Summer Carillon Festival opens June 19

The 1994 Summer Carillon Festival at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel will open on Chicago Day, Sunday, June 19, with carillon music and family entertainment.

The festivities will begin on the chapel lawn at 3:30 p.m. with a magician, a clown, a caricaturist and a face painter. The carillon concert, by Karel Keldermans of Springfield, Ill., will begin at 4 p.m.

The free festival of concerts, featuring carillonneurs from around the United States and from the Netherlands, will continue on Sundays through Aug. 21; with the exception of the opening performance, all concerts will begin at 6 p.m.

Upcoming concerts will feature Mark Konewko on June 26; Larry Weinstein, July 3; Lisa Lonie, July 10; Jim Fackenthal, July 17; Gideon Bodden, July 24; University carillonneur Wylie Crawford, July 31; Michael Hall, Aug. 7; Lyle Anderson, Aug. 14; and Thomas Reif, Aug. 21.

The public is invited to enjoy the concerts from the lawn surrounding Rockefeller Chapel; picnicking is welcome. Those interested in meeting the carillonneur or climbing the tower to see the carillon should be at the northeast corner of the chapel 30 minutes before the recital.

The concerts will be performed on the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Carillon, which was presented to the University by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in memory of his mother. Housed in the chapel tower, it is the second largest carillon in the world, with 72 bells ranging in weight from 10 1/2 pounds to 18 1/2 tons.

Unlike many other kinds of bells, carillon bells remain fixed during playing, with the clappers moving instead of the bells. The clappers are connected via wires and a tracker system to a playing console, which consists of a double row of oak keys and a pedal board. A carillonneur uses both hands and feet to play the instrument.

For more information about the concerts, call 702-2100.