Ringing in the season

Songs of the season will fill the night air on Christmas Eve as Grand Valley State University's carillonneur presents a special holiday concert in downtown Grand Rapids.

Vanden Wyngaard, university carillonneur, will perform hymns and well-known holiday tunes on the Beckering Family Carillon beginning at 9:30 p.m. on December 24. The 151-foot-tall carillon tower is located on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus, off west Fulton Street, so the bells will be heard ringing throughout the downtown area. The concert is expected to last for 45 minutes.

Vanden Wyngaard will also present the holiday concert at her regular Sunday performance on the Beckering Family Carillon, at 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, December 22.

The Beckering Family Carillon, dedicated in 2000, contains 48 bells -- the largest of which weighs more than two tons -- which the carillonneur plays from a large wooden keyboard in the tower chamber, accessed by climbing 112 steps.