Tomorrow I spend most of the day meeting with the International Handbell Committee (IHC). This group is made up of the six countries that share in the hosting rotation of the International Handbell Symposium - Australasia (Australia, New Zealand), Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Korea, and the U.S. The committee meets every two years at the Symposium. This makes that one meeting very intense as we try to work through two years worth of business in 8 hours. AGEHR president, John Pfeiffer, will join me in representing AGEHR at this meeting.
The Mission Statement of the IHC is the promotion of the art of handbell ringing throughout the world.
The Vision of the IHC:
We, the International Handbell Committee, share a passion for the love of music expressed through handbells. As the International Committee dedicated to this art, we articulate our vision for the future to promote:
1. communication between nations,
2. handbells as a musical art,
3. world peace through the spirit of music.
At this meeting, we will discuss ways all the member guilds can work to achieve this mission and vision. In addition, this year we will be reviewing possible additions to the committee from some newly formed guilds around the world. Since I'm uncertain what I am at liberty to share with you about this - I will withhold additional information until after the meeting (where I will get some guidance from those more knowledgeable than I on the issue).
This will be my second IHC meeting. The first was in Orlando in 2008 when AGEHR hosted the last Symposium. It is an interesting experience as we are communicating across three languages and often using a variety of meeting etiquette's - based on practices each representative is accustomed to from their own country.
I haven't seen anyone I know yet other than David and Jane Weck, who joined me for dinner this evening after their arrival this afternoon. That will change tomorrow! I'll post more pictures and details then.
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