2010 Smith Carillon Concert Series July 8, 2010

The international celebration of the 500th anniversary of the carillon will be will be observed at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, in the 2010 Smith Carillon Concert Series.

This summer’s schedule of carillonneurs is:

Thursday, July 8
Carlo van Ulft
Director and carillonneur, Centralia Carillon, Illinois
Thursday, July 15
Margo Halsted
Carillonneur Emerita, University of Michigan School of Music

Thursday, July 22
Lee Cobb
Organist and carillonneur, Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Clearwater, Fla.

Thursday, July 29
Jonathan Lehrer
Laureate, Queen Fabiola International Carillon Competition

All four outdoor performances begin at 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Free hot dogs and snacks will be served during the concerts.

Seating for the Smith Carillon Concert Series is on the lawn of the college’s John M. Lilley Library; concertgoers are encouraged to bring a chair or blanket. In the event of rain, seating is available inside the Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel.

The 48 bells of Penn State Behrend’s Floyd and Juanita Smith Carillon are hung “dead” in a steel framework tower; they do not swing. Instead, a clapper is brought to the bell using levers and a system of counterbalanced transmission bars. The carillon is played from a hand clavier located in the tower room of the Smith Chapel.

The largest of the bells weighs 1,344 pounds and has a 40-inch diameter. The smallest weighs 15 and one-quarter pounds and measures just under seven inches at the mouth. They were cast by bell founders Meeks, Watson & Co. of Georgetown, Ohio, of bell metal, an alloy of 80 percent copper and 20 percent tin that has been used for carillon bells since the 1600s. The 48 bells cover four octaves, which permits performance of almost the entire literature of carillon music.

For additional information about the Smith Carillon Concert Series at Penn State Behrend phone 814-898-6171.