MSU Rings in Summer with Beaumont Tower Carillon Concerts

And you thought those years practicing the cello in high school orchestra had you lugging around a large and bulky instrument.

Try playing a 104-foot-tall tower.

For six consecutive Wednesdays starting July 6, Beaumont Tower on the campus of Michigan State University will serve as the instrument of choice for the 25^th annual Muelder Summer Carillon Concert Series. A carillon is a percussion instrument played by using a wooden keyboard and foot pedals to activate the bells in a tower. A tower must contain at least 23 bells to be considered a carillon. Beaumont Tower consists of 49 bells.

Hosted by the College of Music, the Muelder Summer Carillon Concert Series was established in 1996 through the efforts of the late Milton Muelder, whose 40-plus-year career at MSU included time spent as a professor of political science, vice president of research and dean of the graduate school. The concerts are free, and the public is encouraged to bring a picnic, chair or blanket to enjoy the talents of the expert carillonists performing on the bells. This year’s concert performers include:

• July 6: Carlo van Ulft is director/carillonist of the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon in Springfield, Illinois, and a native of the Netherlands with master’s degrees in organ performance, carillon performance and theater organ performance.
• July 13: Helen Hofmeister received her carillon instruction at the University of Kansas and has performed carillon recitals in 16 states, Belgium, the Netherlands and international festivals.
• July 20: Dennis Curry serves as Oakland University’s first carillonneur after 33 years as Kirk in the Hills’ carillonneur, and he is a past president of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.
• July 27: Keiran Cantilina hails from Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen and was a finalist in the Queen Fabiola International Carillon Competition held in 2019.
• Aug. 3: Eva Albalghiti is originally from Wheaton, Maryland. She began playing the carillon at Yale University, and she now plays weekly recitals at Lurie Tower at the University of Michigan.
• Aug. 10: Jon Lehrermakes his debut performance as Michigan State University carillonist in the finale of the 2022 Muelder Summer Carillon Concert Series. Lehrer is a laureate of five international competitions for carillon.

Each concert begins at 6 p.m., rain or shine. Visitors can hear demonstrations, view the bells, and tour Beaumont Tower after each concert. Built in 1928 through a gift from Class of 1882 alumnus John W. Beaumont, Beaumont Tower is on West Circle Drive in the heart of MSU’s campus on the site of College Hall, the first building on the university campus and the first building in the United States devoted to teaching scientific agriculture.

Find more information on summer events at the MSU College of Music , visit the college’s event section.