Bell Trees with Nikki Evans
Bell trees can add a glorious sound to a great variety of things! Whether it’s solos, small ensemble, adding to a full choir, or playing with a band, a bell tree can have magic to contribute. Come experience them and their wonderful versatility.

From Chaos to Clarity – Rehearsal Strategies that Work with John Klopp
Course Description: If you find you always have too much rehearsal time causing you and your ensemble to stand around endlessly twiddling your thumbs, this course is NOT for you. If your ensemble is performance ready after reading through a piece once, this course is NOT for you. If you look at your scores once and immediately know what you want from your ensemble, this course is NOT for you. Otherwise, this course might just be for you! Come get some ideas on how to improve the effectiveness of your rehearsals, and bring some ideas of your own to share!

Handbell History with Laurie Austin
Handbell History will cover the early history of handbell ringing in the United States with a particular emphasis on our region. Then we will ring bells using historic music notation to see how it has changed over the years.  

Handbell Maintenance with Amy Knudsen
Bell not ringing properly?  Don’t know what to do?  We will take apart both Schulmerich and Malmark bells, diagnose problems and learn how to remedy them.  Have a particular bell that needs help? Bring it. If you especially want to work on a bell, bring your tools.

Introduction to “Going Digital” – iPads and Tables for Handbell Musicians with Gayla Voss
From “digital requests,” to the nuts and bolts of using iPads and Tablets as a handbell musician, this class will explore the benefits and challenges of transitioning away from printed music.

Musicianship Mini-Track Session 1 – “From Clunky to Clear – the Art of Beautiful Chimes”
“Do you remember when you first played a hand chime? Was it in elementary school when it was good enough that you could make it sound? Or was it later in life and you were told it was just like playing a handbell?

This hands-on class will teach participants how to achieve the best sound on hand chimes through the proper technique and performance of music with chimes, and their maintenance. We will also learn how to troubleshoot common issues with chimes. This class is good for both beginners and experienced ringers.”  

Musicianship Mini-Track Session 2 = Damp, Dampen, Dampening: Beyond the Shoulder Damp 

Musicianship Mini-Track Session 3 = Technique for ringers and composers, title TBD
This class will explore a grab bag of musicianship techniques that are important for both ringers and conductors, including: challenges unique to bass, treble, and battery bells; conducting patterns; communicating as an ensemble; movement and eye contact; and more. We’ll also talk about the “composer’s intent” and the grand musical conversation that flows from composer to conductor and finally out to ensemble and audience.

Repertoire Reading Sessions
-Advent/Christmas with Patrick Gagnon
-General/Secular with Ron Mallory
-Lent/Easter with Kathryn Jurado

Sound Bath with Janelle Flory Schrock
While sound baths are often seen as a modern trend, using sound healing to promote well-being is an ancient global practice.

The core of sound therapy lies in balancing the Autonomic Nervous System. Today’s fast-paced lifestyle often overstimulates the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS), keeping us in a “fight or flight” state. This chronic stress leads to elevated cortisol, physical burnout, and anxiety.

Through a variety of sound healing instruments, including gongs, Tibetan singing bowls, and tuning forks, a sound bath shifts the body into the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). This restorative state activates the vagus nerve, lowers the heart rate, and guides brainwaves from the stressed BETA state into relaxed ALPHA and THETA states.

Stopped Techniques with Nancy Youngman
What do all those symbols mean with my music? What are some good techniques of using these to improve my playing? What does TD mean—-I thought that meant TOUCHDOWN!! Using examples from several pieces of music, we will explore the Stopped Sounds of handbells, with the goal of helping pieces become easier and better for your group. At the end of the class, we will experiment with these different techniques with a fun piece. This is a lively, hands-on class, come prepared to learn!

Treble Techniques with Nikki Evans
A lot happens in the treble! Whether you’re carrying melody lines, adding the sparkle on top, or both, come learn strategies to manage the “treble-making”

Laurie Austin
Laurie Austin has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history and has been working professionally in archives and museums since 2002. She began ringing handbells in 1996 and is currently a member of Rezound! Handbell Ensemble in Kansas City. Combining her professional public history skills with her passion for handbell ringing, Laurie serves as the Area 8 historian. 

