Bells of the Rockies

Emily Bilek

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Emily joined Bells of the Rockies in 2022. She has been ringing bells off and on since she was 9 years old in church choirs across the state, and is excited to be part of such an excellent choir!

Emily and her husband live in Loveland with their daughter, their two dogs and their cat . She is currently enjoying being a stay-at-home mom for her daughter. When she isn’t being a mom, she enjoys knitting, crocheting, spinning yarn, and all manner of fiber crafts.

Mary Krings

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mary began ringing handbells in her church youth choir. She rediscovered her love of handbells as an adult and has enjoyed playing with her church bell choir along with her two children. She is excited to be a new member of Bells of the Rockies, and she is looking forward to the challenge and joy of ringing with such excellent musicians.

Mary lives in Fort Collins where she works as a geospatial analyst. She enjoys quilting and gardening and games of all kinds.

Owen Krings

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Owen began ringing handbells in elementary school. He now is a student at Colorado State University. His minor is in Music Performance on flute.

Brandi Patrick

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A self-proclaimed musical nerd with the skills to play over fifteen instruments, Brandi has loved bells since the first time she played chimes her senior year of high school. Before ringing with the BotR, Brandi has rung with The Bethany College Bell Choir (Lindsborg, KS), the Rocky Mountain Ringers, the Smithtonians and various church bell choirs across the front range.

Brandi recently moved to Fort Collins to further her education and is thrilled to be ringing with the Bells of the Rockies. Outside of bells she is active in church choirs, going to comic-cons and watching endless hours of Hallmark movies.

Andrew Hudson

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Andrew Hudson joined Bells of the Rockies in 2015 but has been ringing handbells since 1991. It just took a little while to get here. Andrew loves ringing with this group, his church choir, and any ensemble he can convince to work together.

Outside of ringing, Andrew teaches mathematics at Front Range Community College, and enjoys riding his bike, hiking, rock-climbing, and reading. He lives in Ft. Collins with his wife, Dayna, and their two dogs and their son.

Kathryn Rudd

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kathryn Rudd started ringing as a youth. She has been ringing in 1,2 and 3 Handbell ensembles at a time, depending on what her schedule allows. She enjoys both full choir and small ensemble ringing. She appreciates the advanced level of musicianship and ringing ability that Bells of the Rockies strives for in each performance. She is grateful that her family have supported her Handbell obsession.

Other hobbies include reading, iPad games (ha!) and knitting.

Catie Jackson

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Catie lives in Denver, Colorado where she is a Senior Event Manager for Gaylord Hotels and lives with her husband, cat, and 3 dogs. She has been ringing handbells since 2001, and also currently rings in Bells in Motion, a handbell group based in Decatur, IL. Her non-handbell hobbies include reading, hiking, strength training, trying new Half Baked Harvest recipes, and tending to her small flower garden.

Amanda Silvestri

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

At the age of 13 Amanda began ringing in her first handbell choir. She has been ringing ever since. Amanda has directed both youth and adult church handbell choirs, and owns her own set of bells and chimes. She currently directs the Heritage Christian Academy Youth Handbell Choir.

Amanda holds music degrees from Colorado State University and Oberlin Conservatory and is the elementary music specialist at Heritage Christian Academy. She teaches bible study at her church and loves to play board games. Amanda is married to Louie and they have three children, two of which also play handbells!

Kayla Carlisle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kayla Carlisle joined Bells of the Rockies in 2015. Kayla is thrilled to be part of Bells of the Rockies! She has always loved handbells, and is so excited to have the privilege to play with such a talented group of people!

Kayla is a veterinary graduate from Colorado State University (Go Rams!) and has begun her career in small animal general practice. She currently lives in Firestone with her husband, Clint, and their 2 dogs and 2 cats.

Nathan Kleve

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nancy Schmidt

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nancy first learned of handbells when she saw a handbell choir ringing during a worship service, and so she joined the church and joined the handbell choir. That was decades ago, and she has enjoyed ringing ever since. Nancy is a founding member of Bells of the Rockies, formed in 1996. She enjoys attending, ringing, and teaching at handbell festivals and workshops and has been on two handbell cruises. Nancy is a software engineer and teaches college.

