All State Handbell Choir

Nominations will be accepted September 1st - October 4th, 2023.

To apply for a scholarship to participate in the All State Handbell Choir, please click the button below.


At the 2024 Professional Development Conference, IMEA will host the 6th annual Indiana All State High School Handbell Choir. Indiana is the only state in the United States with such an ensemble for high school ringers. Assisting IMEA will be the Handbell Musicians of America (HMA), which is the national organization representing handbell choirs and individual handbell ringers. Many schools in our country have curricula that include handbells and hand chimes, and one focus area within the HMA is handbells in schools.

The format for submissions includes both a director nomination and student video audition.

Handbell Musicians of America (HMA) Area 5 is sponsoring a scholarship to participate in the All State Handbell Choir.  Two students who apply for the scholarship will be selected to have their registration fee paid by HMA Area 5.  It is not exclusively need-based aid, but if a student has financial concerns, they should detail that information on the final page of the application.  Students or their parents/guardians should complete the scholarship portion themselves; it will not be done by the nominating directors.  Submitting an audition for the All State Handbell Choir is separate from the scholarship application.  The application link can be found below near the top of this webpage.  The deadline to apply is the same for both the scholarship and the audition.

Read this article from the Summer/Fall 2017 edition of INfORM: 
All State Handbell Choir

When
IMEA Professional Development Conference, January 11-13, 2024
Rehearsals January 11-12, 2024
Performance January 12, 2024 at 11:00am

Where 
The Grand Wayne Convention Center, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Cost 
$235.00 per student 

Audition 
All nominations and audition videos must be submitted by Wednesday October 4, 2023. Nominating directors should enter a link to a YouTube or Google Drive video of the student performing the audition exercises (see PDF sheet below). The YouTube video must be set to "Unlisted" or "Public" on YouTube and viewable to all people with the link on Google Drive. If the video is set to Private we will not be able to view it.  Do not list an entire YouTube channel; it will not work on this portal.  If that is the only means by which you can upload videos, email the YouTube channel link to [email protected].


You can find the audition exercises here: 
All State Handbell Choir Audition Exercises. 

 

Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. What does the cost include? Costs include one night of hotel (4 students to a room), transportation around Fort Wayne (where needed), meals Thursday afternoon/evening and Friday.
  2. What does the cost not include? The registration fee does not cover the student’s transportation to/from Fort Wayne, concert dress (all black), and any ancillary items the student might want such as a commemorative CD, etc.
  3. If my student lives in the Fort Wayne area? We recommend the student stay with the ensemble as much as possible, for group bonding and because rehearsals may run late.  However if a selected student lives within a 15 mile radius of downtown Fort Wayne, we will allow the student to stay at home.

Questions? 

On auditions, repertoire and qualifications: 
Andrew Robinson
Chair, All State Handbell Choir Committee
[email protected]

Logistics: [email protected]

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