Chris Nabors
Chris Nabors is the founding director of Cast of Bronze and has served as the director of the Elliott Handbell Ensemble of Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas since November, 2003. He studied music education at the University of North Texas, holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Masters of Business Administration from Baylor University.
Mr. Nabors was introduced to handbells by his father, Dr. Oran R. Nabors, who was one of the pioneers of handbell ringing in the Dallas area in the early 1960's and former editor of Overtones magazine.
Mr. Nabors has been directing handbell ensembles since 1981, and has served on the staff of three Dallas area Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) churches. This service included a position as the Director of Handbells at Northway Christian Church, Dallas, Texas, where he directed three adult handbell ensembles and one youth choir. He is the founding director of Cast of Bronze, a nationally recognized community handbell ensemble from Dallas, Texas. He has frequently served as a clinician or festival director in the region. He is the current president of the Greater Dallas Handbell Association, member of the Handbell Musicians of America, has composed and arranged music for handbells and was a member of the Dallas Handbell Ensemble (David R. Davidson, Director).
Lynn Duhon
Lynn began ringing consistently in 1988. Besides enjoying ringing with Cast of Bronze she is also a member of the Elliott Handbell Ensemble at Highland Park Presbyterian Church and the Ruth Greer Handbell Ensemble at 1st Presbyterian Church of Richardson. Lynn has attended many handbell festivals and seminars including Pinnacle, Distinctly Bronze and the National Seminar for Handbell Musicians of America. Lynn is married to Charles and they have a daughter, Jasmine. Lynn is employed as a senior accountant for a hotel management company.
Gayle Nabors
Gayle Nabors is a charter member of Cast of Bronze and has been ringing handbells since she became a part of the Nabors' family in 1984. Gayle is married to the founder of Cast of Bronze, Chris Nabors. Gayle loves to spend her free time with her family and 3 fur babies at the family lake house.
Becca Smith
Becca has been playing handbells since around 1987 and is one of the original members of Cast of Bronze. Music has always been a passion of hers. She has a degree in Music Education from the University of North Texas and taught as a band director for 15 years. Becca also has a degree in Special Education and has taught special needs children for years. She currently live in Celina, Texas with her awesome husband and two wonderful children and is working in the Celina school district.
Grace Alotto
Has been ringing handbells since 1994, playing in her mom's children's choir in Marietta, Georgia. She continued to ring in Children's, youth, and adult handbell chorus until she graduated high school. She then went on to be a member of the Carillon Handbell Ensemble at the University of Southern Mississippi for 5 years. She has also been a member of the East Texas Handbell Ensemble under the direction of Arnold Sherman. Grace is currently a 4th grade reading and science teacher in HEBISD. She lives in Fort Worth with her husband, Michael. Cast of Bronze played at their wedding in October of 2016.
Amber White
Amber White started ringing bells in her church handbell choir in high school. Since then she has rung in multiple choirs including Rebellion and Bells in Motion. She also enjoys solo ringing. She has been playing in Cast of Bronze since moving to Dallas in 2014. Amber works as a private practice dietitian. She and her husband, Nick and son Pierce live in Richardson Texas.
Carla Ivey
Carla Ivey, a founding member of Cast of Bronze, began playing handbells in 1993 at Northway Christian Church under the direction of Chris Nabors. Her hobbies include reading, cooking, gardening and home improvement projects. She holds a BBA in Marketing from Texas Tech and is president of Ivey Lumber Sales. She is mom to three adult children and two rescue dogs
Brenda Swindle
Brenda Swindle has been ringing for over 25 years. She currently rings with The Sanctuary Ringers at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church and Concert Bells of Fort Worth. She first rang with Cast of Bronze in the fall of 2012 and is excited to ring with them again this season. Always open to new ventures and challenges in handbell ringing, she enjoys attending handbell events and festivals whenever time permits. She also does some occasional solo handbell ringing. Brenda attended the University of Texas at Arlington. She is currently Business Manager for Faith United Presbyterian Church in Farmers Branch. Away from the office she stays busy with weekly choral and handbell rehearsals. She resides in the Dallas area and enjoys spending as much time as possible with her three adult children, John and Sarah (twins) and youngest son, James.
