UCCMA 2026: Local Singers & Ringers Choir Tracks

Sing and Ring with the Conference 2026 Choirs

The United Church of Christ Musicians Association (UCCMA) invites interested local singers and handbell ringers to join the choral or handbell choirs at Conference 2026, our biennial national conference of worship, workshops and concerts for church musicians. This is a great opportunity to sing under the direction of our choral clinician, Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt or ring with our handbell expert Jarod Ogier. There are five rehearsals and a performance at the closing worship service on Saturday at 11:00 AM. Handbell and choir rehearsals are at the same time. You will be joining conference attendees and helping to fill out both choirs as well as learning from our experts.

Dates: Wednesday through Saturday, July 8 to 11, 2026

Location: First Community Church, North Campus, 3777 Dublin Rd., Columbus, Ohio

Cost: $25 includes music. (Does not include meals.)

By registering, you agree to attend all rehearsals and perform in the closing worship service.

Rehearsal Schedule:

Wednesday at 4:00 PM – Rehearsal
Thursday at 10:55 AM – Rehearsal
Thursday at 3:20 PM - Rehearsal
Friday at 10:55 AM – Rehearsal
Friday at 3:20 PM – Rehearsal
Saturday at 9:45 AM – Choral Choir Dress Rehearsal
Saturday at 10:15 AM – Handbell Choir Dress Rehearsal
Saturday at 11:00 AM – Closing Worship Service

Other options: Check out the conference offerings! If you would like to attend Dr. Apfelstadt’s interest session on Canadian choral music on Friday or Jarod Ogier's workshop on Thursday or other conference events, you are welcome to register to attend a full day or two. Meals are included for those days. However, you still need to return here to sign up for the choir as well. This is a separate event for registration purposes.

If you opt to attend the entire conference, then the choral and handbell choirs are included in your registration fee and you won’t need to sign up here.

We welcome your participation at any level!

Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt is Professor Emerita of Choral Studies at the University of Toronto where she held the Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting. From 2013 – 2018, she was artistic director of Exultate Chamber Singers, a semi-professional ensemble in Toronto. After retiring from U of T, she served as Interim Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) for a year. Previous full-time university teaching appointments in the U.S. were at the Ohio State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

A native Canadian, she has led her university choirs in performances at ACDA conferences and at Podium, the national professional conference of Choral Canada. She has guest conducted numerous honors choruses and festivals throughout North America and internationally, including 40 all-state choirs and the National Youth Choir of Canada. Her teaching experiences range from public school to community ensembles to church choirs. She has worked in Lutheran, Episcopal, United Church of Canada, and United Methodist Churches, including Linworth UMC in Columbus where she was Director of Music for 14 years. She has presented at the Alleluia conference at Baylor University, at three Summer Institute for Church Music conferences in Canada, and at the Duke University Sacred Choral Clinic in North Carolina.

Jarod Ogier has been ringing and directing handbells for nearly 20 years. He was introduced to bells as an undergraduate music assistant at North Broadway United Methodist Church in Columbus, under the direction of Carol Ann Bradley. Since then, he’s been a member of two community ensembles, served on the board of Area 5, Handbell Musicians of America (OH State Chair and Area Chair), and participated in further training and advanced ringing opportunities at many HMA National Seminars. Jarod is the Artistic Director of Columbus Rings; an auditioned community handbell ensemble composed of ringers from all over Central Ohio.