Seminar Clinicians/Faculty

Ron Bellamy
Ron Bellamy, his wife, and their three sons live in Lancaster, PA.  Although he began ringing in 1980, he was not introduced to solo/ensemble ringing until 1993, when he auditioned for and was selected by Tintinnabulation, a 5-member professional handbell ensemble that was forming in Lancaster.  It was the beginning of a new and exciting challenge that has taken him to festivals/workshops in several states as both a teacher and performer.

Ron has been a clinician for Handbell Exploration, the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (AGEHR), and Solo/Ensemble Extravaganza. Joining forces with Bobbi Schmid in Bell a deux, he travels through many states performing duet concerts that include many musical styles, and he is also a solo handbell performer.  Ron sings, plays clarinet and guitar, and is presently directing four handbell choirs at three Lancaster area churches.  A graduate of the University of Scranton and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, his full-time employment is in the field of accounting and finance.

Susan Berry
Susan Berry is an authority on proper ringing. In 2000 she published Healthy Ringing, a comprehensive book that single-handedly changed the way ringers approach their instrument. She coauthored the Learning To Ring curriculum with its two instructional manuals, nine collections of music arrangements, and many visual aids.  Additionally, Susan coauthored the popular instructional video Bell Basics, still widely used two decades after its production.

Known internationally for her work with and emphasis on proper ringing, Susan is a featured director or clinician at many national and international music conferences and reading clinics. These include Pinnacle, AGEHR Directors’ and National Seminars, the 50th Anniversary Celebration, and denominational conferences, as well as many state and area events. Along with teaching and working with ringers at all levels, Susan’s emphasis is on teaching directors how to teach their ringers.  She writes for professional journals, including Overtones, and regularly organizes workshops for choirs of all sizes and ability levels.  She was Michigan State Chair of the AGEHR from 1980-1983 and is a past president of the Choristers’ Guild chapter in Detroit.

Susan is the founder and director of the Detroit Handbell Ensemble, a community-based ensemble with a strong educational focus.  In addition to performing concerts year round, the DHE presents an annual technique workshop and has recorded demo cds for the Lorenz Corporation.  Susan was also the founding director of Detroit’s Classical Bells (1982-1989). As a Malmark representative for over thirty years, Susan has worked with hundreds of directors to launch handbell and handchime programs. She has previously served as adjunct faculty at Marygrove College in Detroit and as an organist, choir director, elementary music teacher, and certified Orff instructor. Today, Susan owns and runs her company, Handbell Services, Inc., based in Dearborn, Michigan.  Working with quality artists and manufacturers, she creates unique gift products available to the global handbell community through a store, website, and festival exhibits nationwide.  Furthermore, her teaching background is reflected in the many educational products and services offered by the company.

Jennifer Cauhorn
Jennifer Cauhorn is the current Executive Director for AGEHR. She has directed the Chancel Ringers at Greenhills Community Church Presbyterian in Cincinnati, OH since 1999 and rang in the Dallas Handbell Ensemble from 1994-1997.

Prior to assuming her position as AGEHR Executive Director, Jenny was General Manager for Music & Event Management, Inc.(MEMI) in Cincinnati, Ohio where one of her responsibilities was reviewing and negotiating a variety of contracts for performers, vendors, and service providers.

Kathleen Ebling-Thorne
Kathleen Ebling-Thorne is a graduate and currently faculty member of Westminster Choir College and Director of the Westminster Concert Bell Choir. She is also director of sales and marketing at Malmark, Inc. and a well-known clinician. Choirs under the direction of Ms. Ebling-Thorne have performed at Carnegie Hall, the World Financial Center's Festival of Light and Sound, NBC's TODAY Show, and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.

As director of the Westminster Concert Bell Choir, she has traveled in a fifteen-city tour as part of A Royal Christmas performing with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Charlotte Church and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, and has also produced three recordings.

Griff Gall
Griff Gall had his first experience as a handbell ringer while attaining his B.M. in Music Education from Westminster Choir College as a member of the internationally renowned Westminster Concert Bell Choir. An elementary music specialist in the town of Danvers, Mass, Mr. Gall has presented seminars at state and regional handbell and music education conferences. Mr. Gall is the founding artistic director of the Back Bay Ringers and Back Bay Carillon. Experienced as a director both of children’s chime and vocal choirs, and of adult handbell ensembles, His ensembles have performed annually with the Handel and Haydn Society at Symphony Hall, Boston, and have been featured guest artists with many of the city of Boston’s finest arts organizations. Mr. Gall is Education Liaison for AGEHR, Area I, and is a member of the national AGEHR Education Council.

