Day 2 of the International Handbell Symposium was full of solo concerts and classes. We started at 8:30 AM with the first solo concert featuring choirs, teams, and ensembles from Japan and Korea. The highlight was the two choirs from the Shoei Girls Senior High School. Both rang without a director. Their junior choir played Hart Morris' Bugler's Holiday and the senior choir played a setting of the Bacchanale from Sampson and Deliliah. It was fun watching how these girls worked together, listened and watch each other to keep the ensemble together through tempo changes, style changes, and multiple bell changes and sharing. A video will be posted to the AGEHR Facebook page later. This concert also featured a performance by the Little Angels from a special needs school in Korea. A wonderfully inspiring performance by this group making their debut in front of an international audience.
Following the solo concerts, participants had the opportunity to attend their first class sessions. The HRJ has divided the 800+ registrants into two groups - Fuji & Sakura. While one group attends class, the other either has free-time or their provided lunch - and then reversed. There were two class sessions that followed this pattern. Topics include a mix of technical and cultural themes such as "Bonseki - Traditional Tray Art", "Traditional English Canalware Painting", "Make and Play Your Own Bell Tree" (taught by our own Barbara Brocker), "Jaigi-Chagi - Fun From Korea", "Team Building on Handbells" (taught by Marlene Anderson and some of her youth) "New Music From Japan". The 2nd Session included - "U.S. Publisher Reading Sessions" (lead by David Weck), "Music Therapy", "Kiwi, Koalas, and Kangaroos", "Stopped Sounds for the Battery" (taught by me).
Teaching a class at Symposium is an interesting endeavor. I taught my session twice - once with 34 students, the second with 38. Most did not speak English, but I had a wonderful young man serving as my translator. I would introduce a technique, demonstrate it to the group and then have them try it with a variety of short exercises. Then, I would walk around the room to assist individuals as they tried it. My translator followed closely behind me to help me in communicating where needed. After each class, several came forward asking me if they could take a picture with me. It was very sweet. The whole experience was a lot of fun.
After classes, another solo concert. This concert featured more from Japan and Korea as well as soloist Susan Hitch from California, and the Campanas Universitarias ringers from Puerto Rico. The concert began with the adorable students from the Shiatsu Hananoki Kindergarten Handbell Choir. A video of their performance will be available on the AGEHR Facebook page later. This group was so fun to watch. They did a great job and were smiling the whole time. Some of the kids were only slightly bigger then the bells they rung. So cute!
The two performances representing AGEHR did a very fine job. Susan's solo of What a Wonderful World was graceful and musical and Campanas Universitarias had everyone clapping and dancing in their seats with exciting Latin rhytms and energy.
Following the solo concert, David Weck and I had the honor of participating in a special memorial service for David Davidson. David was a long time friend to the Handbell Ringers of Japan and their executive director, Sun-Joo Shin. Mrs. Shin contact me shortly after David's death last September to tell she wanted to include this service for David in the Symposium agenda. It was David and Mrs. Shin that first conceived of the idea of an International Handbell Symposium and worked to make it a reality. It was a lovely service, coordinated by Nozumo Abe of the HRJ and Eileen Laurence of AGEHR. For many in the international community, this was their first opportunity to pay their respects to David and his many contributions to handbells around the world.
The evening concluded with our second Massed Ringing Rehearsal.
Another full and exhausting day!
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