Briana is happy to be ringing with CHE for a fifth season. During the school day, you can find her driving around Columbia, directing orchestras at Hickman High School (Go Kewpies!) and a handful of other schools. Briana services as the handbell director at Missouri United Methodist Church. She began ringing hand chimes at age ten, and made the switch to handbells a few years later. In addition to ringing, Briana plays the cello and the organ. When not teaching or rehearsing with CHE, she enjoys running, redecorating her newly purchased condo, teaching private music lessons and playing with her kitty, Alina.
Spring 2005 (Briana is taking time off from ringing but still very active behind the scenes writting grants and on the CHE board.)
Tom Brintnall (Board Member)
Tom has rung everything from 4-in-hand to bass bells since he started ringing in 1984. He has been an instructor of bells techniques at the regional level. He is currently Supervisor of Technical Operations for the University of Missouri-Columbia athletics department. His duties include hiring, training, and supervising part time stage crew, riggers and sound/video technicians for all the athletic and concert events taking place at Mizzou Area, Hearnes Center and the Amphitheater at Mizzou. Tom and his wife Laurel have a daughter Piper who is a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Spring 2005 (Tom is taking time off from active ringing but a fantastic substitute and he is active behind the scenes for CHE.)
Charlene Parks
Charlene is enjoying her seventh year with the ensemble. She enjoys playing different spots and loves being the floater! She works as a sonographer at Boone Hospital Center. She directs the Joyful Ringers at Trinity Lutheran Church. She loves hanging out with her husband Ryan and her two children Tyler age 4 and his baby sister Kalena.
Fall 2005
Kelli Embry
After a year’s hiatus Kelli is returning to CHE to continue her handbell career of 10 plus years. She stays busy raising two teenagers and one husband, while working at the University of Missouri. Her hobbies are singing, playing handbells and sleeping.
Fall 2007/Spring 2008
Jane Grant Bennett
Jane is a physical therapist, and physical educator. She worked at the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute in Minneapolis before joining the faculty at the University of Missouri, where she taught for thirty-six years. She was introduced to handbells at Missouri United Methodist Church of Columbia in 1984, and joined the ensemble in the fall of 1990. Her son Jack is a physical therapist, and a member of the faculty at Maryville University in St. Louis. Jane is the proud grandmom of Andrew Kent Bennett.
Fall 2005
Nancy Dreier
This current season is Nancy’s 12th with CHE. WOW! Where has the time gone?! The past two seasons, it’s been a special delight to ring next to "prodigal daughter" Sarah. Beyond CHE, Nancy directs three bell choirs at Community UMC and is in her 40th (gasp!) year of teaching piano in her home studio. Non-musical interests include sewing and doing counted cross-stitch.
Spring 2008
Christy Hall
Christy is very excited to be ringing in her fourth year with CHE. She also rings with the Weslyan Ringers at Missouri United Methodist Church as well as the quartet. When Christy is not ringing, she works at State Farm Insurance, walks her dog Bear, practices yoga and reads.
Spring 2008
David Martens
David is a graduate student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He played handbells with his church, Manchester United Methodist Church in St. Louis, for five years before going to the University of Notre Dame for one year. When not in lab or playing handbells, David is probably running with the MU Track/Cross Country team. His other musical endeavors have included singing as well as playing piano, and various brass instruments.
Spring 2005 (David is working on his Doctors Degree and has moved out of state.)
Lisbeth Yasuda
Lisbeth began ringing bells with the First Baptist Church of Columbia Youth Handbell Choir. She took a short hiatus while starting College, but is now back in the swing of things. In addition to ringing, Lisbeth keeps busy with school, performing with her group Serenade Strings and her various jobs.
Fall 2005
Edward Rollins
Edward S. Rollins is Associate Pastor, Music and Administration, at First Baptist Church of Columbia, where he has served for over 19 years. He received a B.S. in Church Music from William Jewell College and a Master of Church Music degree from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Ed is co-founder of the Ensemble, along with Deb Carr & Tom Brintnall.
He has served in many capacities for the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, including Missouri State Chair, Area VIII Chair, and for seven years Ed was a member of the National Board of Directors. He has acted as clinician/coordinator/conductor for handbell events in 20 states.
In Columbia, Ed has coordinated seven local church choir musical collaborations including performances by Men’s Chorus (Thompson’s The Testament of Freedom), Boy’s Choir (assorted works), choir and orchestra (Rutter’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, the Mass in B-flat by Schubert, and Mack Wilberg’s Four American Folk Hymns), and Handbells (a community ringing festival). In 1999, Ed was selected as an Alice Parker Fellow. In 2003, he joined the University of Missouri Show-Me-Opera to perform the world premiere of Corps of Discovery, an opera based on the journeys of Lewis and Clark. In his spare time, Ed chases his three dogs and one cat, works in the garden and participates in triathlons. He is married to Deborah Carr and is the step-dad for two University of Missouri-Columbia students.
