Character & PerfectionThe Story of Sonos Handbell Ensemble and its First 20 Years

by Richard Dinwiddie

“My kids see in Sonos what they can become—professional in all things. Musicianship, grace, character. Sonos represents all of those things to the kids; it sets the standard that my students aspire to achieve some day.”

Ron Thiele, leader of the Mark Twain Ringers from the Mark Twain Middle School in Los Angeles, California, is excited about how Sonos has made a significant difference in the lives of his students. He sees Sonos as exactly the right role model they need.

“They look graceful, they sound wonderful. Their movements flow, they dress well, they present themselves with integrity. Sonos exhibits the kind of character you want your kids to be. They are perfection for us.”

Sonos Handbell Ensemble makes history as they perform on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium (long-time home of the Grand Ole Opry) in Nashville, Tennessee, during AGEHR’s Pinnacle 2010 event in July 2010. Photo by J.R. Smith

The Music of SonosAny serious discussion of Sonos, San Fran-

cisco’s premier community/professional handbell ensemble, begins with its music. One of the hallmarks of Sonos is its distinctive repertoire. A Sonos performance can be something of a musical expedition. It definitely is not “business as usual.” To borrow the famous tagline from Star Trek, So-nos is committed “to boldly go where no (group) has gone before,” and in the process, to broaden the vision and create more opportunity for all handbell musicians.

The repertoire pushes the envelope in multiple directions. This was exemplified in the opening concert at Pinnacle 2010, which began with “RAP-sody in View,” a dramatic Stomp-inspired sequence in which the players entered a bare stage and set up their performance space in a choreographed routine. This was connected, without break, with a rhythm and tempo consistent with the music that immediately followed, a stylistically faithful tran-scription by conductor James Meredith of Bach’s “Toccata in G,” all performed without a conductor (as was the entire second half of the program).

After the performance, composer Valerie Ste-phenson wrote, “I love how they keep expanding our envelope, with courage and innovation. We all loved their entrance to an empty stage, done in percussive manner, quite stunning visually, to say nothing of getting all the needed equipment in place in an entertaining manner. The staging of the whole thing was quite mind-blowing...like a two-act play (century old/century new), but done with handbells.” Michael Glasgow wrote, “Sonos is the most unique bell group I’ve ever seen, and their ‘performance art’ was ridiculously cool; it was a SHOW, not just a concert.”

One key to Sonos’ artistic integrity is that the music is never second to the presentation. Ev-erything is done with the idea of actually saying something in a musical way. Musical values con-sistently trump commercial ones. When perform-ing compositions by classical composers, whether Vivaldi or Strauss, everything—tempo, rhythm, phrasing, ornamentation, articulation, etc.—is worked out so it is consistent with the composer’s original intent and style.

The broad range of Sonos’ mastery of style was reflected when it book-ended the conclusion of their program with the late Dale Woods’s almost heartbreaking setting of “Shall We Gather at the River,” with its continuously shaped individual notes and shaded phrases created by players who were simultaneously phrasing individually and integrally with each other, playing from memory, without any stage setting, and without a conduc-tor, demonstrating their capacity to actually make

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music, to improvise as an ensemble, and to take full responsibil-ity for their own creation throughout the entire performance at the unrelenting sequence of the nanosecond.

Much of Sonos’ unique repertoire is written by its conduc-tor. Jim Meredith’s settings reveal a deep understanding of the acoustical characteristics and musical possibilities of handbells. They range from a fresh treatment of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” to “Sonics,” described by one discerning observer as “dodecaphonic minimalism”—a tour-de-force of concentrated focus on rhythm, dynamics, textural balance, and absolute tempo control with two overlapping hexatonic scales a half-step apart. The arrangements explore the outer limits of what has been done to discover and report on what can be done. One is reminded of Bobby Kennedy’s quotation of George Bernard Shaw, “Some men see things as they are and ask, ‘why?’ I dream things that never were, and ask, ‘why not?’”

