CANADIAN HANDBELL MUSICIAN SHOWCASE

Debbie Rice - Conductor, Advocate, Past-President Handbell Musicians of America, Past-Chair International Handbell Committee, IHC Handbell Laureate Award Recipient

Debbie Rice has been involved in handbells around the world. As a conductor and adjudicator, Debbie has worked with ringers of all ages. Most recently, Debbie represented Canada in Hamamatsu, Japan and conducted Betty Radford’s “Beyond the Horizon”. There she was also presented with the IHC Handbell Laureate Award at the Final Banquet.

In this June 2024 interview, Sharon Vogrinetz has a conversation with Debbie about her transition from opera to handbells, her prior appointments in HMA and IHC leadership, what brought her to Canada, and the essential element that ringers should embrace early in their rehearsals.

Morna-June Morrow - Conductor, Technician, Clinician, Educator, Historian, Handbell Musicians of Canada Honourary Lifetime Achievement Recipient

In the following interview by Patsy Andrews-Vert (filmed by Jewel Casselman) Morna-June gives us some insight as to how and why her life is filled with bells and music.

Annie Hergott – Conductor

Annie Hergott, Calgary AB, has been involved in the Canadian handbell scene for many years. In addition to extensive involvement with provincial and national handbell organizations, she is also the founder of Bow River Handbell Musicians Society, a community-based handbell organization in Calgary.

In this interview, conducted by HMC and BRHMS Board member Jim Winslett, she discusses how she got started in handbells, the opportunities and challenges with heading a community-based society, conducting a handbell ensemble, and getting things up and running again in a post-covid environment.

Lisa Kyriakides – Conductor

Conductor Lisa Kyriakides, from Newmarket, Ontario, has been chosen as the Canadian Conductor for the International Handbell Symposium, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Recently, Lisa was interviewed on Zoom by composer Betty Radford. She talks about her musical experiences, how she got into the world of handbells, her approach to conducting at the IHS, and what she wants the ringers to know about Mosaic.

Betty Radford - Composer

Composer Betty Radford, from Edmonton, AB, has written many pieces for handbells. Her Mosaic was selected by the Handbell Musicians of Canada to be the Canadian representative composition at the International Handbell Symposium in Hong Kong and subsequently in Nashville, Tennessee (USA) in 2022.

Betty was kind enough to sit down with John Hooper in the backyard of videographer Emmy Okazawa-Bortolin to talk about her musical journey, her inspirations, and her music. Her hope is that Mosaic will “represent the broad spectrum of Canada” and that ringers and listeners will “enjoy it and learn a little more about Canada”.

A review score and recording of Mosaic can be found at From The Top Music. In addition, other music of hers has been awarded recognition are included in HMC’s Canadian Handbell Compositions Spreadsheet You can learn more about Betty by visiting her website. More about the International Handbell Symposium can be found at https://www.internationalhandbells.org.