Bells of the Sound



		2008 Roster: Shirley Lindberg \| Scott Barker \| Patrice Briggs Vanessa Dziuba \| Rich Irish \| Elliot Lewis Chris Madsen \| Jillian McBride \| Wendy McPhetres Lisa Mjorud \| Liesl Mordhorst \| Sue Perkins Phyllis Rowland \| Donna Timbrook \| Jennifer Vangolen Bryant Wilkie
		Shirley Lindberg returned to Bells of the Sound after a brief hiatus - and now stands on the other side of the table! Music is a passion for Shirley; she also directs the handbell choirs of Tibbetts United Methodist Church and is an accomplished pianist, performing solo as well as accompanying other musicians. She holds a Masters of Public Administration and is now working for Perkins Coie LLP, an international law firm. She lives with her husband, Myron, and son, David, in West Seattle.

		Scott Barker is native to the Seattle area and began ringing bells in 1976. He currently directs the handbell program at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Bellevue. After more than 15 years working as a retail manager for various music stores in the Seattle area, Scott is now finishing a degree in Business at the University of Washington in Bothell. He is also a licensed Realtor, working with RE/MAX Integrity in Issaquah. Scott and wife Ann have recently become empty nesters, as son Ryan is out of college, and on his own, and daughters Christine and Emily are attending college in Bellingham. Scott is also a board member of AGEHR, the national handbell guild, serving as Area 10 Chair-Elect.

		Patrice Briggs hails from Houston, Texas but has called Seattle home for 27 years. She has three children - Scott (19), Bobby (17) and Carley (13). They are joined by the best dog in the world, a golden retriever affectionately named Dallas, in keeping her and husband Dave on their toes. Patrice graduated from Texas A&M with a computer science degree and later completed a Masters in Software Engineering from Seattle University. After an 18 year retirement, she has recently rejoined the workforce at Children's Hospital in the Clinical Nutrition Department. Activities that she enjoys include rollerblading, rock-climbing, ringing, shopping, dreaming of a clean house and spending time with family and friends.

		Vanessa Dziuba is a true East-Coaster: she was born and raised in Queens and later moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 2001 with a music/piano performance major and pre-med minor, and went to Penn State for graduate school in the sciences. This is where Vanessa began her other career as a handbell player/director/enthusiast, directing 2 bell choirs and serving as music director at a Methodist church. She moved to Seattle in 2006 and attends Bastyr University. Cottonball, a white chinchilla, and Vesper, a black/white guinea pig are the loves of her life. In whatever spare time she has, she enjoys driving, exploring Washington and sleeping.

		Rich Irish relocated to Seattle in 2002 after spending much of his youth in Eugene, Oregon. He started ringing handbells at First Christian Church in Eugene in 1994 and began directing the choir in 1998. He enjoyed handbells so much that in 2000 he auditioned for and was accepted into Bells of the Cascades, an advanced community choir based in Portland. He now works for Adaptis, and enjoys listening to music, reading and solving Sudoku puzzles.

		Elliot Lewis was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri and began ringing handbells in 5th grade. He attended Yale University and graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Math. Elliot moved to Seattle in 2002 and works for Microsoft. In his spare time, he performs with The Baudboys, an a cappella group at Microsoft and the Microsoft Theatre Troupe. Elliot’s a big fan of Indian food and Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

		Chris Madsen moved from Maine to Olympia in September 2004. She is the Washington representative to the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, and held a similar position in Maine, where she rang with the Parish Ringers in Brunswick. Her first career was in journalism: she was an editor and writer for a small newspaper in Maine and then for the Christian Science Monitor. She is a published author of fiction as well, and works part-time as a computer programmer to support the fiction habit. She and her partner have a 9-year-old son.

		Jillian McBride is our first legacy - her mom, Kristie McBride, was a founding member and Jillian is proud to follow in her footsteps! Jillian lives in Kent and attends Trinity Lutheran College. She began ringing bells when she was 5 years old at Kent First Baptist Church and she’s still very active in their handbell program, which is still under the direction of her mom. In her spare time, Jillian loves to play ice hockey, snowboard, wakeboard, surf, and ride motorcycles.

		Wendy McPhetres began ringing handbells at the age of 10 in Haines, Alaska. She took a few years off from ringing while she attended Willamette University, achieving her bachelor of music in education as well as her master of arts in teaching degrees. Currently, Wendy teaches choir to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in Bremerton. She is kept on her toes by her 2 cats, Mimi and Aly.

		Lisa Mjorud has been ringing handbells since 1992. She works part-time as an administrative assistant for two otolaryngologists (ear, nose and throat specialists) in Renton and lives in downtown Puyallup. She met her husband, Matt Winningham, in Bells of the Sound and is the proud mom of future bell ringer Erik Josiah, born September 1st of this year. She enjoys walks around the neighborhood and spending time with family and friends.

		Liesl Mordhorst has come to the realization that handbells are fun - after 28 years of ringing in places as diverse as Southern California, Florida, France's Loire Valley, Alaska and Western Washington, . She delights in the possibilities that she finds in this instrument - the teamwork, the music, the puzzles (how many in hand?, get 'em all in that truck?). Besides handbells, yacht racing/cruising, family, softball, volleyball, hiking, roller-coastering, and travel all take turns occupying her attention. During the day she is a Mortgage Originator with Alpine Mortgage Services, Inc. in Seattle.

		Sue Perkins was born in Grants Pass, Oregon, grew up in California, and relocated to the Seattle area with her family in 2000 to get out of the hustle and bustle (and heat) of California. She began ringing handbells in 1978 after managing to talk the director into teaching her to also read music! Sue is an experienced legal secretary, and has a 18-year-old daughter who is also a bell hog.

		Phyllis Rowland is retired from the USAF and currently works part time as a personal assistant as well as owning a pet sitting business in West Seattle. She sang in the Okinawa Choral Society, rang handbells in the Azores, accompanied on piano a choir in Spain and danced to a lot of R&B in the Philippines. Phyllis enjoys reading, dancing (salsa and tango), bike riding, and breakfast.

		Donna Timbrook hails from Spokane and began ringing handbells when she was 12. She earned a degree in business administration from the University of Washington and for good measure also earned her CPA, CMA & CFM. Donna currently is employed as an Fiscal Specialist at the University of Washington and her two boys - Jonathan (9) & Teddy (10) - keep her busy.

		Jennifer Vangolen started ringing at age 10 in Hackettstown, New Jersey, where she famously added one extra “Hallelujah” at the end of Handel’s Chorus one Easter. She graduated from Brandeis University with a degree in chemistry and in 1995, she hopped into her car and moved from Boston to Seattle. Jennifer is currently the Customer Support Manager at SunGard Higher Education on Vashon Island. She believes that any moment can be made better with either a Dr Pepper or a margarita, and spends her spare time traveling, riding roller coasters, biking and playing with her new kittens, Pim and Maaike.

		Bryant Wilkie is the handbell director at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Bellevue. He was born and raised in the Seattle area and began ringing handbells in 1981. He studied at South Seattle Community College and the University of Washington, earning degrees in culinary arts and business administration. He enjoys cycling, hiking, lapidary and stained glass in his spare time.


		*Bells of the Sound* PO Box 46606 Seattle, WA 98146 info@bellsofthesound.org