Sue Garton is a gifted ringer and is a member of the East Main Presbyterian Church bell choir and the Celebration Ringers, a community ensemble and has been performing as a handbell soloist since 1993. Sue is a member of AGEHR, the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, and has been a soloist and teacher at many local, area and national events. In 2000, she was a featured soloist at the National Director’s Seminar in Dayton, Ohio, and the winner of the Handbell Exploration Solo Competition in Cleveland. In July 2002 she returned to Cleveland Explo for a Spotlight Concert. She also worked with a newly formed handbell choir in Kiev, Ukraine, while presenting concerts in Kiev and Presov, Slovakia.
In the summer of 2003 Sue was selected to be a member of the "Dream Team" quartet, presenting a concert and teaching at the Solo/Ensemble Extravaganza (SEE) in Colorado Springs. This same quartet premiered Kevin McChesney’s arrangement of Claire de Lune at the 2004 Area XI festival in Durango, Colorado.
Sue currently devotes most of her time to handbells, both as a concert artist and clinician. Her presentations include a wide variety of sacred, secular and classical selections that delight the eye as well as the ear. Sue is the author of two articles on solo handbell techniques published by STEP. Sue and her husband, Bill, live in Slippery Rock, PA, are the parents of three grown sons and the grandparents of Emma, age 11. In her previous life, Sue was a nurse practitioner, a profession that she practiced with enthusiasm and commitment. It has been an exciting process for her to redirect that passion to music and handbells.
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