Matthew Compton – Director |
 Matthew is a native of Colorado Springs, has been composing, arranging, and conducting music for handbells since 2007 when he was in the eighth grade. He had his first composition published at the age of fifteen, making him one of the youngest published handbell composers. Matthew graduated from Concordia University Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music with an emphasis in Composition and Conducting.
Based out of Vancouver, Washington, he is the music director of the Bells of the Cascades in Portland, Oregon, and Director of Music Ministries at Salmon Creek Church in Vancouver. In addition to being a guest clinician at handbell festivals across the country, his music is frequently used at local and national handbell festivals, including the Bay View Week of Handbells, Southern Colorado Handbell Festival and Distinctly Bronze East and West. He has been the recipient of the Donald E. Allured Composition Award. In his spare time, Matthew can occasionally be found streaming a variety of games and music performances on Twitch, going hiking, or enjoying any number of movies, anime, or tv shows! |
Linda Cherry |
 Linda began playing handbells after her retirement from a 30-year career in Pharmaceutical R&D. She joined PPR in 2017 and is also a member of two other bell choirs and a flute quartet.When not ringing bells, she enjoys playing flute and hammered dulcimer, knitting and crocheting, reading, hiking, and hanging out with her grandchildren. |
Christina Chisum |
 Christina experienced handbells for the first time at PPR‘s first Hand Bell concert in 1991 to watch her mother Bonnie. She later joined PPR in 2013 and until 2019 when she could no longer rehearse with wearing her babies in a hands-free wrap, and then joined again in 2023. She most enjoys the group teamwork that handbells require to make beautiful music and loves her fellow PPR family. |
Ruth Christian |
 Ruth Christian has been ringing bells since 2007 and joined PPR in 2024. She loves ringing handbells and is sincerely appreciative of the opportunity to share this wonderful instrument through concerts. When not playing handbells, Ruth enjoys spending time with her husband and their cat. |
Laurie Cox |
 Laurie began ringing handbells in 1985 at St. Francis under the direction of Roxanne Hammond. She has been a handbell, music director and organist at St. Francis Episcopal and was the handbell director at Grace Episcopal for 20 years. She is one of the original members of PPR.
She plays piano/organ and hammered dulcimer and is working on learning ukulele and celtic harp. Her dulcimer band, Strings ‘n Things, plays at Rock Ledge twice a year. She has her pilot’s license and holds a general class amateur radio license. |
Kathe Cunningham |
 Kathe has been ringing since 1994. Her very first performance in church, the ringer next to her was sick and Kathe had to learn to ring 4 bells on the spot! She was terrified to put one down for fear she’d never know how to pick it up again. Kathe is no longer afraid to put down a bell and loves ringing upper treble the most.
Kathe is mom to 3 adult children and their spouses, Mimi to 2 adorable grandchildren and has been married to Jeff for 40 years! |
Ingrid Daniel |
 Pikes Peak Ringers invited Ingrid Daniel to join them in 2009. She has been ringing since 1979, when she first saw solo ringing done at her home church in Golden, Colorado. When Ingrid is not ringing, she teaches gifted and talented students, she chases hot air balloons, and she takes swordfighting classes for fun! |
Lance Doran |
 Lance Doran joined Pikes Peak Ringers in 2017. He started ringing in 1995 after seeing his sister play bells with her high school and he was invited to join the bell choir at his neighbor’s church. He has since played with his high school and 2 other community choirs.
When not ringing, he is a computer system architect. It’s not as fancy as it sounds – he is basically a computer geek that has good ideas. |
Michelle Eads |
 Michelle got hooked on ringing bells at the age of 10 at her church in Houston and first rang with the Pikes Peak Ringers from 2002-2011 and joined again in 2019 after her kids were grown up. She uses her left brain as a physician (hence her nickname ‘Doc’ to avoid confusion with the other Michelle in the group) who prevents Alzheimer’s via telemedicine for her day job. She enjoys family time including walks with her golden retriever. |
Elizabeth Heiny |
 Elizabeth joined the Pikes Peak Ringers in 2024. She started ringing in 2011 when Joan Kuehn persuaded her to join First Lutheran Church’s high school handbell group and has been ringing ever since.
Elizabeth is a geospatial technician (which is a fancy way of saying cartographer) and in addition to ringing enjoys reading, playing the bassoon, hiking, and spoiling her cats. |
Mark Horst |
 Mark began ringing handbells in 1979 with Faith Westwood United Methodist church in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1984 he moved to Colorado Springs and was one of the first ringers in the handbell choir at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.
Mark’s involvement with Pikes Peak Ringers began in 1999. Mark is a professional engineer and can be found working in the yard when he’s not ringing. He particularly enjoys the fact that handbells do not require tuning (other than remembering which hand is your right, which hand is your left and where your bell is.) |
Joan Kuehn – Assistant Director |
 Joan Kuehn moved to Colorado Springs in 1988. In 1989 she became the Director of Music at First Lutheran Church directing the choir and handbell program until her retirement in 2022. She began ringing with Kevin McChesney in 1991 when he started a community handbell choir that became the Pikes Peak Ringers.
Since her retirement, she and her husband enjoy traveling, visiting their children, 16 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. She continues to be active with the Southern Colorado Handbell Alliance, is the Interim Handbell Director at First Lutheran and Assistant Director of Pikes Peak Ringers. |
Bonnie Linder |
 Bonnie has rung with the Pikes Peak Ringers since its founding in 1991. After retiring as Music Director at a church, she continues her love of handbells as Director of The Heritage Ringers, a beginning and
Intermediate level community choir with about thirty ringers. Other activities include Bible Study Fellowship, Sudoku, and her watch-driven 10,000 steps a day.
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Michelle Mason |
 Michelle started ringing chimes in 1986 when she was 5, and has rung handbells since she was 8 (her church started ’em early!). She rang under Kevin McChesney at her local church starting in middle school, and subbed for PPR for several years before joining as a full member in the fall of 2012. She is the current webmaster of the PPR site, and while she likes to play all the bells, she’s a “Bass Bell Babe” at heart. She is a small business consultant as her profession, and has completely useless (but fun to acquire) degrees in History (BA), German (BA) and War Studies (MA). In her free time, she runs, reads, and cuddles with her two dogs. |
Tracy McChesney |
 Tracy was a founding member of PPR in 1991. She started ringing in 1989 under the direction of her future husband, Kevin. When she’s not working in Manitou Springs, she scours the Internet for interesting recipes to try, takes piano lessons, and supports her husband’s guitar addiction |
Lisa Phillips |
 Lisa started ringing handbells at the young age of 11 when her church received a donation of 2 octaves of handbells. Throughout the years, she has performed with many ensembles, small ensembles, in duets, and as a solo ringer. She has performed around the globe including at events in South Korea and Canada.
After a stint with The Raleigh Ringers in North Carolina, she moved back to Colorado in 2012 and shortly thereafter joined the Pikes Peak Ringers. She doesn’t mind the commute from Denver each week where she directs the handbell group at her church and works as an independent contractor. |
Cathy Wood |
 Cathy Wood joined PPR in 2015. She started ringing when she was 11 (the bell director at church said she’d make an exception to allow a sixth grader to ring as long as their mom also joined). In her day job, Cathy is a young adult librarian and the bell director at Faith Presbyterian Church.
In her spare time, she may be found playing board games and video games, knitting, reading, baking, playing piano, or another of her too many hobbies. |
