The members of MACH are:

Mark Bloedow is the Director of Worship & Music and principal organist at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Madison, as well as director of Chancel Choir and Choral Bells. He also serves as the President and Executive Director of Maestro Productions, Inc., the non-profit ecumenical arts organization he founded in 1989. In addition, Mark currently serves as Past President on the Executive Board of the Madison area Association of Church Musicians (ACM) after having served two years as President of ACM and Dean of the American Guild of Organizsts' Madison Chapter, and one year as Vice-President. In addition, Mark has served as an adjunct music professor in church music graduate studies at Concordia Unversity Wisconsin, where he has also served as Director of Kammerchor (Concordia's touring choir) and Instructor of Music. He has participated in workshops with leading handbell clinicians, has led handbell workshops for church music directors and ringers, has taught handbell methods at the graduate level, and recently became the new owner and administrator of Handbell Week, a well-known handbell workshop founded by Robert & Joyce Morrison of McFarland and held locally in the Madison area each summer. He has performed as an organ recitalist in Appleton, Madison, and Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and Lincoln, Nebraska. His handbell and organ works are published by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Missouri, MorningStar Music Publishers, Fenton Missouri; and Midwest Music, Madison, Wisconsin. Mark earned his Bachelors of Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 1990 where he graduated with Outstanding Senior recognition. He received his Masters of Church Music in December 1999 from Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon.

A native of New York, Susan Udell earned a B.S. in Music Education/Piano from the Crane School of Music, SUNY, Potsdam, NY, an M.M. in Piano, and a Ph.D. in Music Education/Choral Literature from UW-Madison. For several years, she taught piano privately and through UW Extension classes, conducted children's and youth choirs, and with her husband, Jon, raised 6 children. Susan was accompanist and assistant director of the Diocesan Choir of Madison for 5 years. She retired after 8 years as Music Director at Asbury United Methodist Church in 2001, concluding her service there by leading a choir tour through Europe. Seeking to provide an opportunity for skilled ringers to meet musical challenges and to share educational and enjoyable music with the community, Susan founded and became director of MACH in 1997. In recognition of her work with MACH, in 2000 Susan received the National Leadership Award from the Madison Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, women's professional music fraternity. In 2003, SUNY at Potsdam honored her with their most prestigious alumni award, the Minerva Award, for outstanding professional achievement. She is a member of several professional organizations, Schubert Club, and the Symphony Singers. Her other interests include American art, tennis, gardening, fishing, and travel.

Rachel Bain [1999] is the daughter of two musicians, so it is no surprise that she has music in her blood. She began playing handbells in grade school, and has been ringing ever since. When she's not behind a bell table, Rachel works part-time in the UW-Madison Chemistry department. Her list of favorite activities includes spending time with her family, doing crafty things and working in the garden.

After ringing for most of her childhood and adolescence in handbell choirs in Texas, Leticia Bode [2008] took several years off from handbells before returning to ring with MACH. She is thrilled to be back and especially enjoys the community and challenge of ringing in MACH. Leticia works as a teaching assistant while progressing towards her Ph.D. in American Politics at the University of Wisconsin. In her free time she enjoys cooking, reading, and spending as much time as she can with her three nieces and two nephews.

David Crowcroft [1999], a native of central Illinois, began ringing handbells in 1991 at the Wesley United Methodist Church in Urbana. He continued to ring at St. Paul's UMC in Ithaca, NY, while a physics graduate student. Following graduation, he moved back to the Midwest, where he joined the handbell choir at Bethany UMC. David is a member of the Server Systems team at Epic Systems Corporation, a medical software company in Verona. In his spare time, his interests include piano, singing, sports (especially baseball), and current events.

Catherine Faley [2000] has been playing handbells since 1989. Her ringing career began at Edgewood High School and continued throughout college in a church choir in Oshkosh, WI. She was a learning disabilities teacher in Waunakee for many years before she had children.

Maggie Gleason [2008] started playing handbells in 7th grade. After taking a few years off for college, she started up again at her church in 2007 when she and her husband moved to Madison from Lincoln, Nebraska. In her free time she enjoys college football, biking, cooking, cross-stitching, and shopping at SuperTarget, where she also works.