Michael Glasgow
Michael J. Glasgow is a native of Detroit, and his family still lives in Michigan.  An honors graduate from the College of Charleston (SC), Michael holds B.A. degrees in music theory/composition, and in journalism.  He holds a Master of Church Music degree from Concordia University Wisconsin as the program's first double-emphasis student, in both choral and handbell music

Michael has composed four musical plays (two of which premiered in Charleston's Sottile Theatre), as well as numerous original sacred choral, orchestral, and handbell compositions. His setting of the Latin Requiem text was premiered at North Raleigh United Methodist Church on April 8, 2001 with full orchestra and choir.  Michael has served as NRUMC's Minister of Music since 1998.

An active member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (AGEHR), and the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and the Worship Arts (FUMMWA), Michael participates in many extracurricular and educational pursuits, including serving as Bass Section Leader for the North Carolina Master Chorale.

In addition to creating requested commissioned pieces, Michael’s composition goals in his writing are to creatively advance the art of handbell ringing.  He was awarded a first prize in the 2006 Soundprint Productions Composition Contest for his original jazz handbell piece, Celerity; as well as first prize in the Bells of the Sound “Three Ring Circus” Composition Contest for Bumping Noses.  A career highlight was conducting the East Texas Handbell Ensemble in ringing his first published handbell piece, Carnivale, at the 2007 AGEHR National Seminar’s opening concert in Dallas.

Michael is proud to be an integral part in the development of new handbell events, and to serve as the Editor for the Area III newsletter, The Bell-O-Gram.  In his admittedly limited spare time, Michael enjoys weightlifting, yoga, and gourmet cooking.

Nick Hanson

Nick Hanson serves as Director of Handbells for four ensembles and private solo students at The Potomac School, a private K-12 school in McLean, Virginia, and he is the handbell director at Bush Hill Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, VA.  Besides directing, Nick is the handbell editor for Emerson Music; performs with Virginia Bronze, a community handbell ensemble located in Northern Virginia; serves on the AGEHR Area III Board; and is a published author in Overtones.  He has provided class instruction on bass bell ringing and musicality for AGEHR Area III Festivals; Music ’n Arts Exploration; Concordia University, Irvine, California’s Summer Ring; and workshops in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Dave Harris
David M. Harris is in his nineteenth year as the music director of The Raleigh Ringers, an internationally-recognized touring handbell ensemble based in Raleigh, NC.  David was instrumental in the formation of this auditioned 7 ½ octave choir in 1990.  The Raleigh Ringers are in constant demand as featured guest performers for various artist series and handbell festivals around the country.

David is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and has studied conducting privately with Dr. William A. Payn at Bucknell University.  He has served the AGEHR in several capacities: as Ringing Track Conductor for the National Seminar, as clinician for several local and Area workshops and festivals, as North Carolina State Chairman, as Area III Treasurer and currently serves as a member of the Advisory Council for Community and Professional groups.  David also served as chairman for an AGEHR-sponsored, first-time event for community ringers entitled “Pinnacle 2000”, held in Las Vegas.  David has led handbell festivals and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.  He is also one of the co-founders of the very successful Capital Area Handbell Festival, held annually in Raleigh.  David has written several articles for Overtones, the national publication of the AGEHR. 

John Hooper
Dr. John Hooper is the Director of the School of Music at Concordia University College of Alberta in Edmonton.  He is the director of Jubiloso! Bells of Concordia and the Concordia Concert Choir.  He includes conducting, as well as rehearsal methods, aural skills, and composition in his teaching portfolio.  In July 2008, he conducted the massed choir at the Ringing Link, the biennial convention of the Handbell Guilds of Canada.  He served as artistic director and conductor of the inaugural Classic Bronze Festival held in Edmonton in 2007.  He was the Canadian conductor at the International Handbell Symposium in Brisbane, Australia.  Currently, he serves on the board of the Alberta Guild of English Handbell Ringers, where he is involved in conference planning and composition contests. 

