Andrea Schmidt joined Bells of the Cascades in Fall 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!