Martha Matthews
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Janet L. Van Valey
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Current Ringers
Jacqueline Stilger is Director of Music at First United Methodist Church in beautiful downtown Kalamazoo where she oversees the choral ensembles, handbell choir, 2nd Sunday Jazz service and the children’s ensemble. She is also the director of one of the longest running women’s ensembles in the country, the Kalamazoo Community Chorale. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from the University of Louisville and a Master of Music degree in Organ and Church Music from Indiana University. She loves to garden, renovate her beautiful, old but new to her home and hang out with bass bell ringer Bernie Foulk and her three great kids, Carsten, Drew and Avery.
John joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2015. He has been playing handbells off and on since 1984. He played French horn in an army band and was a band director before going back to school to start a career as a mechanical engineer. Currently, he works at Conn-Selmer in Elkhart, Indiana, where musical instruments are made. In his spare time he enjoys reading, music, and spending time with his wife and their cats.
Laura joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2022. She has been ringing bells in various groups since 2005. She teaches middle school social studies in Holland, where she loves working alongside the spontaneity and quirkiness of adolescents. In her spare time, Laura enjoys traveling, being an aunt, and attempting to garden. Her favorite activity is reading books on the couch with her husband, their three cats, and a cozy mug of tea.
Gary Matthews joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2021. Besides being married to the Director, he has had a long career in music as a full-time church music and worship Pastor, conductor, composer and arranger. He has recorded many albums and just concluded a concert ministry with his brother performing over 600 concerts over the past 40 years. He and Martha also perform concerts nationally.
Holly joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2014. She started playing bells in her Detroit church in 1973 and has remained passionate about her bell choir participation for years. Holly holds degrees in Business Management and Social Work from EMU. In 2010 Holly decided to make Kalamazoo her home. Holly enjoys working outside her home and has three cats.
Chris joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2008. She was introduced to handbells in 1981 and played in several Colorado and Michigan choirs and ensembles. Chris has a background in chemical and pharmaceutical research but currently works in educational technology. When not making music, she enjoys outdoor activities with her family.
Julie joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2016. She has been ringing bells in her church choirs since 2008, including four years with her daughter. She retired in 2019 from leading the US nutrition labeling regulatory team at Kellogg’s in Battle Creek. She and her husband have two grown sons and enjoy spending time with them and their families, as well as their daughter. She also enjoys travel, gardening, volunteering, and reading.
Karol joined the Kalamazoo Ringers as a charter member in 1981. She has three daughters and seven grandchildren. In the summer time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends at her place on Lake Erie. She is retired from the Portage School system.
Nancy joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2011 after playing in her church handbell choir for many years. She is an active member of the Kalamazoo Weavers Guild and after retiring after a long career in information technology is interested in a variety of other arts and crafts such as sewing, knitting and beading. She and her husband have two adult daughters.
Cari joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2017. She began ringing bells in her church handbell choir as a substitute, before ringing full time. She received her bachelors and masters degrees in music education from
Western Michigan University. Currently, she teaches fifth grade in Paw Paw,
Michigan. In her spare time she enjoys playing the piano, singing, reading
books, golfing, and watching football. She also enjoys spending time with Ryan and their dog Birdie.
Rhonda joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2021. She has played French horn and handbells since the mid-1980s. She was a mathematics teacher for many years and after going back to school, now works as a programmer for clinical trials research. She enjoys playing horn in the Grand Rapids Symphonic Band, reading, coffee, and golfing with her husband.
Bernie joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2022. He received a bachelors degree in trumpet performance and masters degrees in library science and organ performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is currently the organist at First United Methodist Church in Kalamazoo. In his free time he enjoys cooking, gardening and restoring victorian homes. His cat Teaberry the Magnificent Cat is a freelance artist and financial advisor.
Melissa joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2010. She had been ringing about seven years in two different church handbell choirs. She is a single mom of a daughter and a son who also play handbells at church. She has taught gymnastics for the last 26+ years and enjoys all things crafty.
Before 2003, Linda considered herself a Kalamazoo Ringer “groupie”, attend all the in-town concerts as a faithful audience member, admiring not only the group’s ringing expertise, but also the difficulty of the music repertoire. In January of 2003, Linda’s life changed and has never been the same! She was asked to become a long-term sub for the KR spring season, a daunting task, to say the least. Hundreds of practice hours later, she rang in her first KR concert, not without wrong notes, but with a sense of accomplishment and pride.
And now, for the past 20 years, she has rung with the most amazing group of people, has met wonderful new friends, learned to step beyond her musical comfort zone, stepped into the position of section leader, and has grown in her mastery of ringing skills.
Since retiring in 2017 from teaching middle school in Portage, she has become full time Granny Nanny for two of her eight grandchildren. She and her husband of 45 years, Dave, spend much of their time visiting and playing with their grandbabies, all of whom live in or near Kalamazoo. God is so good! Besides ringing and directing two bell choirs at church, Linda enjoys gardening, driving the family pontoon boat, teaching swimming, volunteering at the Thrift Shop, and chasing energetic grandchildren. See you all at the next Kalamazoo Ringers concert!
Carla joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2019 after being a sub for the latter half of the 2018-19 season. She started playing handbells in England in 1987, and moved to California in 2012, where she began playing duets with her husband Larry. They moved to Holland, Michigan in 2016 and are now enjoying life together as a professional handbell duo. When she's not busy with music-related activities, Carla enjoys the Michigan winters (the colder the better!), drinking excessive amounts of coffee, and providing online support (via Facebook) to people in long-distance relationships.
Larry joined the Kalamazoo Ringers in 2019 after participating as a long-term sub for the latter half of the 2018-2019 season. He has played handbells since 1987, playing any position on the table but specializing in ringing bass. He was the conceptual founder and leader of Low Ding Zone, the World's First Bass-Only Handbell Ensemble, and is the author of the Bass Ringer's Notebook. He is also a composer and festival clinician and runs Choraegus, an online music company.
In 2016, he retired from a 35-year software engineering career and moved to Holland, Michigan where he and his wife Carla, also a KR member, are now ringing professionals who create and perform music for eight handbells as West Michigan's Smallest Handbell Choir.
In addition to handbells, his interests include developing websites, mowing the lawn, raking leaves, shoveling snow, coffee, coffee, and coffee.
Former Kalamazoo Ringers
| Diane Belote Carolyn Biles Steve Borik Cindra Burnside Norma Collison Russell Cooper Eloise Crocker Kate Davis Jody Dawson Melissa Dusseljee Brittany Ego Lisa Ferris-McCann Gayle Finder Linda Fisher Paul Flyger Cathy Foune Mary Galer |
Dawn Garrett Rob Griffin Mary Hassing Jennifer Heeres Deb House Monica Hurley Susie Jabour Judy Jones Pam Katona Steve Lieberman Doug Lynes Scott Marsh Kathie McLeod Carol Merrill Ryan Minier Russ O’Brian |
Jesse Olson Tracy Ore Ellen Page-Robin Amy Pierce Karen Polderdyke Deb Rafferty Steve Rose Bill Rowe Sally Rowe Sarai St. James Judy Shamu Jeff Shaw Bridgit Smith Andrew Stange Lola Thompson Jim Thompson |
Sheri Thompson Tisa Thompson Trevan Thompson Jan Urfer Tom Van Valey Terry Vantine Lori Vitale Laura Whitcomb Wendy Whittle Pam Wiersma Kathy Winchell Margaret Woodhams Barb Woodrow Steve Worsham Alexis Young Marie Zuidema |