Jim Meredith’s original compositions and arrangements are marked by transparency, imagination, and a unique quality of focus on musical line. Structural elements regularly include implied if not actual contrapuntal lines. Not one note is writ-ten that is not essential. There really is no place to hide. This is exemplified in his adaptation of Bach’s setting of the chorale we commonly know as “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” The decep-tively uncomplicated writing requires sophisticated musician-ship, including a solid understanding of Baroque style and the ability to create a performance in which every note is not only

and relentlessly, perfectly matched to every other but is com-pletely controlled in every dimension of musical sound.

In performance, the placement of players and instruments reflects an understanding of how sound exists in space (a phe-nomena that was part of how Stokowski created his identifiable sound with any orchestra he conducted). All of this—repertoire, interpretation, and stage arrangement—is fundamental to the achievement of a uniquely identifiable “Sonos Sound.”

In addition to performing selected published works and his own works, Meredith has expanded the classical bell repertoire by commissioning an ever-increasing list of works from serious composers. This includes “Navigator Tree,” a major work by computer futurist and inventor of virtual reality, Jaron Lanier, for handbells, handchimes, Gamelan ensemble, and Taiko drums, featured in an award-winning PBS film. Sonos has com-missioned a substantial repertoire for handbells and orchestra. Bill Ludtke’s numerous contributions include “Symphony No. 3” and “Suite for Handbells and Orchestra.”

Sonos has contributed to the handbell repertoire not only with compositions but with new techniques. For example, Sonos and composer James Meredith introduced the first extensive use of the singing bell technique in original and arranged works for bells in Charles Ives’ “Serenity” and Meredith’s “Smirti” in Nor-folk at the Guild’s 50th anniversary in 2001. Meredith was the first to use it in published works. The Norfolk event prompted AGEHR director Bill Mathis to comment that he had “been

ABOVE: Cheryl Baker Woldseth and Jason Tiller during the shooting of the music video of James Meredith’s “Smirti” FACING PAGE From top: Kathie Fink works with a young ringer at the Area XI festival in Durango, Colorado, as Sonos pioneers its “studio blitz method” of teaching; Sonos performs with San Francisco Opera Orchestra cellist Emil Miland and Nashville Symphony Orchestra Oboist Roger Wiesmeyer at the historic Ry-man Auditorium in Nashville at AGEHR’s Pinnacle 2010 (Photo by J.R. Smith); From left, Cheryl Baker Woldseth, Rick Hoffmeister, Tessique Hous-ton, and Jason Tiller perform at the Annual Congress of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (Photo by Eric Thiermann, Impact Media).

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waiting for some new technique to be introduced, since it usu-ally happens at conferences like these.”

When performing with other groups, such as Grammy win-ners Libby Larsen, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and the Kro-nos Quartet; large professional ensembles, such as the Oakland/East-Bay Symphony or the San Francisco Orchestra Chorus; or leading soloists, such as Frederica von Stade, Sonos is often featured as a soloist, not only as an accompanist. Extraordinary playing opportunities, like Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Com-panion or various PBS Specials, significantly enrich the Sonos experience as well as its national and international exposure.

Sonos performances are musical ideas at work. With its trademark orchestra-like textures and style-conscious performanc-es, it transcends the commonly accepted borders of the hand-bell world and creates a genuinely musical conversation. In the end, the music and its performance are not about Sonos; they are about the effective communication of sig-nificant musical ideas from the composer to the listener.

History and Ringers

This past June, Sonos had a gala celebrating the 20th anniversary of its begin-ning. Its initial impetus was from two ringers well known in the handbell world, P.L. Grove and Kathie Fink-Hein. At the time, all the ringers were from the Oakland, California, area. To lead this new group, they recruited Jim Meredith as artistic director and conductor.

Under Jim’s direction, the ensemble began its metamorphosis from being a community-based group to a professional one. So-nos began to be perceived not just as a handbell ensemble but as an orchestral ensemble, capable of properly playing any style, abundantly meeting any technical demand, and significantly expanding the movable boundaries of the world of handbells.

