Chris Sheppard Chris began ringing handbells after college but was involved in music from an early age, singing in church choirs, community choirs, school choirs, and the Texas Lutheran College Concert Choir. A trumpet player too, that can make for a busy Easter morning service singing, ringing, and trumpeting. He has played handbells, mostly bass […]
Carolyn Schmidt Carolyn began her music career at age four, when her parents realized that she could play all of her nursery rhyme tunes on the family piano. Lessons followed. She became the school chorus accompanist at 14. She’s received a B.A. degree from Ithaca College in behavioral psychology with a music minor, playing bass […]
Robin Reich Robin is enjoying retirement in Sarasota after working as a procurement analyst for a NC-based software company for many years. She has been playing handbells for over 50 years and relishes the challenge of ringing with Ring Sarasota. In her “spare” time, she sings in her church choir, volunteers as treasurer for three organizations and travels to […]
Phyllis O’Keef Phyllis joined Ring Sarasota in 2015, after moving to Bradenton from North Carolina with her husband, who pastors Roser Community Church, Anna Maria. As a music educator and church musician, she enjoys every aspect of making music: choral singing, church organist, pianist, accompanying, ringing, and directing children to adults. Her introduction to handbells […]
Kyle Miller Wallace Kyle joined Ring Sarasota in Season 2 and brought years of handbell ringing experience with her. When she is not ringing with Ring Sarasota, she enjoys working and ringing with Ring Sarasota’s smaller ensemble, RingSide. She is married to Stuart, and they share a home with their two schnauzers, Nicholas and Holly. […]
Steven Leadbetter Prior to relocating to Florida, Steve was a founding member (2002) of the Atlanta Concert Ringers. He rings in various national advanced handbell events where he has been honored with multiple selections to the All Stars Choir and to Virtuoso, performing with the Raleigh Ringers. Steve is currently the Ring Sarasota board president […]
Kim Johnson Kim is a retired Information Technology Project Manager. She is a native of Wisconsin and, even though she has lived in Florida over 40 years, she still considers herself a “Cheesehead”. She began playing handbells twenty years ago when her church decided to start a handbell group. Always active in choir, she thought, “This sounds like […]
The son of Wesleyan Methodist missionaries, Larry grew up in the Republic of South Africa where he began piano lessons at the age of 9. Many years later, in 1980, he was introduced to the art of handbell ringing when his church purchased a 2-octave set of Malmark Handbells, and he was instantly hooked! Since […]
Kathie Hayes Kathie’s careers range between pharmacy, corporate taxation, retail store ownership, and motherhood. She currently works in fiber arts. Kathie has been ringing handbells in ensembles and as bell tree solos since 1994. She has performed with Distinctly Bronze, at the International Symposium, and at HMA National Seminar. She is currently the co-host of “Walking on With Chris […]
Katy began ringing handbells in 2013 after being called in to substitute in her church’s handbell choir. After two rehearsals, she was hooked on the instrument and joined full time. Since then, she has been an active choir member, helped co-found a small handbell ensemble, and has attended festivals and workshops throughout the state of […]
Although her degree from Penn State University reads “Architectural Engineering,” Terri discovered her love of Church Music back in the 90s when, as a young mother of three, she was asked to direct the Children’s Choir “because you play the piano, right?” Saying yes to that request morphed into directing, at one point, 7 handbell […]
Rick is the founding director of Ring Sarasota Handbell Ensemble. First introduced to handbells in 1985, he has been actively ringing and leading handbell choirs ever since. His first career was serving as a musician in the U.S. Navy, where he performed in, managed and directed Navy Bands worldwide for 30 years. During his time […]