Josh Billings moved to Vancouver from the Twin Cities in January 2021. He has been involved in music since second grade when he started taking piano lessons. He played in the inaugural chime choir at his home church before playing in the handbell choir. He then continued to play in the handbell ensemble of Concordia University St. Paul for four years. He graduated with a degree in K-12 Vocal Music Education in the spring of 2016. After a year off from playing bells, he became a member of Bells of the Lakes based in Minneapolis before moving and then becoming a ringing member of Bells of the Cascades.

Josh is now a board member of BOC. Outside of ringing, Josh recently found a job working for Loomis in Portland. He always enjoys playing the piano, going for hikes, or just hanging out with friends. He is looking forward to everything that the Portland/Vancouver area has to offer.

Ben Froeschle began playing handbells starting in middle school when they joined the Calvary Episcopal Church handbell choir in Columbia, Missouri. They continued ringing in college at St. Olaf College for all four years, and toured with both the St. Olaf Choir and the St. Olaf Handbell Choir. Ben then joined Bells of the Cascades right after college when they moved to the Portland metro area.

Ben is currently in a masters program for social work at Portland State University.

Alisa Hampton picked up her first set of handbells in junior high at the Methodist Church in Brecksville, OH. She joined the Sunset Presbyterian Church bell choir of Beaverton, OR in 1992 with her best friend, and was hooked. She then played at Valley Presbyterian Church, also in Beaverton, where she ventured into solo and duet ensembles. When she moved to Forest Grove, OR, her love of handbells prompted her to help found a new bell choir at Forest Grove United Methodist Church, and she joined Bells of the Cascades in January of 2015. Currently she is serving as Treasurer on the BOC Board. Alisa also plays the piano and dabbles in writing compositions for bells and the church’s vocal choir. Her four children are also very musical and don’t mind her being an official ding-a-ling.

Debbie Ivanov is the only current member of Bells of the Cascades who is also a founding member. In fact, she is one of two co-founders! (However, she is not the longest lasting member; Cindy Gronbach gets that honor!) Between working and raising a family, Debbie took several breaks from ringing. But now she is actively ringing and serving on the Board of BOC and is the current Secretary. Currently working in administration at Kaiser Permanente, Debbie also directs the handbell choir at Tualatin Presbyterian Church. Besides handbells, her hobbies include her grandchildren, crocheting, and gardening.

Arthur Pascual is a recent transplant from Reno, Nevada, where he first started ringing. Fairly new to handbells, it took nearly ten years for a friend to convince him to try it out. Originally playing percussion in local orchestras and bands in Reno, he eventually gave in to the temptation and started ringing with a local community group, Tintabulations. There, his fascination led to becoming a handbell lifer. Since moving to Vancouver, Arthur has continued his love and passion for music by joining Bells of the Cascades.

Outside of handbells, Arthur is an online math teacher and a baker at a cookie store. Furthermore, he has traveled and worked around the world, visiting more than 40 countries, and residing in five of them to pursue his passion for teaching. His biggest goal in life is to hit all the continents (still has Antarctica), to run a marathon, and eventually earn his Doctorate. But for now, he is just enjoying the greenery here in the Pacific Northwest.

Andrea Schmidt is the newest member of Bells of the Cascades, joining us in the fall of 2022. She grew up a farm girl in a central Kansas Mennonite community where music was highly valued. She began playing the violin at age 4, piano in grade school, band instruments in junior and senior high school, and finally the pipe organ. Besides singing and playing in the school band and community orchestra, Andrea participated in her church’s youth bell choir. She then attended Wichita State University and obtained a degree in music performance and education.

Over the years of growing up and moving to college in Wichita and eventually to the Pacific Northwest, Andrea has always made it a priority to find a church with a bell choir. When she’s not ringing handbells, she works as a dental assistant in Portland and spends her free time running, cycling, and working out at the gym. She also loves cats and coffee!

Jennifer Vangolen was born and raised in New Jersey, where she started ringing handbells at Trinity United Methodist Church in Hackettstown, NJ, after convincing the director to let her join the youth choir even though she was several months shy of being the requisite ten years old. She’s been ringing ever since and most recently was a member of Bells of the Sound in Seattle, and served as a Member at Large on the National Board for Handbell Musicians of America. She joined Bells of the Cascades for the first time in the Fall 2021 season.

Jennifer holds a BA in Chemistry from Brandeis University and is currently the principal business analyst in software development for Ellucian Degree Works. In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys traveling, playing with her kitty, Maaike, and hiking and skiing any chance she gets, especially in Whistler, BC.