Member Profile: Cheryl Ondratschek

CHERYL ONDRATSCHEK lives in Winfield with her husband, Bill. Cheryl has a Bachelor of Music degree from North Park College in Chicago and was a music educator for 10 years before entering the business world where she now works for a telemetry services company. Cheryl is also handbell director at St. John Lutheran Church in Wheaton. When she is not playing with her two pups or taking them for a walk she likes to garden, bike, and read.

Member Profile: Carloyn Ohman

CAROLYN OHMAN of Palatine is also a Chicago Bronze charter member. She received a bachelor’s degree from Augustana College. She works in the Molecular Pathology laboratory at ACL Laboratories, isolating and analyzing DNA. In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with her grandchildren, Jadey, Teale, Caden, and Skylar traveling, reading and doing cross-stitch.

Member Profile: Bill Ondratschek

BILL ONDRATSCHEK of Winfield is married to Cheryl whom he met while both attended North Park College and played in the concert band. Bill received a BA degree and taught elementary education for 9 years. He left teaching to enter a corporate training position for the oldest franchiser of cleaning and restoration franchisees where he is currently Vice President of Franchise Operations. Bill is a member of the St. John Ringers and, coincidentally, he and his wife share the same outside interests.

Listen Online! GIA 2009-2010 Handbell Catalog

Chicago Bronze is the recording group for GIA Publications' handbell catalog. Demo recordings are posted on Jeffers Handbell Supply's website for all to enjoy and, hopefully, purchase.
Chicago Bronze and GIA both work hard to make these recordings as good as they can be in a very short period of time, so that handbell directors can fully appreciate the pieces before buying multiple copies for their choirs.

You can hear Chicago Bronze's recording of the 2009-2010 catalog (with the exception of Psallite and Travelers from Nazareth, which were recorded by the Concord Ringers some time ago).

Profile: Barb Barrett

The first in a series: profiles of Chicago Bronze members!

BARBARA BARRETT of Round Lake first rang handbells in high school and rediscovered them in 1994. She is a charter member of Chicago Bronze. A native Hoosier, Barb earned a BS in Business from Indiana University. She handles
financial reporting for Zebra Technologies. Barb loves spending her free time reading, attending concerts, working puzzles, and watching college basketball.

11th year kick-off

We had our kick-off last night for the 2009/2010 season. We turned 10 years old last Spring; this will be our 11th year. We're proud of what we've accomplished in that decade, and we are looking forward to another great decade of handbell music.

We have some openings, and we're thrilled that we've had enough interest in auditions that we had to extend them over two weeks. Best of luck to all the candidates! Everyone should watch for some fresh faces this year - be sure to say hi at the next concert.

Recording Do-over

After our last recording session was washed out by the rain, we found a new recording 'studio.' It's a senior living community, where we played a concert in April. It was really pouring the day of the concert, and we noticed it stayed quiet in the auditorium.

There was still a little noise, from cars on the local road and the occasional airplane, but it was still better than our old location. The residents also made some noise earlier in the evening, but got quiet as the night went on. We resolved to play the loud pieces first next time we record.

It was also really warm and humid - because we asked that the air conditioning be turned off. Nothing worse than the A/C kicking in during the recording. That problem will also lessen in the Fall and Winter.

Hopefully this all means our next CD will be produced this Summer, and available for purchase by December.