Jackie Hansen [2003] began playing bells in junior high. After a brief sabbatical during college, she has been ringing with various church groups as she and her husband moved around Wisconsin. She joined MACH after her most recent (and hopefully last) move to rural Marshall. Jackie works as a manager at American Family Insurance and also enjoys camping, running with her dogs, and attending UW Volleyball games.

Kristi Menninga [1997] started playing handbells in 1995 when Asbury United Methodist Church bought their five-octave set of bells. Two years later she auditioned for MACH and is one of the four remaining charter members. Kristi is Administrative Assistant for an appraisal company. She has three sons and is busy running to their practices, lessons, games, and concerts. In her spare time Kristi enjoys doing counted cross-stitch, scrapbooking, reading, and traveling with her family.

Sally Meredith [1997] has been a (Southern) bell(e) since her early days, but did not begin ringing handbells until 1981, when her church in Illinois started a group. She now rings with First United Methodist Church in Madison, and has been with MACH since the beginning. During her working hours, she is a nurse practitioner doing pre-operative evaluation for patients planning ear, nose, and throat surgery. She has three adorable grandchildren, who are bound to be wonderful ringers in the future.

Karen Paschke [2002] became fascinated with handbells at the age of three. The director even allowed her to ring one of the smallest bells after a performance. When she was ten she began to play in her church handbell choir under the same director. She continued to play until she went to college at the University of Illinois. She moved to Madison in 2001 and joined MACH the following spring. She now teaches Mathematics at Madison East High School and is travelling this summer on a quest to verify that the world is round.

Debi Robey [2008] has been ringing for 25 years in both chruch and community groups in Pennsylvania and Illinois. She has played at the White House, toured in England and Puerto Rico, and has attended bell festivals from Porland, Maine to Portland, Oregon. While deciding what to do "when she grows up," she spends her spare time gardening, biking, doing puzzles, and staying in touch with her daughters in Chicago and Boston. She and her husband Ray are excited to be starting their "empty nester" years here in Madison.

Marsha Steffen [2009] began her handbell career in 1991 at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church. She has an extensive musical background beginning with piano at age 8 and including pipe organ (church organist) and flute throughout high school and college. She recently retired from the UW University Health Service as a nurse clinician. Her husband, Bob, and three grown children all have piano backgrounds, as well as experience with saxophone, percussion and organ. She enjoys traveling to the Oregon coast, ushering at the Overture Center, reading, and of course, music.

Jane Sulzer [1997] has been ringing handbells since 1993. She is a member of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers and enjoys participating in workshops and concerts. Jane is also a member of the handbell choir of Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison. As well as ringing, she plays pipe organ, sings in Bethel Choir, and since 1983 has directed a youth instrumental ensemble that performs for special occasions. Jane has been employed as a secretary at Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Her other interests include table tennis, weight lifting, and mountain hiking.

Alice Teter [1997] was introduced to handbells in 1987 by a friend in Lincoln, Nebraska. Her ringing experience has included ringing with hundreds of "massed" ringers at national and area festival/conferences, small ensembles, and the Bay View (Michigan) Week of Handbells. Soon after moving to Madison to join the staff of the Journal of Chemical Education in 1996, she joined the First Baptist Church handbell choir. Enthusiastic about a community group, she has been involved with MACH from its beginning. Besides handbells, Alice has played saxophone and piano, and enjoys reading, listening to music, and taking nature walks and drives.

Patricia Thorngate [1998] has been playing handbells since 1989. Tricia is a Board Certified music therapist who earned a B.S. in Music Therapy from UW-Oshkosh. She works with adults who have developmental disabilities at FocusCorp, Inc. Tricia is also a freelance harpist and has performed with Beloit Janesville Symphony, Theatre Unlimited, with other groups throughout the state, and for weddings and other special events. When not involved in music, Tricia enjoys spending time with family, reading, and swimming.

Jon Zimmerman originally joined MACH in 1998 and rang for two years before moving to Milwaukee in 2001. Now that he has moved back to Madison, he was extremely grateful to be welcomed back into the handbell choir. He got his start in music by teaching himself to play piano in 1993 and began ringing handbells in 1995. He later went on to learn organ, sing in choir, and play various instruments while attending university. He currently works for the UW Hospital as a pharmacy software analyst. In his free time he enjoys biking, relaxing in cafes, being in the company of his family, three "children" (cats), and remembering fondly his late "daughter" (dog), Nya.

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