Naperville carillon attracts performers from around the world
By Susan Dibble
sdibble@dailyherald.com
Overcast skies and a little rain early Tuesday evening did not stop several dozen music lovers from sitting outside for the weekly summer recital at the Millennium Carillon in downtown Naperville.
Trevor Workman, a carillonneur from England, played pieces ranging from John Philip Sousa to Richard Rogers’ “People Will Say We’re in Love” from “Oklahoma!”
Ron and Christine Paryl, members of the Naperville Municipal Band, said they come every Tuesday during the summer and bring Christine’s mother for the free concert.
“I enjoy the different carillonneurs that come and the different music,” Christine said. “What a privilege. We don’t have to go to Europe. They come here.”
Workman, a carillonneur for 46 years who has played in bell towers throughout Europe and United States, is part of an impressive lineup of talent that comes to perform each year during the Tuesday evening summer Carillon Recital Series. This year’s carillonneurs are from Belgium, France and Poland as well as locations in the United States.
The 72-bell Millennium Carillon they play, constructed in 2000 within the 160-foot-high Moser Tower, is one of the four largest in the United States.
“It really is a most beautiful instrument,” Workman said. “It’s just a delight to play and very special. It’s one of the most modern carillons in the world.”
Of the roughly 600 such instruments in existence, the oldest date back 500 years, Workman said. He has climbed 500 steps to play a carillon in Belgium and performed in cabins without air conditioning.
Naperville’s well-maintained carillon set within a beautiful park along the Riverwalk is an attractive draw within the bell tower performing community, said Tim Sleep, Naperville City Carillonneur. The fact that the World Carillon Federation is holding its triennial Congress and the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America is hosting its annual Congress in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., the last week of June makes it an exceptionally good year for bringing in performers, Sleep said.
“A lot people are coming for the congress,” said Sleep, one of only 155 guild-certified carillonneurs in the country. “We’re an extremely attractive location and we have a community that supports the arts so we get an good turnout on Tuesday evenings.”
Provided the weather is good, the 7 p.m. Tuesday recitals attract between 150 and 250 listeners, Sleep said. After the roughly hourlong recitals, visitors are invited up in the tower for tours from 8 to 9 p.m.
“The view from the top is just spectacular,” Sleep said.
An elevator can take visitors up 52 feet, but they need to climb another eight flights of stairs to get to the observation deck at 135 feet. The carillonneur’s cabin is 100 feet up.
Making music
The carillonneurs sit at a keyboard called a clavier, a console with 72 batons and 24 pedals linked to the clappers of the carillon bells. Performers strike the batons with their fists and pedals with their feet to make music. The audience can watch them play via a closed-circuit TV that is set up outside when the weather permits.
The Millennium Carillon’s 72 bells, ranging in size from 10 pounds to six tons, classify the bell tower as a grand carillon able to play six octaves.
“It gives you the greatest range of what you can play,” said Wylie Crawford, who served as Naperville’s first city carillonneur. “It’s got beautiful brass bells and at the same time, they’re not too heavy to play.”
Crawford, the president of the World Carillon Federation, serves as the carillonneur at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, Chicago Botanic Garden and at Northwestern University in Evanston. The Rockefeller Memorial Chapel carillon, like Naperville’s, has 72 bells making them two of the four largest carillons in the United States. (A carillon in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., has 77 bells.)
Crawford serves as the music director of Naperville’s summer recital series and has played carillons throughout Europe and in Japan and Mexico.
“The European carillons tend to be smaller in range and weight. They have fewer bells and pedals,” he said.
Some of the older carillons, located in church towers and town halls, have been less well-maintained and lack the conveniences of Naperville’s, Sleep said.
“We have an elevator and everybody likes having an elevator,” he said.
Workman, the carillonneur in Bournville, England, plays an instrument with 48 bells and four-octave range. The keyboard is similar to that of the Millennium Carillon, making him feel at home, he said.
“What I really love about the carillon is that it’s capable of great musical expression,” he said.
On tour here since the end of May, Workman will play carillons in Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan before returning to England July 6. He’ll then play in Prague, Belgium and Holland.
“It’s wonderful that the carillon art in America is growing,” he said. “It’s thriving.”
Music written specifically for carillons is by composers whose names aren’t recognized by most people, but popular music can be transcribed too, Sleep said. He gives pop concerts at 7 p.m. Saturday evenings from May through October. The musical selections heard daily at noon, 4 and 7 p.m. are played by a computer-controlled system.
“There’s almost no music rhythm that can’t be played on the carillon,” Sleep said.
Visiting performers may choose to play music representative of their own countries or music traditionally American, Sleep said. Workman said he aims for a mixture of classical and popular, keeping in mind that surrounding residents are a captive audience.
“The idea is to try to please all the people some of the time,” he said.
History lesson
Workman said the carillon he plays in Bournville, England, was installed in 1906 by the founder of Cadbury chocolates, a social reformer who built a town around his factory. An engineer by profession, Workman took an early retirement in 2002 after invitations to play in other countries began to take more of his time.
“Holland and Belgium are flooded with carillons,” he said.
Once while on tour in the United States, Workman was locked out of a carillon in Ann Arbor, Mich., after the audience was assembled and the person with the key to the tower failed to show.
“I could write a book,” he said. “You do get all sorts of experiences.”
Workman said his experiences in Naperville have been good ones. On this trip, he and his wife have been hosted by Frank and Kay Slocumb. He has become friends with Crawford and Chuck Seidel, Carillon Foundation board member.
“Naperville is a most fantastic situation as far as carillonneurs are concerned,” he said. “We were seriously considering at one point whether we might want to live here.”
Sleep, who has played other carillons in the United States, said he enjoys returning to Naperville’s own.
“It’s just such a spectacular instrument and a joy to play,” he said.
But no one can control the weather. Workman was ready to play his last piece Tuesday when the tornado siren sounded and everyone was sent home.
“It was too dangerous for everyone to be there,” Sleep said. “That happens when you’ve got an outdoor concert.”
Millennium Carillon recitals and tours
Tuesday night recitals are free and start at 7 p.m. at the Millennium Carillon, 443 Aurora Ave., Naperville. A Patriotic Calliope will precede the guest recital at 6:30 p.m. July 5, and the Naperville Park District Élan Dance Company will perform immediately before the concerts on July 26, Aug. 9 and Aug. 16. The schedule of performers is as follows:
June 28 — James M. Brown, Naperville
July 5 — Eddy Mariën and Tom Lee, Belgium and United States
July 12 — Monika Kazmierczak, Poland
July 19 — Brian Tang, Berkeley, Calif.
July 26 — Wylie Crawford, Evanston
Aug. 2 — Stefano Colletti, France
Aug. 9 — Melissa Weidner, Denver
Aug. 16 — Janet Tebbel, Philadelphia
Aug. 23 — Andrew Wetzel, New Haven, Conn.
Ÿ Tours are offered 8 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Aug. 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays through Aug. 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays through Nov. 19, and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 20. Cost: $3.
Ÿ Raffle tickets are on sale through June 27 to view the July 4 fireworks from the top of the carillon. Tickets available at Naperville Park District, 320 W. Jackson Ave., the Carillon Visitor Center, 455 Aurora Ave., and online at <a href="http://Naperville-carillon.org">Naperville-carillon.org</a>.