Barb Hughes started playing piano and flute as a child and continued both into early adulthood. She played handbells for two years as a teenager at Church of the Covenant in Cleveland, OH and performed with that group at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. in 1965. Then she carried on with the rest of her life. In May of 2017, handbells called to her again and she joined the Salmon Creek United Methodist Church Exultation Ringers in Vancouver, WA, directed by Matthew Compton. With Matt’s encouragement, she auditioned and was accepted into Bells of the Cascades in August of 2017.

Barb works to maintain this website with expert help from our web consultant Daniel Reck of forzandoArts, and she also sends out emails on behalf of BOC. She is a current member of the BOC Board, a retired book editor, can recognize two spaces after a period from a mile away, collects frog figurines, and lives with her partner Mark and one cat. After years of being a multi-cat household, Barb and Mark cherish their remaining kitty. Barb adores her two daughters, one son-in-law, and two grandchildren, all of whom live entirely too far away!