The Grand Valley State University Summer Carillon Series brings many opportunities on both campuses to hear some of the world's finest carillonneurs.
The June 18 performance by David Hunsberger from University of California, Berkeley, opens the Cook Carillon Series, which runs Sundays at 8 p.m., on the Allendale Campus, June through August, rain or shine. See the full schedule below.
Video cameras mounted in the carillon playing chambers provide live images, which are transmitted to large monitors at the base of the towers, giving audiences a visual treat as well. The Cook Carillon Tower contains 48 bells -- the largest weighing nearly 3,000 pounds, the smallest 14 pounds -- which the carillonneur plays from a large, wooden keyboard by striking the keys, or batons, with a loosely closed fist. There is also a two-octave pedal board, operated by the feet.
Hunsberger has taught music at Washington University and at Webster College in St. Louis, and the Thailand Theological Seminary in Chaing Mai. His recital activity has included participation in carillon festivals in Belgium, The Netherlands, France, New Zealand and tours in the United States, Canada and Australia. He is now a senior contracts analyst at the University of California and organist-choirmaster at St. John's Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, where he plays a 1979 organ of 22 stops by John Brombaugh. His Grand Valley performance will include the music of Bach, Joplin and Sousa.
Also this month is the June 25 Cook Carillon performance by Julianne Vanden Wyngaard, university carillonneur at Grand Valley. A noted concert pianist, Vanden Wyngaard joined the university's music faculty in 1967 and has been principal performer on the Cook Carillon since its dedication in 1994, and the Beckering Family Carillon, added in 2000. She has studied at the Netherlands Carillon School since 1996 and, in 2000, successfully completed the requirements for the diploma in performance, literature and arranging. She gives lessons and makes the carillon accessible to students and area musicians who seek to learn to play this extraordinary instrument.
Cook Carillon Series:
- June 18: David Hunsberger, University of California
- June 25: Julianne Vanden Wyngaard, GVSU Carillonneur
- July 2 : Ray McLellan, Michigan State University
- July 9: Julia Ann Walton, Okemos, MI
- July 16: Christine Power, Naperville, Ill
- July 23: Helen Hawley, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Grand Rapids
- July 30: GVSU Carillon Collaborative: Karen Meyers, Anna Colby
and Loretta Lanning
- August 6: Todd Fair, University of Denver
- August 13: Lee Cobb, Assistant Carillonneur, Historic Bok
Sanctuary, Lake Wales, FL
- August 20: Karel Keldermans, Carillonneur, Rees Memorial Carillon, Springfield, IL
The Beckering Family Carillon Series runs Wednesdays in July at noon, rain or shine, at the Lacks International Plaza, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus. Performers include:
- July 5: Dennis Curry, Organist, Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield
Hills, MI
- July 12: Julianne Vanden Wyngaard, GVSU Carillonneur
- July 19: Steven Ball, Carillonneur, University of Michigan
- July 26: Linda Dzuris, Carillonneur, Clemson University, South Carolina
