Naperville's Millennium Carillon Sets Stage for Fall Community Events
Looking toward fall, the Carillon has a lineup of special events scheduled and once again will set the stage for community gatherings, both solemn and celebratory.
Naperville's Millennium Carillon will host its last recital in the Tuesday evening summer series at 7:00 p.m. on August 25, as a rescheduling of the August 18 recital, which was cancelled due to thunderstorms. City Carillonneur Tim Sleep will play a wide range of popular music, including arrangements of pieces by Bach, Scott Joplin, and Michael Jackson. Twilight tours of Moser Tower will be available immediately following the concert.
On September 11, Carillonneur Sleep will play a special concert of patriotic and inspirational music at noon and Big Joe will toll from 5:30-5:45 p.m., immediately prior to the remembrance service at the Shanower memorial on the Riverwalk. The bells also will play patriotic music at 4:00 p.m. and at 7:00 p.m.
"The September 11 noon concert will feature the composition, 'In Memoriam,' which was composed by carillonneur John Courter immediately after the attack," explained Sleep. "It was freely distributed and carillons all over the world perform it on September 11."
On Saturday, October 24 from 7:00-8:00 p.m., the SCARE-illon concert returns to the Carillon and will feature spooky and ethereal music of the season played by Carillonneur Sleep. Special guests, Élan Dance Company, also will perform at the event, which is free and open to the public.
The capstone event of the 2015 fall season at the Carillon and Rotary Hill is the Healing Field of Honor, running from Nov. 6-12, with a Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11 at 11:00 a.m. Co-hosted by Operation Support Our Troops and the Naperville Park District, the 2015 Healing Field, "Fifty Years of Healing," will honor the service of the armed forces during the Vietnam war. Those interested in sponsoring a flag may find details at www.healingfield.org/naperville. Carillonneur Sleep will play a special recital for the Healing Field with date and time to be determined.
The final Carillon special event this fall is a Thanksgiving Day concert of early American music played by Carillonneur Jim Brown at 12:00 noon on November 26, 2015.
In addition to providing a community gathering place and ringing its bells to entertain and to mark special occasions, Naperville's Millennium Carillon also helps celebrate holidays and community causes silently through its colored lighting schedule. The regular white lights shine most of the year. This autumn, the lights will change to yellow from Sept. 8-14 to highlight childhood cancer awareness and then will shine orange from Sept. 15-21 to mark Hunger Action Month. Orange lights will shine for Halloween from Oct. 27-Nov. 2 and the lights will switch to red, white and blue to honor Veterans Day from Nov. 3-11.
Weekly recitals by local carillonneurs will take place on Saturdays at noon through December 26. Saturday afternoon recitals take place at 4:00 p.m. through October and at 3:00 p.m. during November and December.
Carillon tours are available through November 15 on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. and on Sundays from 12:00 noon-6:00 p.m. The fee is $3 per person.