Alan Hughes
Alan Hughes is the 4th generation of the Hughes family to own and manage the Whitechapel Bell Foundry which they have done since 1884. Whitechapel Bell Foundry is the oldest manufacturing company in the UK, established in 1570, still manufacturing the highest quality handbells and tower bells. Alan is a Freeman of the City of London and the Worshipful Company of Skinnners and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Founders. He has visited and inspected bell towers all around the world and lectured internationally at various bell events.

Kathryn Hughes
Kathryn Hughes studied music at London University Goldsmiths College and the Guildhall School of Music, specialising in viola performance and teaching. Following a musical career until starting a family, Kathryn now works at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry which she runs jointly with husband Alan. Kathryn learnt to ring tower bells at the age of 13 and to play handbells shortly after, an interest which still continues. Kathryn is an active member of HRGB and conducts at many of their events. She rings bass bells in the Wandle Ringers, a 5-octave handbell team run by Sandra Winter.

Nancy Jessup
Nancy Jessup teaches handbells at Concordia University, Irvine, where she is responsible for two of the four handbell choirs, teaches private handbell lessons, coaches the performing small handbell ensemble, RESOUND!, and handbell coaching on all levels.  She also co-teaches the Handbell Methods class.  Nancy has been ringing for over 25 years and has taught at conferences and workshops throughout the United States, in Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan

Michael Joy
Michael Joy has a bachelor of music degree in theory and composition and did graduate work in choral conducting. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has been directing handbell choirs in churches since 1978 and in schools since 1983. He studied handbells with Donald Allured and handbell composition with Arnold Sherman.

Michael is currently the middle school music teacher at The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where he conducts 15 different handbell groups, and the music director at First Presbyterian Church in Ambler, Pennsylvania.

A published composer, he has taught at Area II and III festivals, PMEA district and state conferences, Handbell Exploration in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and the AGEHR National Seminar in 2005. He was named Composer of the Year for 2004 by Jeffers Publishing Company for his composition Dorian Dance. Active in Area II activities, Michael served two terms as the Area II Secretary. He was also the former composer-in-residence and ringer for the Philadelphia Handbell Ensemble.

Kermit D. Junkert
Kermit D. Junkert is the Artist Director and Conductor of the Philadelphia Handbell Ensemble, base in the greater Philadelphia Metropolitan region.  In addition he has directed a variety of handbell and choral ensembles in Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania for the past 20 years.  In addition to being a national festival conductor, Kermit is a local, national, and internationally known handbell clinician.  He has taught at numerous AGEHR National Directors Seminars, Handbell Exploration Seminars, as well as International Handbell Symposiums in Japan, Korea, England, Australia, and Canada.   

Kermit has produced videos and books on handbells and handbell applications including "The Handbell Workshop", "Successful Ringing—Step by Step", and "Handbells in Liturgy".  He is a Master Handbell Technician and has serviced Schulmerich handbells around the world.  He has served as Vice-Chair of the Handbell Industry Council and as the Chair-Elect of Area VII of the AGEHR.  He is currently the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Schulmerich Bells in Sellersville, PA.  He holds a BS in Music Education from the University of Minnesota.

David Loeffert
David Loeffert is Schulmerich’s Regional Independent Sales Representative for Northern, Central, and Southern Florida.  He resides in Dunedin (Tampa Bay area) and represents Schulmerich’s complete line of products including handbells, electronic carillon systems, MelodyChime® instruments, cast bells, and bell towers.

David has an extensive background in sales and retired as an advertising sales executive from the St. Petersburg Times newspaper in 2004.  He has been involved for 20 years with his church’s music ministry playing piano, keyboards, and vocals.  Responsibilities include weekly contemporary masses as well as other school events and functions. 

He has a degree in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

Kevin McChesney
Kevin McChesney graduated with highest honors from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a BMus in Composition and Theory. A composer and arranger of handbell music, Kevin currently has over 700 titles in print and is one of the very few musicians who makes handbells a full-time vocation. He has won numerous awards for his work, including winning American Guild of English Handbell Ringers Composition Contests and Jeffers Composer of the Year. Kevin is the handbell editor for Jeffers Handbell Supply and the RingingWord catalog. He is also co-founder of the Solo To Ensemble Project, STEP, http://www/steproject.com. And his work as music director of the Pikes Peak Ringers has helped bring them to national prominence. He is in demand throughout the handbell world as a workshop clinician and festival conductor.

