Our Directors
Director of Music: Rick Wood
Rick Wood is a former elementary school teacher of computers and technology with a secret night life in the handbell world. (The hottest thing going in the little town of Bethlehem on Friday night is handbell rehearsal.) He stays busy during the daytime as a leader in the Caring for Bethlehem Food Bank.
After seventeen years of directing the Handbell Choirs of First Church of Bethlehem, Rick, with fellow ringers, transformed the handbell choirs into a non-profit community music organization, Chime In! Music With a Mission, Inc. Ringers from Bethlehem have engaged many audiences throughout the Northeast in lively performances.
As a music major at Williams College 40+ years ago, Rick was part of the original Williams Handbell Choir along with Sandy who later became his wife. Rick has conducted handbell choirs in Woodbury, Watertown, and since 1994, in Bethlehem.
Assistant Director: Samantha Beschta
Samantha Beschta has been the Assistant Director for Chime In! since 2012 and brings a high level of energy to the programs of Chime In!
In 2015 Samantha co-created the Connecticut Handbell Musicians. She is the Director of this process-oriented group of ringers who use the summer to stretch and grow, enhancing their skills and enriching their musical experience culminating in a 4 concert series at the end of the summer.
Samantha has been a clinician and workshop leader for many events including Spring Rings, and the new youth handbell festival Crucible held this past January in Houston, Texas.
Samantha rings with Chime In! as well as with the New England Ringers, and is one-third of the handbell trio FaLiSaD (pronounced “Felicity”), who thrive in tight harmonies, rhythmic impossibilities, and having too many bells to handle.
Samantha has always loved music, joining choir at age 6 and continuously singing and playing various instruments ever since. She has been ringing handbells since 1995. She received two B.S. degrees from Radford University one each in Music and Theatre, and has studied conducting under Rick Wood, Dr. William Payn, and Kevin McChesney.
She lives in central Connecticut, where she and her husband Mike are raising two amazing up-and-coming bellringers, Dashiell and Penelope.
We Sing! Choral Director: Anna Jedd
Anna is thrilled to be co-directing We Sing! Anna is a recently retired music teacher and Music Coordinator of the Watertown Public School District. Anna was a co-director of the Litchfield County Children's Choir. She studied at Western Connecticut State University, SUNY Potsdam and Central Connecticut State University. Anna is currently Music Director at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Oxford, and sings with Connecticut Choral Society and Connecticut Master Chorale.
We Sing! Choral Director: Donna Poliquin
Donna is the K12 Music Coordination and High School Choral Director in Watertown. She is a life-long resident of Bethlehem and graduate of Nonnewaug High School. She received her B.S. in Music Education from Western Connecticut State University, M.S. in Education from Walden University and an M.S. in Educational Administration and Supervision from University of Bridgeport. She is the organist at the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Washington Depot.