About Us

History

Though the group has officially been in existence since September 1997, some of the members began ringing together two years earlier when their church choirs quit for the summer. Those "ring-a-holics" had so much fun that a decision was made to form a full ensemble. The James RIver RIngers was chartered as a not-for-profit organization in June of 1998. Members have come from all parts of the Richmond metropolitan area, Williamsburg, Fredericksburg, and Harrisonburg. In 2023, the James River Ringers became Artists in Residence at River Road Presbyterian Church in Richmond.

Artistic Director

Christopher Titko (Artistic Director) is a native of Ohio, where he first learned to play handbells at his father’s church. He has been happily playing or conducting ever since. Educationally, Mr. Titko was privileged to study handbells with Donald Allured while attending Westminster Choir College. He is also a graduate of Indiana University with further graduate studies at the University of Oklahoma.  Christopher has served 10 churches across the United States as well as led the Jefferson Children’s Chorus, Kenner, LA. In addition, Mr. Titko was the Church Music Editor for the J. W. Pepper company. Presently, Christopher is the Lindauer Chair of Music and Fine Arts at Monumental United Methodist Church in Portsmouth, Virginia. He has three older children and enjoys cooking, traveling and watching movies.

Current Members

Lili Boyd grew up in the Richmond area and started playing handbells in 7th grade. She has played with the Reveille Ringers at Reveille UMC for almost 25 years, and was excited to join the JRR last fall. When she isn’t working at her job as an elementary school librarian, Lili enjoys directing a handbell choir at the school where she works, singing in the Chancel Choir at Reveille, playing flute and piano, and spending time with her husband and three young-adult children.

Jamie Floyd started playing handbells at age 12 in Lexington, VA and joined the James River Ringers for the Fall 2023 season. In addition to handbells, he plays piano, guitar, and brass instruments. Outside of musical pursuits, he enjoys spending time with his wife and son, cooking, and playing disc golf

Cara Griggs joined the James River Ringers in August 2002.  She began ringing with a church youth choir at age 13 and participated in her first quintet one year later.  In addition to ringing with the James River Ringers, she also rings with a church choir.  Cara enjoys her always-interesting career as an archivist.

Greg Guinther became a handbell musician in 1994 after moving to Richmond and hearing handbells perform at several churches.  Since then he’s played with a variety of church and community groups from Fredericksburg to Raleigh.  He enjoys ringing all positions at the table and thanks to the COVID lock-down, learned to produce YouTube videos where he does just that – plays all the parts.  Check him out on his YouTube channel IRINGEMnVA.

Laura Hinton started playing handbells in high school when her church acquired a new set of handbells and started a youth choir. After years of ringing, she served as Handbell Director at various churches in Northern Virginia, including 14 years at Lewinsville Presbyterian Church in McLean where she led five choirs of ringers ages 8-88. Laura’s work as a Systems Engineer brought her to the Charlottesville area, where she is excited to be a member of the James River Ringers and back to ringing again. Laura and her husband Mike are the parents of three grown children.

Melissa James started handbells in the third grade and has rung for 25 years as an adult. She joined JRR in 2025 and previously was a member of the Virginia Handbell Consort. She founded and directs the children's handchime choir at Denbigh United Presbyterian Church, and sings in the chancel choir at both Denbigh and First Baptist Newport News, where she also rings. Melissa lives in Yorktown with her husband, two teens and seven cats. A professional writer and graphic designer, Melissa owns an ad agency and spends her free time making tiered cakes, adventuring abroad for her YouTube travel channel, gardening, and doing home remodeling.

Beth Kamatchi started playing handbells in her church children’s choir at First Presbyterian in Virginia Beach. Other than her years at college, she played at First Presbyterian for almost twenty years. She is grateful to have found a group to play with since relocating to the Richmond area in 2022. Beth works in the financial sector and enjoys hobbies that gets her away from the computer. She loves to read, go hiking, and road tripping with her husband.

Juanita Lee joined the James River Ringers in January 2012.  She was introduced to handbells over 25 years ago.  Juanita's love for music continues to grow through her active participation in the handbell choir and playing piano in her leisure time.  Juanita is enjoying a new stage in her life: retirement.  She is gardening and spending quality time with her two sons, Robert and Anthony, and her dogs, Bentley and Ester.

