Susan T. (Nelson) Sylvester holds a B.A. degree in music with a theory/composition emphasis from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.  Graduate music education studies at Trenton State College led to New Jersey teacher certification. 

Recently married, Ms. Sylvester has been published as “Susan T. Nelson” since 1991, and has over 100 compositions and arrangements in print with 19 different publishers.  Her works have been featured at many seminars such as the “Ring in Praise” handbell seminars in Dunblane Cathedral, Scotland , the “2005 AGEHR National Festival Conference,” Springfield MO, and most recently, the “2006 Area III Spring Festival Conference,” and have been recorded by many ensembles, including Embellish of Grand Rapids, MI, and Handglockenchor of Hannover, Germany.  Commissions include writing original compositions for such prestigious groups as RingOut! Ensemble, San Diego, CA; The Ringers of Bryn Mawr, Philadelphia, PA; Deborah S. Rice, Becks Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, NC; and Velocity Handbell Ensemble, Oakland, CA.  She has worked with children of all ages for 30+ years and is the author of KidzRing!™ a new, innovative series of books designed for very young ringers. 

Constantly pushing the envelope, Susan is always looking for unique ways to enhance handbell literature. She was the first composer to write pieces solely for Petit & Fritsen bells and one of the first to include P&Fs along with other "alternate bells" (a phrase she coined) like Schulmerich Silver Melody Bells, and Whitechapel Cup Bells in her compositions. She was one of the first composers to include optional instruments with handbell compositions and write extended, longer works for handbells. Ms. Sylvester has also invented a new handbell articulation called the "pinch damp" and was the first to include suspended, malleted chimes in a published composition. Writing a "piece within a piece" is another one of her innovations; when arranged material is omitted, the piece can be performed as an original composition. She is the only handbell composer who has written a double handbell quartet that uses only one 3 octave set of bells, with no overlap of notes between the two quartets. 

Ms. Sylvester has studied in master class with Donald Allured, Cynthia Dobrinski; in seminars with Katsumi Kodama, Kathleen Ebling-Thorne; and was the 1999 recipient of AGEHR's McKeehan Scholarship. She has served as Historian on the AGEHR Area II Executive Board. As a clinician, she has taught composition, score study, music theory, and various handbell technique classes at AGEHR Area II Festival Conferences. She is proficient on 7 musical instruments: piano, organ, harpsichord, handbells, recorder, guitar and flute. 

A church musician since 1974, Susan is employed as Director of Music at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Hamilton, NJ, where she serves as organist and directs a thriving vocal and handbell program.  She is also employed as a Technical Assistant at Talbott Library, Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ.