About Noah Hartsfield

Noah began playing handbells in 2nd grade, growing up in rural northeast Missouri and has played them ever since.  He fell in love with music and a young age and has also trained as a vocalist.  He became truly passionate about handbells and worship music as a young adult.  Noah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Missouri with concentrations in Music, Psychology, and Sociology.
Handbell Musician
Noah has over 30 years of handbell ringing under his belt and has played with multiple church and community choirs.  He has also performed as a handbell soloist and in small ensembles.

He spent 13 years ringing with the Columbia Handbell Ensemble (CHE) in Columbia, Missouri; performing high caliber concert music. He has performed with the ensemble at multiple high profile concert engagements; including regional handbell festivals across the Midwest, Great Plains, and New England; as well at national conferences for the Handbell Musicians of America.

He is currently the Director of the Handbell Program at First Baptist Church of Columbia, Missouri, a position he assumed in 2019.
Conductor & Clinician
Noah has been described as an engaging and passionate clinician and teacher.  He has experience training ringers of all ages and abilities, from beginners young and old to experienced ringers.  He mixes the teaching of technique, musicality, and background with a ringing first mentality. He has been told by ringers that “I always learn something new from you”.  Noah has three rules for anyone he works with:
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1. Ringing with passion and purpose.
2. Each run through a song or passage, focus on fixing or improving one thing.
3. Above all else, have fun!
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Noah has led massed ring events, taught workshops at Area Handbell Conferences and Festivals, and worked with several handbell choirs as a guest conductor.
Composer & Hymn Writer
Noah began dabbling in composing while in high school.  He was written multiple handbell pieces as well as choral anthems.  He has a particular love of traditional hymns and folk music and frequently writes arrangements of traditional hymns tunes from around the world.

Noah’s interest in hymns and hymn authorship has developed more recently in the last several years.  As a hymn author, Noah seeks to marry well known and traditional hymn tunes with modern text and theology. As a Progressive Christian, Noah seeks to blend progressive theology with beloved hymns tunes in order to give churches a new hymn repertoire that matches their beliefs.
A man stands at a table equipped with handbells, in a room possibly with musical instruments nearby, awaiting an audience.