Kevin lives in Colorado Springs, CO, with his wife Tracy and their cats, Belle and Grace Note.

Monica McGowan
Monica S. McGowan resides in Lakeville, Minnesota and received her Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Chadron State College, Chadron, Nebraska.  As Artistic Director of Twin Cities Bronze, Ms. McGowan provides the vision and direction for this premiere handbell ensemble of Minneapolis-St. Paul.  She has directed church handbell programs from Louisiana to Minnesota.  Ms. McGowan served on the Area VII Board as well as the National Board of Directors for AGEHR, Inc. and is now an Associate Member on the Board of Directors for the International Music Camp.  Ms. McGowan is the Handbell Coordinator for the Week of Handbells at the International Music Camp, succeeding its founder, Fred Merrett.  She is the owner of Ringing Restorations, refurbishing and repairing handbells throughout the Upper Midwest.

Ms. McGowan brings her background of education, teaching and extensive training in handbells and handchimes to the conducting podium or the workshop setting for local, regional, national and international conferences, clinics and handbell festivals as well as AGEHR, Inc. events and seminars.

Mary Kay Parrish
Mary Kay Parrish, a native of Pascagoula, Mississippi, was on the faculty of Oklahoma Baptist University for thirty-eight years. She earned degrees from OBU in piano and from the University of North Texas in Theory. At OBU, she founded and directed the University Ringers, an auditioned handbell choir which performed at the last Directors’ Seminar held in Dallas, and was also the founder and director of the Jubilation Ringers at University Baptist Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma. She has served on the AGEHR National Board, the Area IX Board, and has been a guest conductor at National, Area, and local festivals, in addition to being an active composer and arranger.

Mary Kay is a member of the AGEHR Communications Committee which is in charge of the Music Review column in the AGEHR Overtones publication.

Debbie Rice
Deborah Rice is the Director of the Handbell Ministry for Becks Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This ministry includes multicultural and intergenerational choir groups for all ages utilizing the largest set of handbells and handchimes commercially available.

Her degrees are in Music Education and Opera/Music Theatre. She has authored numerous articles for Overtones, and stays active as a festival conductor and clinician for national and international events. She is currently serving AGEHR as President-Elect after completing elected terms as an Area Chair (1997-99) and National Secretary (1999-2003).

Arnold Sherman
Arnold Sherman, currently living in Tyler, Texas, is a freelance composer, co-founder of Red River Music, and Associate Director of Music and the Arts at First United Methodist Church, Henderson, Texas. His undergraduate work in music education was done at Montgomery College, Rockville, Maryland, and Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

Arnold is the founder and Director of the East Texas Handbell Ensemble. A clinician and guest conductor, he has led choral and handbell workshops, festivals, and reading sessions throughout the United States, Canada, England, Japan and the Bahamas. Arnold has been a recipient of an ASCAP Standard Award every year since 1992. He has numerous choral and handbell pieces in print and is an active member of the AGEHR where he has served as Area IX Chairman.

Valerie W. Stephenson
Ms. Stephenson is an accomplished instrumental and vocal teacher of all ages, Pre-K through adults. 

Valerie is an active handbell composer, arranger, author, conductor and clinician with extensive ringing and conducting experience.  She currently directs and rings with the Southside Handbell Ensemble and is a member of the First Coast Ringers, a community handbell choir.  She has been an active participant in AGEHR on the Area VI board and is currently serving as FL State Chair for Area IV since October of 2007. 

Valerie resides in Jacksonville, FL and holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Florida State University and a Master of Music in theory and composition from the University of Wisconsin.

Martha Lynn Thompson
Martha Lynn Thompson was the Organist and Associate Director of Music at St. James United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas from 1969 until her retirement in July 2002.  Her husband, Felix, was the Director of Music and jointly they directed the handbell program.  Under their leadership, the St. James Music Ministry grew from 2 to 20 choirs, including 13 bell choirs.  Prior to coming to St. James, Martha Lynn taught junior high school choral music and, with her husband, developed a graded choral and handbell program at the Methodist Children's Home in Little Rock.

In 1989 Martha Lynn was elected AGEHR National Secretary and for two years served on its Board of Directors.  In 1995 she was given the status of Master Instructor of Handbell Notation, and in 2001 she was given the highest honor of an Honorary Life Membership.

