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Health & Fitness

Saturday: Wellesley College Carillon Spring Open Concert

This Saturday, April 6, from 1 to 4:30 PM, enjoy the sounds of Wellesley's carillon bells during the Wellesley College Guild of Carillonneurs Spring Carillon Concert and Open Tower.

Visit the Wellesley College campus this weekend to enjoy a unique concert experience – one that can be enjoyed just about anywhere on campus. This Saturday, April 6, enjoy the sounds of Wellesley’s carillon bells during the Wellesley College Guild of Carillonneurs Spring Carillon Concert and Open Tower from 1 to 4:30 PM.

Take a walk and listen to the concert, or visit the tower to learn more about this incredible instrument and the performers. As the name suggests, during the "open tower" Wellesley’s Galen Stone Tower will be open to visitors to come in and watch the musicians perform. Student members of the Guild will be available to answer questions and explain how the instrument works.

Wellesley holds six open tower events each year, during the Spring Concert professional musicians are invite to perform. Music will be played continuously from 1:00 to 4:30 PM and the performer will change every 30 minutes.

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The professional carillonneurs who will be performing are: Lucy Dechene, Mary Kennedy, Lee Leach, Tatiana Luykanova, David Maker, George Matthew, Jr., and Daniel Ryan.

“We are particularly excited to have seven performers from the New England area this year,” said Carla Staffaroni, President of the Guild. “Each of the seven performers will have a different repertoire of music, since they are coming from Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut, so they will likely have different music to adapt to fit Wellesley's carillon, which has 32 bells.”

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During the school year, student carillonneurs often feature oddball tunes and personal favorites –a recent performance featured a rendition of the Muppet favorite “Rainbow Connection.” Saturday’s concert is not programmed, so the performers have the opportunity to play whatever they want, consisting of a mix of classical pieces, folk songs, contemporary music, and music written specifically for carillon.

The Wellesley College carillon was installed in 1931. Its 32 bells are made of solid bronze and they range in weight from 80 to 1,600 pounds. The largest bell is more than four feet tall and about three feet in diameter. The bells are controlled by a series of levers that control the clapper inside the bell. The carillon is the largest instrument in the world—and possibly the least recognized; Wellesley’s carillon is one of only about 180 in the United States.

This event is free and open to the public. Guests can park in Founders' Lot or the Davis Parking Garage, and enter Green Hall from the academic quad then follow signs up to the tower.

Some Facts About the Wellesley Carillon:

  • The Wellesley carillon’s 32 bells have a range of C-D-E and then which is chromatic to A. This amounts to almost three octaves.
  • The bells are made of solid bronze and are controlled by a series of levers that control the clapper inside of the bell.
  • The largest bell is 4-5 feet tall, about 3 feet in diameter, and 1600 pounds.
  • Our smallest bell weighs 80 pounds.
  • Each clapper is about 1/10 of the weight of the bell.
  • The carillon was donated by a student, Charlotte Nichols Greene, in honor of her parents Charlotte Peabody Nichols and John Howard Nichols in June 1931.
  • Jef Denyn of the Netherlands was the first to play the carillon at the commencement of the Class of 1931.
  • The carillon is a transposing instrument - when a C is struck on the manuals a concert G is heard.
  • The Guild of Carillonneurs is currently sponsored by the Wellesley College Class of 1951.
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