As the transition took hold, expert players began moving from other parts of the state or even from opposite ends of the country to the Bay Area to play with Sonos. For a while, one player even commuted from Japan! Currently, several are from the Los Angeles-San Diego area, some are from areas further north and east of the Bay Area, and some are from other states, e.g., Nevada and Kentucky. To list which players have had a lasting impact on the group, one would have to mention almost every one.

Certainly, several recent and current players are professional soloists in their own right, including Kathie and P.L., Michèle

Sharik, and Ruben Mendoza. Given this high quality of indi-vidual talent, it is refreshing to find a general absence of prima donnas. There is a genuine interpersonal cohesiveness of the group, a constantly dynamic communication and underlying humor with an intent to help each other do their best.

When it comes to auditioning prospective ringers, players must not only possess the usual basic musicianship, technical facility with bells, and the ability to make the schedule. They must demonstrate a strong ability to solve advanced challenges quickly, be able to have all the notes in hand by the end of the first read-through, and be able to change assignments or playing style on a dime. Players are enabled and encouraged

to resolve complex issues on their own, rather than having all solutions handed to them, although the conductor often sug-gests solutions or the outline of one.

What attracts this quality of ringer? There are several reasons they come and they stay. First and foremost is the conductor, includ-ing his musicianship and his unquestioned personal integrity. Michèle Sharik told me once, “There is more musicianship in the tip of Jim’s

little finger than there is in the whole body of

many people.” There is the matter of playing with one’s peers, with other players of the highest ability. The opportunity to play challenging repertoire they would not likely encounter anywhere else is also a big attraction, as is the idea of being on the “cutting edge” of advancing the overall handbell experience. Then there is the excitement of opportunities to play abroad and to play in venues as a fully professional ensemble. Add to this the knowl-edge that they are making a difference in many areas, and you have a strong list of attractions for players of excellence.

Once in the group, a consistent professional attitude is as-sumed. The assumptions are that one comes to each rehearsal fully prepared so that every second may be efficient and effec-tive in transmuting a two-dimensional score into four-dimen-sional communication between composer, conductor, player, and listener. Everything that facilitates that reality is encour-aged; everything that diminishes it is relentlessly stripped away.

Once the repertoire is decided and any necessary arrange-ments or compositions are created, the individual playing assignments are made. Each player is responsible to thoroughly study and prepare their parts prior to the initial rehearsal, at which time any necessary adjustments in the assignments are

From left: Ruben Mendoza, Sunghee Kim, Tessique Houston, and Michèle Sharik per-forming for the Japanese public television station NHK in Fukuoka, Japan (Photo by Patti Tenbrook).

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made and the piece is given its first reading. After that reading, as with any truly professional ensemble, the player is expected to know the part.

Constant listening is required, to each other, to the conductor, and to oneself. But listening is only one side of the coin. Listen-ing is combined with hearing, for they are not always the same. They not only pay attention, they strive to understand what they hear and respond as necessary to achieve the musical objectives.

The deep level of satisfaction for the players comes in those moments when they feel inside themselves the precision of every subdivision of every beat in exactly the right place, every nuance of every note together and fitly joined, every two- or three-note microphrase precisely yet flexibly balanced so that the overall phrase is both stylistically correct and musical. The unspoken intent is to achieve that mystical level when con-nection at the deep soul-ish level between player and listener is achieved so that the listener can be both challenged and nourished and feel at the end of the performance that it did not end with the fading of the last note but, like the stream in Schubert’s “Die Forelle,” it “goes ever on,” (to use a phrase by J.R.R. Tolkien).

Rehearsals never sink to the mundane, for all of the above rea-sons and more. One may be tired after a rehearsal that runs six to eight hours, but as long as one is making music within a context of mutual respect and unwavering attention to detail to express musi-cal ideas of substance, there just isn’t enough time to get bored.

