Meet mach

Nick Bonaccio

MUSIC DIRECTOR

Nicholas Bonaccio was appointed Music Director of the Madison Area Concert Handbells in January of 2017, just in time to celebrate their 20th Anniversary season. A Vermont native, Nicholas is an alumnus of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY and has done graduate work at DePaul University in Chicago, IL.

Trained as a classical percussionist, he joined the percussion section of the Madison Symphony Orchestra in 2015 at age 23. In 2024, he was awarded the Cooper Players Award for outstanding playing and contributions to the orchestra.

Nick has also performed with the Milwaukee Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, Rockford Symphony, Quad City Symphony, and Dubuque Symphony, sharing the stage with soloists ranging from Itzhak Perlman and Sharon Isbin; to Kristen Chenoweth, The Voice’s Patrick Thomas, and the rock band Evanescence. He also performs with Broadway Across America’s touring productions at Overture Center in Madison, most recently Wicked, Anastasia, and Motown the Musical.

In addition to directing MACH, Nicholas is also the Director of Handbell Ensembles at Bethany United Methodist Church in Madison, where he directs the talented ringers of the Bethany Carillons and Bethany Children’s Bells, and spearheaded an initiative to fully refurbish the church’s aging five-octave set of Schulmerich handbells. He also teaches percussion at Cardinal Heights Upper Middle School in Sun Prairie, WI.

Passionate about vintage percussion instrument restoration, Nicholas has apprenticed at two of the most well-known names in the industry, Fall Creek Marimbas in Victor, NY and Century Mallet Instrument Service in Chicago, where he helped restore antique mallet instruments for clients worldwide. With the skills he gained, Nick completely restored his personal 1920’s J.C. Deagan xylophone, on which he performed as soloist in MACH’s Spring 2018 concerts, “Ringing in the 20’s,” featuring handbell arrangements of the ragtime music of George Hamilton Green.

Outside of performing, he is passionate about collecting vintage percussion instruments and mid-century modern furniture, and enjoys cooking, playing trivia, and arranging music for handbell choir.

Greg Hinz

RINGER | 2022
Greg began ringing 20 years ago with his church’s handbell choir. Greg is also a long-time member of the Madison Symphony percussion section, and enjoys the creative world that is percussion. He is married to fellow ringer, Melissa, and is proud of their two college-age kids. In his free time he enjoys cooking, woodworking projects, and modern architecture.
Melissa Hinz

RINGER | 2022
Melissa joined spring of 2022, having had her first handbell experience as a church bell choir director 20 years ago. Melissa works at Covenant Presbyterian Church as the Minister of Music and Pastoral Care. She is married to fellow ringer, Greg, and together they have 2 children in college. Other interests include cooking, baking, gardening, and traveling.
Heidi Twedt

RINGER & OFFICER | 2021
Heidi first began ringing in her church’s handbell choir in elementary school, and then picked it back up again. By day, she’s a Physician and Clinical Informaticist in the Department of Medicine at UW. Her other interests include gardening, fiber arts, and musical theater.
Wes Swords

RINGER & PRESIDENT | 2018
Wes began ringing at 8 and hasn't stopped since; playing in youth choirs and the San Diego Harmony Ringers in undergrad. He jumped coasts to pursue a Ph.D. at UNC-Chapel Hill. When he wasn’t shooting lasers “for research”, he rang in church choirs and directed Youth bells. He is currently a Senior Scientific Editor with Elsevier.
Sasha Schallert

RINGER | 2022
Sasha works as a land survey technician at MSA Professional Services. She lives with her husband Chris and the BEST cat, Luna. In her free time, she loves spending time outdoors, traveling, hiking, biking, kayaking etc. Handbells is just one of her endless hobbies, including crochet, crafting, music of any kind, video games, jigsaw puzzles, gardening, costuming/cosplay, the list goes on…
Marcie Mahuta

RINGER | 2022
Marcie has played in or directed various handbell choirs over the years, first ringing at Lutherdale Summer camp. After a 14-year hiatus, she was thrilled to join MACH in 2022. Marcie is an accountant by day for WBD, Inc. When not working or making music, she loves to travel, hike, kayak, craft, play with her grandkids, and spend time with friends.
Karen Paschke

RINGER | 2002
Karen became fascinated with handbells at the age of 3 when she got to ring the smallest bell after a performance. At 10 she began to play in her church choir and continued until she went to the University of Illinois. She moved to Madison in 2001 and joined MACH in the spring of 2002. She teaches math at Madison East High School and travels each summer.
Ashley Crutcher

RINGER & SECRETARY | 2017
Ashley has always been musical, playing a variety of instruments. Her introduction to handbells was in high school when her school briefly added a choir to win more points in Solo & Ensemble. When not ringing, she’s at work as the Director of Experience Strategy for InterVarsity, knitting, or hanging out with her husband, housemates, and pets.
Rachel Bain

RINGER | 1999
Rachel has rung with MACH since 1999. She 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 coordinates the instructional technology for the undergraduate program in the UW-Madison Department of Chemistry and plays trombone in the Verona Area Concert Band.
Caitlin Ristow

RINGER | 2010
Caitlin encountered handbells as a child and it was love at first ring. She’s been blessed to ring at every level from junior church choir to national festival show choir. When not ringing, she can be found gardening, playing various instruments for worship at Our Redeemer, Madison, and creating ‘choir of one’ videos (@ChoirOfOne).
Cara Happe

RINGER | 2017
Cara Happe first rang a handbell at 6 years old. Outside of MACH, she plays horn in the Verona Area Concert Band and is involved in music ministry at her church. When she’s not ringing, Cara likes taking walks with her husband Richard and their dogs: Bundy and Melba, square dancing, knitting, and crocheting- last year she used almost 20k yards of yarn!
Kris Lee

RINGER & TREASURER | 2014
Kris first played handbells as a freshman at St. Olaf College as a way of being in music without singing or playing an instrument. When not ringing, she works as a biostatistician for one of the research groups at UW-Madison looking at eye diseases. She has been involved with Girl Scouts throughout her life and enjoys reading mysteries and doing puzzles.
Kristi Menninga

Description goes hereKristi started ringing handbells in 1995 when her church bought a 5-octave set. She joined MACH in its inaugural year 2 years later. She is married to her high school sweetheart (a former MACH ringer), and they have 3 sons, 2 daughters-in-law and 4 very adorable grandchildren. She is a member of the Payroll team at Epic and enjoys reading, quilting, traveling and spending time with her family.
Debi Robey

RINGER | 2008
Debi has been ringing for 40+ years in church and community choirs. While MACH is her “home team”, she also makes the 500-mile trip to ring with Bells In Motion, based in Springfield, IL. When not ringing, she enjoys biking, doing puzzles, operating the train and carousel at the Henry Vilas Zoo, and playing with her grand-puppies.
Alice Teter

RINGER | 1997

Alice earned her B.S. and M.A. at the University of Nebraska. She taught Latin/Spanish, held various jobs at UNL, worked in editorial for Photochemistry/biology, and learned to ring. After 50 years in Nebraska, she moved to work at the Journal of Chemical Ed. just in time to become a founding ringer in MACH. In 2013, she retired from the Journal but not from MACH.