Hillary Marotta
Author, Speaker, Musician
Hillary Marotta
Author, Speaker, Musician
Playing My Heart Out
One Ringer’s Passion for Handbells
Part-memoir and part-love letter, Playing My Heart Out is a lighthearted, intimate look at the world of handbells and the ringers who geek out over them. From the first meet-cute story of the unlikely way the author discovered this unique art to the satisfying to-be-continued conclusion, Hillary Marotta shares funny and heart-tugging stories of the adventures and emotions handbells have led her through, and the life lessons she’s learned along the way…
Head and Heart
How to Run a Smart and Compassionate Nonprofit
Do you want to make a bigger impact in the world by taking your passion for helping others and starting your own nonprofit organization? You can do it and you can do it well! The key is to take that soul and idealism and combine it with the realism and strategy of the for-profit sector. Head and Heart will walk new nonprofit leaders through the steps of establishing a nonprofit organization by marrying the ideas of big, giving hearts with successful business practices…
Conducting & Making Music Together
I became a musician the first time I sat down at the piano. With my grandmother as my teacher, I played for five or six years before moving onto the flute. Then I met my true love: handbells, which I encountered at Bucknell University. There, under the direction of William Payn, I was lucky enough to play for the school’s renowned Rooke Chapel Ringers (you can read the full story in Playing My Heart Out: One Ringer’s Passion for Handbells). While I’ve continued to dabble with my flute every now and again, I devote most of my practice to handbells, and have claimed my long-time desire to direct by taking both private and master classes in conducting handbell choirs.
I enjoy ringing and conducting more than just about anything in the world, and I continue ringing for massed and auditioned events as well as substituting locally. I also began my own beginning level handbell choir, which has met in my home since fall 2022. I love teaching others the basics of ringing as well as the beauty and musicality of handbells. My beginners have performed multiple times and have fallen in love with the instrument just as I did, which makes my heart soar. I look forward to more conducting and ringing in my future, perhaps with you!
“Ringing is a combination of following musical notes and lyrics, being able to bring different tones to the bells by how you play them, even if it’s the same note, and hearing the absolute beauty when it’s all put together that just makes your soul come alive!” – Barb Rosensteel, ringer and reader
Interested in making music together?
Speaking
As a speaker on both my professional and personal passions, I love to speak to groups large and small about the things that make my soul sing. Whether I’m bringing my unique approach of combining the passion and idealism of serving with the realism and strategy of the for-profit sector to growing nonprofits or sharing my love of music, handbells, and the life lessons they’ve given me, I bring my heart-centered style to every encounter. Additionally, having had the privilege of working with several mental health nonprofits and facing my own mental health challenges, I am eager to engage with groups about my mental health speaking topics from a very personal perspective.
As a speaker on both my professional and personal passions, I love to speak to groups large and small about the things that make my soul sing. Whether I’m bringing my unique approach of combining the passion and idealism of serving with the realism and strategy of the for-profit sector to growing nonprofits or sharing my love of music, handbells, and the life lessons they’ve given me, I bring my heart-centered style to every encounter. Additionally, having had the privilege of working with several mental health nonprofits and facing my own mental health challenges, I am eager to engage with groups about my mental health speaking topics from a very personal perspective.