Fall 2007/Spring 2008
Ryan Stoll
Ryan is currently a Senior at the University of Missouri-Columbia studying computer science through the College of Engineering. He began ringing at First Baptist Church in Columbia, MO during elementary school and continued throughout high school. In his spare time, he can be found strumming a guitar or swinging a ping-pong paddle. Ryan's musical background includes the piano, the clarinet, the saxophone, as well as a drum major. He is excited to be in his second year with CHE.
Spring 2005
Kathy Paganoni (Web Manager)
Kathy is married to an Air Force B-2 instructor/test pilot and has two children, a teenager and a cute Kindergartner, both whom are very active in church, music, school, and sports. Kathy began ringing bells in her church choir in New Hampshire during high school. She has been involved with bell choirs everywhere she has lived: Guam, South Dakota, Maine, California and Missouri. Currently, Kathy is directing The Spirit Ringers at Whiteman Air Force Base and the youth handbell choirs. She also directs the Chapel's children's vocal choir, puppet team and is the Commander of Awana 24/7 ministry. She has a MA, enjoys working with her art, and horses in her free time?!
Fall 2005 (Kathy's husband has retired from the Military and now working for NG with the B-2 program. They have moved to Norman Oklahoma - email thepags@sbcglobal.net)
Sarah Eskridge
Sarah has lived in many places before moving to Columbia in January 05. She currently works for the University of Missouri-Columbia in the Study Abroad Office, while also finishing up her Masters at the University of Wisconsin. Ask her how her thesis is coming along. A first soprano by training, she started playing bells in high school and played in St. Louis and Kentucky.
Spring 2006
Diana Groshong(Business Manager)
Diana, Columbia Handbell Ensemble Business manger, is a charter member of the ensemble who, although retired from ringing after the 1994 Spring Concert, has on occasion substituted when needed. She remains an enthusiastic of the ensemble and is now acting as the ensemble's first business manager. Diana owns and operates Hawthorne Real Estate Services, Inc., a property management company. She is active in the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, First Baptist Church (including Chancel Bell Choir and chair of the board of Trustees), Missouri Theater Center for the Arts, and Gastranomes cooking club, to name but a few of her activities. Diana and her husband have two grown children, Reese and Lisa and their spouses and two beautiful grandchildren, Natasha and Tommy.
Fall 2005
Sarah Larson
Sarah is in her fifth year with CHE and very happy to be here. Before moving to Columbia, she played in handbell choirs in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and Fresno, California. She currently works as an academic advisor for Columbia College Online Campus and enjoys volunteering with the Community Garden Coalition and singing in her church choir.
Fall 2007
COME AGAIN SOON!
Dr. Deborah Carr
Dr. Deborah Carr, director and co-founder of the Columbia Handbell Ensemble, received a B.S. degree in Vocal Music Education in 1977, a M.Ed. in School Psychology in 1992, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology in 1996, all from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She began ringing in Monroe, Louisiana in 1982. Since 1984, she has resided in Columbia, Missouri where she initiated a five-octave bell program at Missouri United Methodist Church and also directed youth and bell choirs at Community United Methodist Church. From 1988-90, she served as the Missouri State Chair of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers. During her tenure, the CHE performed for the Area VIII Conference in 1992, the AGHER National Director's Conference in 1995, the AGHER National Ringers Conference in 1997, and the International Handbell Explosion in 1998. A highly respected conductor/clinician, Deborah directed the 1991 Western National AGHER Young Ringers Conference in Ames, Iowa, the 1994 National AGHER Conferences in Tampa, Florida, and Niagara Falls, New York. Over the past ten years, she has served as conductor/clinician for national, regional and state conferences in Iowa, Minnesota, Kentucky, North Carolina, Arkansas, New Hampshire and Oregon. Her classes in the developmental approach to ringing at more advanced levels have been well received at AGHER national conferences. Deborah currently serves as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education and Teacher Development in the College of Education at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her research interests are devoted to teacher education, human learning and organizational cognition. She is married to Ed Rollins and has two children, Ryan and Emily Stoll.
Blaine Grider
Blaine is a Kansas City native and a junior journalism student at MU. He has been ringing since 4th grade at Raytown Christian Church under the direction of Suanne Comfort. Blaine, huge sports fan, hopes to make a career in sports journalism after college. This is his fouth year with the ensemble.
Fall 2007/Spring 2008
Photo
coming
soon - so we hope!
Noah Hartsfield
Noah is starting his third year with CHE and is a junior music and psychology major. Noah aspires to enter the field of Music Therapy and Music Psychology. In addition to CHE, he rings at MUMC and sings in Choral Voice at MU. He loves spending time in the great outdoors and has backpacked in three of the country’s beautiful mountain ranges.
Spring 2008
Linda Hayward
Linda is a new member of CHE. She has been living in Columbia, MO, for 17 years. She has played handbells in the Columbia United Church of Christ for 10 years, where she also plays flute, sings in the choir and direct children’s music and dance. Linda also teaches Adaptive Music for the Columbia Public Schools. Her pride and joy are her two wonderful children, Robbie and Kristy, and her beautiful little granddaughter, Laynee.
