all over again!