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OUR COMPOSERS
Michael Joy
Born and raised in Canton, Ohio, Michael Joy has lived in Philadelphia, PA since 1974. He received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Theory and Composition from Baldwin-Wallace University. He studied handbells with Donald Allured and handbell composition with Arnold Sherman. Michael has been directing handbell choirs in churches since 1978 and in schools since 1983. He is currently the handbell director at The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, PA where he conducts a lower school handchime ensemble as well as four middle school and two high school handbell ensembles. For the last 41 years Michael has been the Music Director at First Presbyterian Church in Ambler, PA.
Michael is the Executive Editor for the new GIA Foundations Series, designed specifically for developing handbell ensembles in schools. He is the co-author (with Sandra Eithun) of Pathways to Musical Ringing, a new reproducible series from Choristers Guild. Michael is a published composer and has taught at Handbell Musicians of America Area festivals and National Seminars, PMEA district and state conferences, and the 2008 International Handbell Symposium. He was the inaugural director of the first College Ring-In in 2016. Jeffers Publishing Company named him Composer of the Year for 2004 for his composition Dorian Dance. Michael received the Donald E. Allured Original Composition Award for 2011. Michael also served two terms as the Secretary for Area 2 of the Handbell Musicians of America.