Saturday, August 2, 2025 | 10:00am - 4:00pm
Dr. Christian Guebert, clinician
With the Concordia Community Handbell Ensemble
Unlock the true potential of your handbell ensemble! Dive deep into the art of shaping sound, fostering musicality, and drawing out expressive performances from your handbell group.
Who is this workshop for?
- handbell conductors of all skill levels
- Handbell ringers interested in dipping their feet into the world of conducting
- Church music directors & music educators,
- General musicians interested in learning a new skill
What you'll get out of this workshop
- Masterclass-style conducting sessions where you will practice conducting the Concordia Community Handbell Ensemble. Conducting a real, full ensemble in a workshop is invaluable.
- Lunch included with registration fee
- Direct feedback and individualized training from clinician Dr. Guebert
- Score study, rehearsal prep, and other directing skills to lead successful rehearsals
- A video recording of yourself conducting during the workshop before and after you've worked with the clinician. You can keep this for reflection.
Do I need to prepare anything?
We will send you a small excerpt from a handbell score a few weeks before the event. We ask that you familiarize yourself with it and prepare to conduct it during the workshop.
Are you interested in attending, but don't want to conduct in front of the group? No problem! Simply attend all the sessions as an observer!
Whether you're stepping into the world of handbell ensemble direction or looking to refine your craft, this workshop is your chance to connect, inspire, and transform your handbell ensemble's sound.
Location: Choral Hall in the Borland Manske Music Center, Concordia University Irvine
Early Registration: $50 (Register by July 5)
Registration: $65
*Cost includes workshop sessions, personalized feedback with clinician, directing opportunity with ensemble, video recording of your conducting sessions, and lunch
Meet our clinician:
Christian Guebert is a composer and music educator from Orange, California. His commissioned works include published and award-winning pieces, settings, orchestrations for instrumental and choral ensembles, and concert-length compositions.
Guebert holds a PhD in music composition from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music (2020), where he served as Teaching Fellow. He has taught university classes and lessons in theory, composition, ear training, singing, piano, counterpoint, orchestration, arranging, percussion, handbells, conducting, technology, and church music. He has served as adjudicator, clinician, and Composer-in-Residence for choral and instrumental organizations, including three years as National Seminar faculty for Handbell Musicians of America (HMA) for a total of seven course topics. In 2020 he received the inaugural G.O.L.D. (Graduate of the Last Decade) Alumni Achievement Award from Concordia University Irvine.
Recent works include “Voyaging,” a concert-length choral song cycle premiere of Walt Whitman sea poetry with harp and handbell ensemble. Coming next year is a Carnegie Hall premiere of a new work “Inscriptions” for chorus, handbell ensemble, and orchestra, based on text cast into historical bells.
Guebert lives in Lake Forest, CA with his wife and two young daughters, and is the Director of Parish and School Music at Abiding Savior Lutheran Church in Lake Forest, CA and the Artistic Director of Velocity Handbell Ensemble in Oakland, CA.
Mission Statement
Concordia University Irvine, a comprehensive Lutheran Christian university guided by Christ's Great Commission, develops wise, honorable, and cultivated citizens to serve society and the church.
About Concordia
Concordia University Irvine, part of the Concordia University System, is a private, nonprofit Christian university that is proud to be one of the founding institutions of higher education in Irvine, California. For nearly 50 years, we have prepared students to be wise, honorable, and cultivated citizens through a distinctive Lutheran education.
Today, we educate nearly 5,000 students on campus and online, and our alumni network has grown to over 25,000 worldwide. Ranked nationally among the “Top Performers on Social Mobility” universities by U.S. News & World Report. Once you become a Golden Eagle, you’ll be part of a close, caring community that’s committed to helping you grow personally, professionally, and spiritually.
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