The Sonos DreamThe Sonos dream is about making a difference in every area

of handbell music-making that it touches.Two vignettes may illustrate this point. On April 13, 1742,

in Dublin, Ireland, George Frideric Handel gave the world-premiere of his oratorio Messiah. Following the performance, one of the attending nobility said to him, “What a splendid entertainment.” Handel replied, “My lord; I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I had hoped to make them better.” You see, for Handel, his dream was all about something greater than merely “entertainment.” Today we would say that Handel hoped to “make a difference.”

A family friend was retiring from an extraordinary career assisting Nobel Prizewinners in Physics at the Berkeley (Univer-sity) National Laboratory where he routinely achieved things that other scientists said could not be done. Looking back over those years, he said, “As exciting as those times were, they do not constitute ‘success.’ To me, ‘success’ is ‘did I make a differ-ence in somebody else’s life?’”

At the end of the day, the “Sonos Dream” is about far more than just Sonos itself. Even beyond making real music, “success” for Sonos is about using the exciting and dramatic possibilities of its broad-ranging excellence to make a positive difference in all the areas it touches. These areas include expan-sion and perfection of performance technique, faithfulness to the musical style of the composer and the period, extraordinary variety of repertoire and range of musical content, continuing expansion of musical boundaries, effective education in mu-sic for youth and adults, being international ambassadors of music and culture, or encouraging the creation of quality new works—to name just a few.

For example, many “Sonosians” are deeply involved in music education of the young, including Jim Meredith. He gives exten-sively of himself in involvement in the Young Musicians Program at the University of California-Berkeley. Others are teachers or conduct other groups, expanding Sonos’ influence at every level.

With Sonos, wherever you look or listen, there is the hall-mark stamp of intrinsic integrity in making a difference that really counts. But it’s my friend’s definition of the word that makes Sonos a genuine “success.” That success ultimately mat-ters to all who love and play handbells.

Looking to the FutureAs Shakespeare said, “The past is prologue.” The past 20 years have been significant, but the story of achiev-

ing what is possible has barely begun. Sonos is a living example of the premise that if you can imagine it, and your ensemble is what the late theologian D. Elton Trueblood called “The Com-pany of the Committed,” you can do it. For two decades, through performances and media, Sonos has carried its message of handbell excellence at every level, not only throughout the United States but abroad, including six concert tours of Japan.

Sonos is now in the beginning of its third decade. An in-creasing number of Sonos performances are on the professional concert stage in conjunction with other artists. This summer, it will be the U.S. representative in an international handbell festival in Estonia. In the near future, a new DVD documen-tary with music performances by Sonos, It Tolls for Thee: Bells and Their Stories, will be seen on several PBS stations. Its com-mitment to excellence and making a difference continues to impact all areas of handbell playing as Sonos demonstrates to composers, performers, and audiences alike the huge musical potential of the handbell medium.

Peter Moschberger may have said it as well as anyone. After the Pinnacle performance, he told Michèle Sharik, “Sonos isn’t a handbell ensemble; you’re a musical ensemble that happens to play handbells.”

About the AuthorRichard Dinwiddie has conducted profes-sional, collegiate, church, and community choirs throughout North America, Great Britain, and Europe. In 1981 he formed The Chicago Master Chorale, a profes-sional chorus from the greater Chicago area. He also formed a “world-class” choir and music program at Chicago’s historic Moody Memorial Church, the results

of which resulted in a high-profile series of concerts in Chicago, includ-ing the first complete Chicago performance in Baroque style of Handel’s “Messiah.” There were three concerts per year that involved professional orchestra, primarily made up of members of The Chicago Symphony and The Chicago Lyric Opera orchestras. Mr. Dinwiddie has conducted in 45 states of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, throughout Britain, and Holland, Belgium, France, Austria, and Germany He was contributing editor-in-music for 17 years for Christianity Today, an international scholarly religious journal, and for over 20 years produced and hosted broadcasts of sacred and classical music on a syndicated network throughout the U.S. He currently teaches at Chabot College in Hayward, California, and is direc-tor of music at First Presbyterian Church of San Leandro, California.

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