Chris Vickers

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Chris Vickers has been a ringer with Bells of the Rockies since 1999. Her music minor from the University of Wisconsin - River Falls includes tons of experience playing saxophone in quartet ensemble, marching band, concert band, and jazz band. Bells of the Rockies, however, provides the ultimate in ensemble playing and continues to be a musical outlet and means for challenge and growth.

Chris retired in 2023 after a 39-year career in math education. She lives in Greeley with her husband, Jeff.

Rebecca Gilmore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rebecca Gilmore joined Bells of the Rockies in 2026 and has been playing in bell choirs since 2003. In addition to playing bells, Rebecca also enjoys singing in choir and playing percussion in her church’s orchestra.

Rebecca works at Colorado State University and enjoys playing board games, crocheting, reading, and making jams and salsas from her garden. She lives in Fort Collins with her wife, Ellie, and their two cats.

Marshall Jones

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marshall Jones began directing and ringing handbells in 2003. He has been ringing and directing in most of the years since with the exception of time in grad school for degrees in composition.

He is currently music director at Plymouth Congregational UCC in Fort Collins. He has previously served churches in Montana, Nebraska, Florida, North Carolina, and Colorado. He has also taught music theory and aural perception as well as other music classes at Flathead Valley Community College and the University of Arkansas.

Scott Yeskie

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Scott joined Bells of the Rockies in 2026. He has been ringing bells in various church choirs since 2002.

Scott is a software engineer with a degree from Vanderbilt, and currently lives in Fort Collins. He also enjoys photography, board games, and reading.

Sharon Schmidt

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 21:51:17 -0600

Sharon Schmidt became director of Bells of the Rockies in the fall of 2024 and has been involved in the handbell world since the 1970s. In 1992, she became a founding member of The Agape Ringers, an auditioned community handbell ensemble in the Chicago area. While in Illinois, Sharon directed multiple handbell ensembles at Gary United Methodist Church, as well as serving Handbell Musicians of America (HMA) in many capacities.

About Bells of the Rockies

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bells of the Rockies is an auditioned community handbell choir comprised of handbell ringers from the Northern Colorado area. Our mission is dedicated to musical excellence and service to the community through artistic handbell performances. Our goal is to increase our educational and community/charity outreach.

Founded in 1996 by Michael Kastner, we are a 501(c)(3) and governed by a Board of Directors. We own 5 1/2 octaves of Schulmerich handbells and 6 octaves of Malmark chimes and the accessories that come with handbell ringing. We average 4-6 performances per year. Our performance year is August through June. We currently rehearse on Tuesday nights in the Northern Colorado area (Loveland, South Fort Collins, North Longmont, or West Windsor).

Audition Information for Bells of the Rockies

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

We have enough ringers at this time. Next auditions will be held in May 2027.

Join Our Bell Substitute List

We are always looking for new ringers to join our substitute roster. Being a sub is a great way to meet the group and try your hand at ringer with the ensemble, but without the weekly commitment. For more information, email bellsoftherockies1996@gmail.com.

Bells of the Rockies is an auditioned community ensemble. If you would like information about future auditions for our group, please submit the audition request form. We will contact you the next time we announce audition information.

Concerts

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

December Concerts

Bring your family and friends and enjoy festive music!

Saturday, December 12, 2026
4pm Location TBD

Sunday, December 13, 2026
4pm Location TBD

Saturday, December 19, 2026
Time and Location TBD

Contact Bells of the Rockies

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Email us at
bellsoftherockies1996@gmail.com

Facebook

How to Support Bells of the Rockies

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Thank you Bells of the Rockies fans!

Due to the generosity of our patrons we have purchased our own set of Schulmerich handbells. Thank you to everyone who previously gave to our fundraising campaign.

But wait! There’s more.

We continue to expand our set of bells and want to add those big bass bells which make our music richer and give it depth. One bell plus the case range cost upwards of $6,500. If you want to help us take one more step toward our goal, then donate via PayPal by clicking the link below or donate directly at one of our concerts.

Repertoire

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just a sample of past performances from your favorite handbells choir…