Pinnacle

My wife and I just returned from four days of handbell insanity, called "Pinnacle."  It was the first national handbell event I've ever been to, and while I thought I knew what to expect, I was just oh so wrong. 

The first thing to note is that handbell ringers, on the whole, are very nice and friendly people.  We realize we're all quite quirky and just a little off-kilter, and we only truly feel comfortable being that way at such a large event because we know everyone gathered around us is just the same way.  In truth, the whole event felt more like a large family reunion with some music thrown in than it did a convention, which, I suppose, was what it really was.

There were twelve different 75-minute class sessions spread over the four days, of which I only attended ten.  The downside to Pinnacle was that they kept you running ragged for four straight days, so skipping a class here and there seemed to be the only way to get some rest.  The topics I heard about ranged from how to run a rehearsal to how to solo ring to how to do change ringing (a class taught by the completely delightful Kathryn Hughes, owner with her husband of the Whitechapel bell foundry in England).  The information I learned there was well worth the time and effort of attending.

What got me, though, was all the music.  I mean, sure, I knew this was a handbell festival, but I think I must have listened to somewhere on the order of 12-15 hours worth of concerts over the four days of the festival, and that doesn't count the other music we heard by ringing through pieces in classes or learning new techniques.  As I remarked to one fellow attendee, it's not enough to like handbells to come to the Pinnacle event -- you have got to love them.

Perhaps best of all for me was finally getting to meet the people who have published my music, and getting to meet other composers whose music we've played time and time again.  Talking to Tammy Waldrop, Alan Lohr, John Behnke, Kevin McChesney, Doug Wagner, and Bill Griffin was just above and beyond anything I've ever experienced.  (It was particularly nice to finally meet Bill, who's been publishing my music and being so complimentary of it for four years now, but whom I just met for the first time on Monday.)  What's even better, for most of those people, I now feel less like they're these impersonal editors sitting in seclusion somewhere, and more like they're friends I just don't see very often.  And, let's face it, it's gratifying when you're walking down a hall and Kevin McChesney or Tammy Waldrop says, "Hi, Jason," like they've known you all their lives.

I'm sure I'll post more in the days ahead about Pinnacle, as well as the aftermath (nothing jazzes you up to write handbell music quite like attending a handbell festival).  Now I'm looking forward to the national seminar in Minnesota next July!