Spring 2006
CHE Ringers
Matt Fetterly
Matt has been ringing since 4th grade. He is currently a junior at MU majoring in Music Education. In addition to being a student he also teaches percussion at Christian Fellowship and Hickman High School.
Spring 2008
Patty Orth
Patty is very happy to be in CHE after an involuntary 6 year break from handbells. She learned to love ringing bells in high school at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Okla. City, OK over 15 years ago. While attending college, she would ring as a sub there whenever she could during breaks. Since learning to ring, she's earned a B.S. and a D.V.M., as well as the titles wife (Eric), "Mommy" (David, 3 years) and "Mama!" (Jacob, 18 months). She practices veterinary medicine 1-2 days a week in Ashland, and plays violin for mass at her church, Our Lady of Lourdes.
Spring 2006
Becky Steere
Becky is a sophomore at Rock Bridge High School. She has been ringing since 3rd grade at First Baptist Church under the direction of Ed Rollins. Becky enjoys singing and hopes to pursue a career in education. This is her first year with the ensemble
Sping 2006
Chris Thomas
Chris is a student at Hickman High School. He enjoys playing his trumpet and is involved with many different instrumental ensembles. A few of these include his school band, Missouri Symphony Society Youth Orchestra, and his church ensemble. Chris has been ringing for six years with his church, Community United Methodist Church. This is his first year with CHE.
Spring 2006
Photo
coming
soon - so we hope!
Photo
coming
soon - so we hope!
Photo
coming
soon - so we hope!
Meg Gray
Meg began to ring handbells in junior high school at Rose Hill Presbyterian Church in Kirkland, Washington. She has directed children, youth, and adult handbell choirs in Little Rock Arkansas and Oklahoma, and is excited to be ringing handbells with the Columbia Handbell Ensemble. Meg is an Assistant Professor of Piano at Lincoln University; she also teaches a few pre-college piano students.
2005 Spring
Dr. Julia Gaines - CHE Conductor
Dr. Gaines was percussionist for the CHE for two years prior to becoming the ensembles artistic director/conductor 1999 – 2003
Dr. Gaines joined the faculty of the School of Music at the University of Missouri-Columbia in August 1996 as the Instructor of Percussion. At Mizzou, Dr. Gaines teaches private percussion lessons, directs the University Percussion Ensemble and the World Percussion Ensemble, teaches the percussion methods class and the beginning drum set class, and services as the Faculty Advisor to the MU Percussion Society – a student organization devoted to promoting percussion events and education on the MU campus and in the Columbia community.
Dr. Gaines completed the requirements for the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Oklahoma in July of 1999. She also holds a graduate degree and a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY along with an undergraduate degree from the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI. She is an active member of the Percussive Arts Society both locally and nationally and remains active as a performer, writer and arranger for many mediums of music, including handbells. For the 2000 spring concert, she arranged her first handbell piece, Over the Rainbow.
Along with her activities at MU and with the CHE, Julia has been an active member of the community by serving as the past-Coordinator of the Columbia Christian Singles organization and also by being active in her church, Christian Fellowship. She is married to Rob Gaines, a businessperson in town and they have a young boy.
2004 winter season
Colleen Ostercamp
Colleen is very happy to be back ringing in the choir after a short time away. Colleen’s musical background includes years of teaching piano, flute and classroom vocal music in Brazil, Canada, Florida and now in Columbia. Her husband is a chaplain at the University Hospital and a vocal-guitar performer, and her son is currently studying music education at MU. She is the organist at First Baptist Church, a member of Chancel Bell Choir, and directs the children’s choir. Ringing is as much a social opportunity as a musical outlet, which makes Tuesday evenings great!
2002-2003 season
Stephanie Ranck
New to the Columbia are last fall, Stephanie, jumped at the opportunity to join the Ensemble. Stephanie began ringing in Encinitas, CA. She’s played at both ends of the table and many positions in between. She makes a living ensuring pharmaceuticals are safe for consumption. She likes to garden, golf, play with her dog, read and travel.
2002-2003 season
Amanda Pence
Amanda is in her third year at the University of Missouri-Columbia majoring in music history and music performance on the oboe with minors in anthropology and Italian. She hopes to specialize in either early western music and instruments or non-western instrumental music. When not in rehearsal or studying, Amanda may be found at Fairview United Methodist, where she is the youth leader and chime director, or playing with her cats and chinchillas. Amanda has been playing handbells since she was ten and is excited to play with CHE. "Everyone needs a passion, mine is music."
2002-2003 season
Earl Fraser
This is Earl’s fourth year ringing with CHE. In addition to handbells, Earl also enjoys singing and weaving. He is an attorney practicing in Jefferson City. He lives in Columbia.
2001 season
Claire Major
A computer science student interested in software development, Claire Major has nonetheless had a deep interest in music for most of her life. She played middle handbells for the Rolla United Methodist Church handbell choir in 1991, and currently plays middle bells for the Columbia Handbell Ensemble and high and low bells for the Wesley Ringers at the Missouri United Methodist Church. Her favorite hobby: arranging German, Eastern European, and Russian classical music for MIDI performance.