Mrs. Thompson is a graduate of Henderson State University where she received her Bachelor of Music Education degree with a major in organ and theory. She has more than 300 published arrangements and transcriptions that range from music for the beginning bell choir to music for the most advanced choirs. With Frances Callahan she has written 13 collections of music for beginning handbell choirs, and alone she has authored 7 other collections for beginning and intermediate bell choirs.  She also has two published organ transcriptions, is the author of two handbooks for directors and ringers.  Her most recent work, published by AGEHR, is Tunes that Teach, a book of handbell and handchime music and teaching materials that are usable in both schools and churches. 

In her retirement, as a volunteer Martha Lynn continues to direct three handbell choirs at St. James UMC, to work behind the scenes with the St. James Alumni Ringers which her husband directs, and to be active as an arranger of handbell music.  In her “spare time” she also does free-lance music engraving, putting into practice what she is teaching this week!

David VanderMeer
David VanderMeer has been the Director of Music Ministries at the downtown historic Central Presbyterian Church since August of 2001. David conducts three handbell choirs, (Youth, Beginning Adult, and an Advanced Adult) and the Chancel Choir. David oversees the graded choir program and supervises a music staff of four other musicians. David participates in weekly worship planning, plans the monthly Prayer Services in the manner of the Taizé Community (weekly during Advent and Lent) and oversees the Liturgical Arts Guild for the church. David is a graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.

Before arriving in Atlanta, David served as Minister of Music and Fine Arts of Northwoods Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas for 12 years. David supervised the music staff, oversaw the graded choir program of fourteen choirs and conducted seven of the ensembles. David has taught numerous choral and handbell classes for denominational Worship and Music Conferences, has been Conference Director and Co-Director of the Mo-Ranch Worship and Music Conference and Conference Director of PAM (Presbyterian Association of Musicians) 2000 Albuquerque Worship and Music Conference and has been on the faculty of the PAM Montreat Worship and Music Conference. In 2008, David will be the Conference Director for the PAM Montreat Worship and Music Conference in Montreat, NC. While in Houston, David was Musical Director of the Houston Bronze Ensemble, Inc. a semi-professional community handbell choir from 1996-2001. David serves on the National Board of Directors for AGEHR, Inc. (American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, Inc.) and has recently served as Secretary for PAM (Presbyterian Association of Musicians). David continues to teach handbells/handchimes on the local, area, and national levels for AGEHR and PAM events.

David has been mentor for beginning of an inner-city Handchime program for the Atlanta Public School System at Ed S. Cook Elementary School which began in the fall of 2005. David sings baritone in the Atlanta Sacred Chorale under the direction of Eric Nelson. David is a member of American Guild of Organists, American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, Inc., Presbyterian Association of Musicians, National Music Educators Association, American Choral Directors Association, the Hymn Society of America and Choristers Guild.

Lee Waggener
Lee Waggener is currently the past chair of Area XII. She served on the AGEHR national board as resources chair from 1989 to 1991. She and her husband, Bill, have directed bell choirs with ringers of all ages at the Claremont United Church of Christ since 1971. They have served as conductors and clinicians throughout the United States, as well as in England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. As an elementary school teacher, she used handchimes with her first and second grade classes.

Now retired, she is working on integrating Orff training with hand chimes and bells. Currently the Claremont handbell program has five choirs and over 60 ringers ranging in age from 4 to 78. Claremont bell choirs have toured in the United States and attended conferences in Area I and Area X. Members have attended six International Symposia, including Australia in August 2006.

Tammy Waldrop
Composer/Arranger, Clinician, Editor, Church Musician, and “Ring Leader” are all nouns that describe the busy person of Tammy Waldrop, a native of Hobbs, New Mexico.

A graduate of Baylor University with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Music Theory with an emphasis in Composition, Tammy has been writing and arranging for handbells and choirs since 1980, placing over 350 publications with 16 publishers. She developed the handbell division of WORD MUSIC, where she also served as assistant choral editor, and then went on to establish her own company, RING OUT! PRESS, which is now a part of the Jeffers Publishing Group.  As of June 1, 2005 Tammy assumed the position of Alfred Publishing Handbell Editor.  She currently serves as handbell director for JuBELLation! and Ring Forth! handbell choirs in her home church, First Baptist Church of the Woodlands.

In her spare time Tammy enjoys gardening, writing children’s books, and traveling to Ireland whenever she can get the chance.  She resides in the Houston, Texas area with her husband Emanuel Hollander, son Marc, and three American Eskimo dogs – Lucy, Gracie, and Gretel. 

Beth Watson
Beth Watson is Director of Music Ministries at Northwest Hills United Methodist Church, Austin, TX, where she oversees a program consisting of five choirs.  She has served as President of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, as Secretary/Treasurer of Area IX, and as Music Chairman for AGEHR, Inc.  She is active as a conductor and clinician for seminars, festivals, workshops, and denominational worship and music conferences.  She was also one of the conductors representing the United States at the International Handbell Symposium in Toronto, Canada, in the summer of 2004.  Beth has one arrangement published by AGEHR music entitled “Gypsy Song” from Carmen by Georges Bizet.  She is also the author of a chapter in the AGEHR publication Page One, for beginning directors.  Beth was a charter member and the assistant conductor of the Dallas Handbell Ensemble and was the original conductor of the Concert Bells of Fort Worth.  Beth also served as President of the Greater Dallas Handbell Association.  Beth has been attending AGEHR activities since 1965 (as a member of a youth handbell choir in WV) and has been conducting handbell choirs since 1968.  She is a member of the AGEHR Legacy Society and Past Officers Council.

Beth holds degrees in Voice Performance and Music Education from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City and the University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.  She was an Instructor at Queens College, Charlotte, NC, and was the handbell instructor at Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.  Beth has served churches in New York City, Norman, OK, Charlotte, NC, and Dallas and Arlington, TX.

Tim Waugh
Tim is an internationally known clinician, conductor and composer in many facets of performing arts, including handbells, choral and liturgical music, organ and musical theatre.

He receives many commissions, recently including the Donald E Allured Commission (LondeLirinen - AGEHR), the Greater Dallas Handbell Association 2007 Festival (Festal Dance - Chorister’s Guild) and the Raleigh Ringers Young Ringer’s 2007 Festival (Reperqussio – From the Top Publishing). In addition to his position as Music Educator and Chairman of the Fine Arts Division at PikeView High School in Southern West Virginia and as Artist-in-Residence at Beckley Presbyterian Church, he maintains an active schedule of festivals, conferences, and workshops throughout the US and internationally.

In January 2007, Tim traveled to London to present workshops to music educators introducing handbells into education. Additionally he has been invited to be one of the conductors and serve as a committee member to organize the youth event at the 2008 International Handbell Symposium in Orlando. He was named Master Teacher in Rhythms and received the Distinguished Service Award in 2005 given by AGEHR Area V, among other professional recognitions. His PikeView CHORALE has appeared twice in Carnegie Hall in New York City, and Tim recently was pianist for a Carnegie performance in November 2006.

David Weck
David L. Weck is founder and director of The Agape Ringers.  On a daily basis, he is an editor with Hope Publishing Company of Carol Stream, Illinois, where he is responsible for the handbell catalog consisting of more than 700 titles.  David is in demand as clinician and director of numerous local and national handbell events including the 2004 International Handbell Symposium in Toronto and the 2008 International Symposium in Orlando, Florida.  In 2005, he served as Guest Conductor for the Summer Workshop of The Handbell Ringers of Japan.  For 30 years, David has been involved in choral music through music education, church music and as assistant director of the Chicago Community Renewal Chorus.  Currently, he serves as adjunct faculty member of Vander Cook College of Music Continuing Education, and also serves on the national board of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers. In 2004 he was awarded the Area VIII Outstanding Service Award. David and his wife, Jane Holstein, reside in Wheaton, Illinois, where they enjoy spending their spare time with grandchildren, Becky and Jack.

Sandra Winter
Sandra Winter graduated from Trinity College of Music, London and Goldsmiths’ College, University of London as a music teacher, and has taught all age groups from pre-school and nursery through to adults. She has been involved in school, church and community handbell ringing for over thirty years. 

Sandra directs two teams, a large five octave group The Wandle Ringers, and a church based group Sanderstead 2 o’clock Bells; gives concerts, demonstrations and talks as a solo ringer and regularly conducts and runs workshops in the UK and at International Symposia.  She has conducted at the Symposia in Japan in 1998 and Korea in 2002, and is a published composer and arranger of handbell music.  She is a past Chairman of the South East Region, Handbell Ringers of Great Britain, and is now the National Secretary of the Society.