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Fellowship Of American Baptist Musicians

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Great handbell rehearsals aren&#39;t improvised &mdash; they&#39;re planned in layers, long before ringers pick up a bell.&nbsp;This session gives novice-to-intermediate conductors (faith-based, school, or community) a practical, three-part system for rehearsal planning.&nbsp;<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">First, season-level planning: mapping concert dates, retreats, and dress rehearsals, then working backward to pace repertoire across the year.&nbsp;</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Second, piece-level planning: building a &quot;rehearsal notes document&quot; for each work &mdash; mapping rehearsal letters, flagging trouble spots in advance, planning dynamic shaping and tempo decisions before rehearsal, and tracking position-specific exceptions and duplicates so substitutions never cause confusion on the floor.&nbsp;</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Third, rehearsal-level planning: structuring the actual time blocks of a single rehearsal so time is spent ringing, not figuring things out live.&nbsp;</li></ul>Attendees will leave with templates and a repeatable framework they can apply immediately to their own ensembles, regardless of size or setting. Lynn&#39;s Bio: Hailed for his &ldquo;rich vocal color and appealing quality,&rdquo; American tenor and conductor Lynn Gary Atkins, Jr. is a proud son of the Jersey Shore whose career bridges performance, conducting, and music education. He earned his bachelor&#39;s degree in music education from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where he began his professional career as a chorister alongside artists including Julie Andrews, Patti LaBelle, and Denyce Graves, and performed with the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. He went on to earn his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from James Madison University, as part of the program&#39;s first graduating cohort.For more than twenty years, Dr. Atkins has built a national reputation as an educator, choral conductor, and professional vocalist, leading choral and handbell programs in schools, sacred music spaces, and community organizations nationwide. From 2013 to 2019, he served as Artistic Director of One Voice Chorus Richmond, leading a 125-member chorus in a mission centered on racial reconciliation between Richmond&#39;s Black and white communities &mdash; community-building work he later continued in Southern California with South Coast Chorale, the LGBTQ+ chorus of Long Beach.Lynn is currently Associate Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities, and Voice Area Coordinator at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He also serves as Artistic Director of the L.A. Bronze Handbell Ensemble, as Director of Choral Music at Los Altos United Methodist Church, and sits on the National Board of Directors for Handbell Musicians of America.

Great handbell rehearsals aren't improvised — they're planned in layers, long before ringers pick up a bell. This session gives novice-to-intermediate conductors (faith-based, school, or community) a practical, three-part system for rehearsal planning. <ul><li>First, season-level planning: mapping concert dates, retreats, and dress rehearsals, then working backward to pace repertoire across the year. </li><li>Second, piece-level planning: building a "rehearsal notes document" for each work — mapping rehearsal letters, flagging trouble spots in advance, planning dynamic shaping and tempo decisions before rehearsal, and tracking position-specific exceptions and duplicates so substitutions never cause confusion on the floor. </li><li>Third, rehearsal-level planning: structuring the actual time blocks of a single rehearsal so time is spent ringing, not figuring things out live. </li></ul>Attendees will leave with templates and a repeatable framework they can apply immediately to their own ensembles, regardless of size or setting. Lynn's Bio: Hailed for his “rich vocal color and appealing quality,” American tenor and conductor Lynn Gary Atkins, Jr. is a proud son of the Jersey Shore whose career bridges performance, conducting, and music education. He earned his bachelor's degree in music education from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where he began his professional career as a chorister alongside artists including Julie Andrews, Patti LaBelle, and Denyce Graves, and performed with the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. He went on to earn his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from James Madison University, as part of the program's first graduating cohort.For more than twenty years, Dr. Atkins has built a national reputation as an educator, choral conductor, and professional vocalist, leading choral and handbell programs in schools, sacred music spaces, and community organizations nationwide. From 2013 to 2019, he served as Artistic Director of One Voice Chorus Richmond, leading a 125-member chorus in a mission centered on racial reconciliation between Richmond's Black and white communities — community-building work he later continued in Southern California with South Coast Chorale, the LGBTQ+ chorus of Long Beach.Lynn is currently Associate Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities, and Voice Area Coordinator at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He also serves as Artistic Director of the L.A. Bronze Handbell Ensemble, as Director of Choral Music at Los Altos United Methodist Church, and sits on the National Board of Directors for Handbell Musicians of America.

Fellowship Of American Baptist Musicians

Plan the Ring: Building a Rehearsal Roadmap Before Lifting the Baton

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