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June 9, 2006|Volume 34, Number 30|Five-Week Issue


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The Yale Memorial Carillon in Harkness Tower is marking its 40th anniversary this year. Its bells range in weight from about 7 tons to 23 pounds.



Event will bring bellringers from
near and far to the Yale campus

Two new compositions written by Yale students especially for the "voices" of the bells in Harkness Tower will be premiered during the 64th annual Congress of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North American, being held on campus June 20-23.

The event is being hosted by the Yale Guild of Carillonneurs, the student organization responsible for the twice-daily ringing of the Harkness Tower bells. Over 150 carillonneurs from across the country and overseas are expected attend the congress, which will feature performances on the Yale Memorial Carillon, as well as workshops and other activities for participants.

The congress coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Yale Memorial Carillon. With 54 bells -- the largest weighing about 7 tons and the smallest 23 pounds -- it is the eighth largest carillon by weight in North America and is considered one of the finest. It is played from a console that resembles a simple organ, with batons for the hands and pedals for the feet. These keys move the clappers -- the metal balls inside the bells -- that strike and sound the bells, which remain stationary.

In honor of both the anniversary and the congress, the Yale Guild of Carillonneurs sponsored a composers contest this spring. The guild invited Yale students to submit works they had created for other instruments. Based on these, they selected two students -- Jacob First, a member of the Class of 2007, and Yoshiaki Onishi, a composition student at the School of Music -- to create new works for the carillon. As part of their introduction to the instrument, First and Onishi were taken to the top of Harkness Tower to see firsthand the enormous bells and the instrument that makes them sing.

The resulting works, "Martelé" by Onishi and "Impulsive and Ratiocinations" by First, will be premiered at a recital by Ellen Dickinson, a member of the Yale guild, at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 22. Congress participants will also receive copies of the works, so they can adapt the compositions for their own carillons.

Dickinson's recital is just one of the concerts on the Yale Memorial Carillon that will be presented during the congress. The best public listening space for these musical offerings is the Branford College courtyard (between High, York and Elm streets). The featured performers will be: Yale Guild of Carillonneurs, June 19, 7 p.m.; Geert D'hollander and Liesbeth Janssens, Royal Carillon School, Mechelen, Belgium, June 20, 12:30 p.m.; Jeremy Chesman, Southwest Missouri State University, June 20, 2 p.m.; Eddy Mariën, Royal Carillon School, Mechelen, Belgium, June 21, 4:15 p.m.; Margo Halsted, University of Michigan, June 21, 6:30 p.m.; Roy Lee, University of Toronto, June 22, 5 p.m.; and Milford Myhre, Bok Tower, Florida, June 23, 5 p.m.

In conjunction with the congress, there will be a special exhibition titled "Inside Harkness Tower: A History of Chime and Carillon Music at Yale," on view through July 15 in the nave of Sterling Memorial Library and in the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, both located at 120 High St. The display features photographs, blueprints, posters, correspondence, articles and music related to the Yale Memorial Carillon. In addition, the Collection of Musical Instruments, at 15 Hillhouse Ave., will feature a special exhibition of the Robyna Neilson Ketchum Collection of Bells.

Also on the program for the visiting bellringers will be workshops on topics ranging from bell music in China to the healthful benefits of playing the carillon to "Programming 101: Disturbing the Air So That People Will Listen," and more. Other highlights will include a master class with Todd Fair, carillonneur of the University of Denver's Williams Carillon; a panel discussion on the development and future of carillon education; and pre- and post-congress trips to area carillons. The latter will include visits to Trinity College in Hartford, Simsbury United Methodist Church, the First Presbyterian Church in Stamford and Riverside Church in New York City, home of the heaviest carillon in the world.

The Guild of Carillonneurs of North America, established in 1936, is a professional organization dedicated to the promotion of the carillon art. In addition to the Yale Guild of Carillonneurs, its 64th congress is sponsored by Yale's Collection of Musical Instruments, Gilmore Music Library and Sterling Memorial Library, Office of the Secretary and Yale College Dean's Office; Taylor's Eayre and Smith Ltd.; Royal Eijsbouts; Meeks, Watson & Company; and The Verdin Company.

For more information about the Yale Guild of Carillonneurs (including a chance to play a virtual carillon or to request a song) or for a list of activities at the congress, visit the website at www.yale.edu/carillon.


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