Naperville Carillon to feature special concerts and lighting this spring

The Naperville Millennium Carillon in Moser Tower is announcing special concerts and lighting to honor health care workers and first responders during the coronavirus pandemic this spring.

Local carillonneurs will perform a series of concerts on Wednesdays at noon for the month of May, in addition to the regularly scheduled concerts at noon on Saturdays and 4 p.m. on Sundays.

From April 29 through May 12, Moser Tower will be lighted up blue to honor health care workers and first responders during the COVID-19 health crisis.

"Local carillonneurs will perform 30-minute concerts on the bells of the Millennium Carillon located at the base of Rotary Hill on the Naperville Riverwalk," said Naperville City Carillonneur Tim Sleep. "These concerts will feature patriotic selections in addition to traditional carillon pieces. The 72 bells installed in Moser Tower can easily be heard from multiple locations along the Riverwalk on either side of the DuPage River, which facilitates social distancing."

In contrast to the summer recitals of past years, the upcoming spring concerts are intended for a dispersed audience, listening as they walk along the Riverwalk.

Per current guidelines related to COVID-19, people may not gather in groups on Rotary Hill to listen to the concerts.

The annual Carillon lighting schedule includes blue lights for the first part of April to mark autism awareness and green lights from April 17-28 for Earth Week.

The blue lighting planned for April 29-May 12 will replace the white lights typically displayed during that time period.

The summer Carillon concert schedule will continue the Saturday and Sunday concerts that feature local carillonneurs.

The Tuesday evening recital series schedule, which usually includes guest artists from other states and countries, is yet to be determined and will be announced at a later time.