Nikki Evans
Born in Texas and relocated to Colorado, Nikki Evans has played other instruments (including piano, guitar, and knowing what the little buttons do on an accordion), but found her passion when she discovered the art of handbell ringing. She jumped in with both feet, immersing herself in the handbell world however she could. So far, she has performed in nineteen states, two Canadian provinces, and Brazil, and she was honored to perform at National Seminar in 2021. Nikki has coached handbell soloists and taught workshops for church and community handbell groups around the United States and British Columbia. She has also taught at National Seminar for several years.  

Patrick Gagnon
Patrick Gagnon is a music educator dedicated to the development of the tuneful person.  He is K-12 Vocal Music teacher for South Hardin Schools and serves as Director of Music Ministries at Collegiate United Methodist Church and Wesley Foundation in Ames, Iowa.  Patrick is a founding director of Des Moines Concert Handbells and is Music Director for theatrical productions with The Iowa State University Department of Music and Theater.  

John Klopp
John Klopp has served as the director of RiverBend Bronze since 2018 and has been involved with handbells for more than five decades. He was introduced to the instrument in the early 1970s at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Davenport, Iowa, where he has also served as handbell director and continues to ring today.

John holds a Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance and Music Education from the University of Iowa and a Master of Arts in Music Education with an emphasis in conducting from Northwest Missouri State University (now Truman State University). He spent many years as a band director in Iowa, teaching students in grades 5–12 and credits his background in music education with shaping his rehearsal strategies and collaborative teaching style.

An active performer and lifelong learner, John regularly attends Handbell Musicians of America events and continues to grow as a conductor, ringer, and soloist.

Amy Knudsen
Amy’s introduction into refurbishing handbells started when she was directing a choir in the Kansas City area.  During the summer, she’d take home the bells, take them apart and then fix/clean them for the next year.  In 2024, she bought out Darby Handbell Services and started her own handbell refurbishing business, Prairie Sun Handbell Services.  She has taught this handbell maintenance class at a Kansas handbell event in September of 2024.

She’d love to touch base with anyone, and talk about the future of handbells in the state of Kansas and Area 8.

Ron Mallory
Ron Mallory has been playing, conducting, and composing for handbells in church, school, and community choir settings for over 30 years. He has served as guest conductor at numerous festivals and teaches regularly at local and national handbell conferences. Ron has a master’s degree in conducting from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in music composition from California State University, Long Beach. For more about Ron and his music, visit www.ronmallory.com. 

William J. Murphy
William J. Murphy has several decades of singing, handbell ringing, and directing experience. He received a Bachelor of Music degree with concentrations in Music Education and Voice from Westminster Choir College of Rider University. There, he rang with the Westminster Concert Bell Choir, with performances in over 40 states, Carnegie Hall, and on “A Royal Christmas” multi-city tour featuring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. William has worked as a musical director for several ensembles in the Central Florida region, including Magic of Bronze and Grace Notes, both in the Orlando area, Community Presbyterian Church in Celebration, and Suncoast Bronze Ringers in the Tampa Bay area. He has performed with many high-level ringing choirs around the country, including Distinctly Bronze East and West, the HMA All-Star Choir, Virtuoso, Zenith, and Bayview, as well as being an active member with the music department at Hyde Park UMC in Tampa, singing in the choir, and with a gospel barbershop quartet. He is currently serving as the Past Chair of Handbell Musicians of America, Area 4, having served on the Board for over 10 years, and previously holding the positions of Chair, Treasurer and Secretary. 

Janelle Flory Schrock

Gayla Voss
Gayla Voss has been ringing bells for over 30 years. She has been attending Ares 8 conferences since 1996 in Omaha ( there was a tornado warning).  She is very excited to share her knowledge of getting started using digital music. 

Nancy Youngman
Nancy Youngman has been a handbell choir director since 1984, serving two churches since 1991 and is the founder/artistic director of Bell-issimo, Lincoln Nebraska’s auditioned Community Handbell Choir. Since 1990, she has been a member of the Nebraska State Handbell Committee and has served as State Chair twice. She served on the Area 8 Board of HMA as Secretary from 1996 – 1998 and is currently the Area 8 Chimes Chair. Nancy has taught at workshops throughout Nebraska and neighboring states, at Area 8 Festivals, National events, and has served as guest clinician for several handbell workshops.