In September of 1997, Tualatin Valley Junior Academy, a Christian K-10 school in Hillsboro, Oregon purchased a 5 octave set of Malmark handbells. Since then, the 13 musicians in Ring of Fire, ages 12 to 16, have performed hundreds of times across Canada and the United States. They've been seen twice on international television on "The Hour of Power" from the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California and twice by 20,000 fans in the Rose Garden for Portland Trailblazer games. They have performed numerous times on KPTV-12's "Good Day Oregon" show, KATU-2's "AM Northwest", a KOIN-6 Christmas special, and on KTLA-5's "Morning News" in Los Angeles. In April 2002 the group will perform on NPR's top rated radio show, "From the Top."

Ring of Fire has twice been a featured performer at national handbell conventions. Their first AGEHR event was performing in Las Vegas, Nevada at "Pinnacle 2000." In 2001 the group performed in the final showcase concert of the "Handbell Spectacular 2001" in Palm Springs, California.

Also in 2001, Ring of Fire had the honor of representing the state of Oregon at the Inauguration of President George W. Bush. The group was one of 38 chosen from thousands of applicants nationwide. This invitation marked the first time handbells have been a part of the Inauguration of an U.S. President. Ring of Fire played at three official inaugural functions: Laura Bush's "Celebration of American Authors", the Inaugural Parade, and at the Inaugural Ball in the Ronald Reagan Federal Building later that night. Their adventures were covered on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and in print with the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.

In the fall of 2001, Ring of Fire had the incredible opportunity to share their music with those in New York City and Washington D.C. after the horrific events of 9-11. In Washington D.C. they performed "America the Beautiful" with the U.S. Army Orchestra, the group for all official state functions that has played for nearly every world leader. They also had the opportunity to view the destruction at the Pentagon and later travel to ground zero in New York City. The East Coast tour ended with a memorable performance in St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue for over 6,000 people for Sunday morning Mass.

The group's founder and director is Jason Wells. He has served as a handbell clinician in Canada and the U.S. and has taught classes at national events focusing on motivation and memorization. During his "formative" years as a handbell ringer in southern California, Jason worked with Cynthia Dobrinski, Douglas Wagner, and Katsumi Kodama at various handbell conventions. Five years later he started a handbell choir on the island of Palau in 1993. During the 1995-96 school year he directed an elementary school handbell choir while finishing his senior year at Walla Walla College in Washington. In 1996 Jason accepted a position teaching English, music, history, religion, and photography at Tualatin Valley Junior Academy. In 1997 after playing the tape "Alive" by Kodama's Glee Ringers to 13 interested kids who had never rung a bell, the adventure began...

Visit Ring of Fire's website at www.ring-of-fire.org