Lauré Mackey has been happily involved with handbells for nearly 30 years, playing with church and community ensembles in NH, NJ, and most recently in Northern Virginia. A professional bookkeeper, Lauré is the owner and head bean counter of a virtual bookkeeping firm. When not crunching numbers, she enjoys beading, painting watercolors, and designing hanging mobiles and more for her Etsy shops. New to the area, she enjoys day tripping around RVA.

Anne Ortman began ringing in 4th grade with her church's youth choir. She loved it from the start, and despite moving around a lot, has continued to ring with a group whenever she had a chance. Anne's husband is in the military, and his career expanded her wandering to all corners of the globe, and finally brought her to Virginia Beach, VA, where she had the chance to ring with a community group: the Virginia Handbell Consort. Now looking for an auditioned group to join is one of the first things on her to do list when the military takes her someplace new. This led to two years of ringing with Philadelphia Bronze. Now that she is living in Richmond, Anne is excited to be joining James River Ringers. When she is not ringing, she is taking care of her three kids.

John Pall joined the James River Ringers in January 2024. Born and raised in Michigan, John has had a love of music since an early age, taking piano lessons as a kid and studying clarinet and carillon at the college level. John serves as director in his local bell choir at MCC Richmond. He also plays drums and sings. In his free time he does some music composition and enjoys reading as well going on day trips with his wife when time allows. He is currently owned by one dog and one cat.

Dotty Parker joined James River Ringers around 1999 or 2000. She had only been ringing a couple of years, having been introduced to handbells at Bon Air United Methodist Church. Taught and encouraged to ring by Mike and Libbie Barker, it became a big part of her life. Dotty has 2 sons, 2 wonderful daughters in law and four amazing grandchildren.  Ringing has always been a way for her to escape every day worries and enter a joyful, carefree space. 

Sarah Partridge joined the James River Ringers in 2017. She grew up playing handbells in church ensembles. Sarah enjoys her work as an elementary school teacher. When Sarah is not ringing or teaching, she enjoys reading, kayaking, and gardening. 

Alex Schroeder has been an avid handbell ringer since the fifth grade.  She is originally from Indiana and has enjoyed being a member of many school, church, and community bell groups in every new city or state she where she has lived.  After moving to the Richmond area, Alex joined the James River Ringers in 2018 and now serves as the group's Vice President.  When she is not playing bells, you can find Alex spending time with her husband and two dogs or working in her day job in medical device regulations.

Jennifer Smouse discovered how fun ringing handbells is when she moved to Richmond from Michigan in 2006 and joined her church choir. She then participated in all of the festivals, workshops and events that she could find to feed her newfound way to make music! She joined the James River Ringers in 2017. She bravely served as president of the James River Ringers through the difficulties of the pandemic. She has three children (two grown), loves hiking and caring for an assortment of furry and feathered pets.

Marcia Tieman began ringing at the age of 10 in her church handbell choir and has played in various church choirs and ensembles ever since, currently at Trinity Lutheran in Richmond. She is originally from Illinois, but has lived in eight different cities in the eastern half of America. She also played flute for many years and is currently learning how to play a lever harp. Marcia was a member of JRR in 2006 and is happy to be back again in 2025. She and her husband have two grown daughters and are expecting their first grandchild this spring!

Thomas Warren was introduced to handbells at age 10, playing D5/E5 bells and chimes. He played with the West End Assembly of God church for several years before joining JRR in Oct 2009. He’s an avid bass ringer, but enjoys the challenge of playing all positions around the table. He loves being a part of JRR, a great group of talented musicians. It has truly been a blessing in his life. Mechanical Engineer by trade, in his free time he enjoys home construction, 4-wheeling, shooting pool, archery, and also plays keyboard and acoustic guitar.

Sandy Welfare began ringing handbells during high school in 1986, when she played with a group made up of band geeks playing five octaves of White Chapel Handbells. She has played avidly since, in church and community groups in North Carolina, New Jersey, and Virginia. She joined the James River Ringers in January 2020 and is currently serving as President of the JRR Board. Sandy works as an occupational therapist, and enjoys quilting, bringing joy to people with her certified therapy dog, and traveling with her wife in her spare time.

Dottie Tweedie is the founding director of The James River Ringers, and now holds the title Director Emerita. She continues to support JRR with her experience and expertise of the art in various roles as needed.  She has taught a variety of classes at Handbell Musicians of America’s Area III Adult Festivals, Directors Seminars and Bravissimo! In addition, she supports individual directors and choirs by providing customized workshops. She retired from JRR and her day job in 2016. The James River Ringers are grateful to Dottie for returning to serve as our interim director from 2021-2023!