The collaboration between Forté and Church in the Wildwood began in early 2022, when Church in the Wildwood reached out to Forté to ask about developing and presenting a handbell workshop and concert. Once both the church and the quartet were on board and getting excited about the opportunity to share the art of handbells with the Ute Pass region, Church in the Wildwood worked with the Kirkpatrick Family Fund to secure sponsorship, to keep the costs as low as possible for participants. Forté and Church in the Wildwood worked together for about six months to plan the workshop, culminating in a fun weekend in October where the event was successfully launched.

 

In the first year of the event, Forté presented classes on technique review, the different regions of the handbell table (bass, battery, and treble), musicianship and practice techniques, weaving, handbell warm-ups, ensemble ringing or handbell trees, and visual presentation. It was actually the first Forté event after Tory had returned to Colorado from a two-year hiatus, so for the Forté concert on Sunday afternoon, Luke, Megan, and Dillon presented a concert of the music they had been performing as a trio in Tory’s absence, and Tory got to be an audience member along with the workshop participants and members of the Green Mountain Falls (and surrounding areas) community.

 

We received a lot of helpful feedback from participants about how the event had succeeded and how it could be better, but it was a great first year of the workshop!

 

As 2023 began, both Church in the Wildwood and Forté began to think about what another weekend workshop could look like, believing that the event could become an annual development opportunity for handbell ringers in the region. The main topic of discussion was making every class more relevant to each ringer, and after thorough discussion, we decided to transition to a track-based schedule where ringers would pre-select their level – beginner, intermediate, or advanced – and their classes would be tailored to fit their needs. With a newly revised plan and workshop schedule, Church in the Wildwood again worked with the Kirkpatrick Family Fund to line up sponsorship and make the workshop possible.

 

With the Kirkpatrick Family Fund on board for another year, Forté got to work redesigning the course materials. We knew we wanted to keep some time when all of the participating ringers were together in the same room, so we started the day all together for an updated version of the handbell warm-ups class from the previous year. Then we split up into tracks.

 

Track A was established for beginners with the goal of laying a foundation for successful ringing and spanned the range from basic ringing and damping to bell switches, passes, and basic weaving, before delving into other techniques most commonly seen in music published for beginner handbell choirs and reading some music at that level to apply what they had learned.

 

Track B was focused on strengthening the skillset needed for successful ringing, with more specialized classes, assuming knowledge of both music and how bells work. After the warm-up session, they focused on a review of ringing and stance, then dove into weaving, mallets and other techniques, and visual presentation.

 

Track C was designed for more experienced ringers, delving deeper and potentially expanding the range of bells that the ringers were exposed to. Their classes progressed from a higher-level review of stance and techniques to make sure all were on the same page, before taking a closer look at bass ringing and malleting, battery ringing and weaving, and treble ringing and four-in-hand, before joining with Track B for visual presentation. At the end of the day, all three tracks came together to read some music and apply what they had learned in a massed-ringing setting.

 

This track-based system was quite successful and the feedback was all very positive from participants. The concert on Sunday afternoon allowed participants a chance to see some of the things they had learned in action, in an energetic concert setting. This time, it was a quartet concert, so all of the music was new to both the participating ringers and the audience of community members.

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When we met in early 2024, both Forté and Church in the Wildwood were interested in presenting the workshop and concert for a third year. We decided that the track format was the way to go, but took in feedback from the 2023 evaluations and are making adjustments to the classes as a result of what we heard, to make them even better. We are excited to partner again with the Kirkpatrick Family Fund to share this year’s event with participating handbell ringers and the Green Mountain Falls (and surrounding areas) community!