George Christ
George began his career as a church musician in 1966, and has served in churches in California and Texas. He started directing handbells in 1975. Currently, he is a retired Texas educator and the Organist and Handbell Director at St. Barnabas Presbyterian Church in Richardson, Texas. Additionally, he has served on the board of the Greater Dallas Handbell Association. When asked to audition for the Cast of Bronze, he quickly said, “Yes,” and continues to enjoy his time with this handbell ensemble.
Ryan Krueger
Ryan Krueger is to new ringing bells but has always possessed a passion for music. Throughout junior high and high school he played percussion and later became captain of the drumline. He was also a member of the jazz band and youth group band at his church. Ryan studied Industrial Engineering at Texas A&M and recently earned his MBA at UT Dallas. He lives with his wife, Kimberly, and their chocolate lab, Cutty, in The Colony.
Ryan Nabors
Ryan Nabors has been a full member of Cast of Bronze since 2014 but he has also performed with them previously as a percussionist. As a 3rd generation handbell ringer, handbells have always been a part of his life. Some of his fondest memories growing up have been attributed to handbells. Ryan's only formal musical training comes from his high school marching band as a member of the drumline. He then went on to study graphic design at Baylor University and then later became certified as an EMT in Texas. Ryan now lives in Garland, Texas with his wife Taylor, their son Wesson, daughter Adair and their 2 border collies (Jetta and Oakley).
Sueda Luttrell
Sueda Luttrell began ringing at First Baptist Church, Lufkin, Texas, during her high school years. More recently, she has served as a handbell instructor for Greater Dallas Handbell Association, Chorister’s Guild, Church Music Institute, Handbell Musicians of America, and Baylor University’s Alleluia Conference (Summer 2018). She was also a committee member for the 2010 Handbell and Handchime Notation Guide. Sueda received the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Organ Performance from Baylor University and currently holds the position of Organist/Music Associate at Gambrell Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth. She is married to Jeff Luttrell and is the mom of Meredith Luttrell-Hord and Grace Alotto, her stand-mate in Cast of Bronze.
Thomas Williams
Thomas Williams has been ringing since he was 9 years old and began directing bells at age 16. Since then he has had many opportunities to ring all over the United States. He has served on the Greater Dallas Handbell Association (GDHA) board (2011-14) and was the co-director of Ozark Bronze community handbell group in Fayetteville AR. (2005-07). Thomas received a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Bachelor degree in Music from the University of Arkansas. He is currently the Director of Music and Worship at Aledo United Methodist Church.
Sherry McQueen
Sherry first learned about handbells while living in California in the 80’s. Unfortunately, there were no handbell choirs that she could join in her area, so she had to wait until she moved back to her home state of Texas to join a handbell choir in 1991. After a few years of attending workshops and seminars, she became a charter member of Concert Bells of Fort Worth and rang with them from 1998 to 2003. In 2005, she joined Cast of Bronze and rang two seasons with them. After a 13-year hiatus, she is excited to once again be ringing with the group.
Kathy Stephenson
Kathy began ringing bells in 1993 at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church. She has also rung with Brookhaven Handbell Ensemble and currently serves on the Greater Dallas Handbell Association Board. She obtained her BA degree from Baylor University and holds a MA in Clinical Psychology from Trinity University. In addition to ringing bells she enjoys singing in her church choir, reading and travel. She lives in Coppell with her husband, Greg and son, Travis.
Hope Olsen
Coming Soon.
Chris Li
Chris Li is an IT professional but has a passion for music. He has been choir conductor, accompanist and directed musicals at church. He introduced handbells to his church and is excited to be part of Cast of Bronze.
In his spare time, he enjoys traveling. He has been to 43 countries and led his home church group to three overseas trips.