The Spring Arizona State Festival/Conference was held at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale on April 9, 2005. The clinician for this event was Jason Wells, Director of Ring of Fire. Attendance was nearly 150 ringers. Repertoire consisted of "Arise" by Bill Ingram, "Carillon" by Dean Wagner, "By The Lakeside" by Michael Helman, "Gloria" by Frances Callahan, "Grazioso" by Arnold Sherman, "America The Beautiful" by Arnold Sherman and "Celtic Farewell" by Linda Lamb. Attendees came from Tucson, Flagstaff and Prescott as well as the Phoenix area. While a picture may we worth a thousand words, in this case our photographer was pretty busy as a ringer and didn't take too many pictures, so these quotes may give you a better picture of what many participants experienced.
- I have been doing festivals for 20 years and he is perhaps the best yet.
- Awesome! out of 1-5, I give him a 10.
- Enthusiastic, willing to repeat and repeat, breaks down the beat and measure.
- Jason was fantastic, he helped us ring musically.
- Very easy to follow, good rehearsal techniques.
- Big movements were easy to follow.
- Very energetic and raised the level of playing.
- Terrific, knows what he wants and gets it.
- Pleasant at all times and makes fabulous music out of some (pieces) I thought were just boring before, like Carillon.
- Jason was great, I enjoyed working with him very much.
- Jason really brings out the best in the music and the ringers.
- Wonderful, it was great.
- Great energy! Excellent interpretation.
- Good energy and he enjoyed himself.
- Fabulous!
And, finally, this about sums up everything -
Question: What did you like most about this conference? Answer: Jason Wells
Set-up and registration began at 8am. Arizona State Chair, Jennie Blomquist, welcomes everyone and makes some announcements.
Ringers are in place and ready to start.
Some people were ready for a nap after a lunch of turkey sandwiches.
Afternoon rehearsals smoothed out the rough spots.
These four are dressed and ready for the concert. |
Page revised 04/15/2005
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