Carleton instructor and student launch unique musical tour
By Elizabeth Murphy
What has 48 bells, weighs more than 19,000 kilograms and, despite this bulk, will be entertaining audiences throughout the Ottawa area this summer? The Mobile Millennium Carillon, a mammoth musical instrument normally installed as a permanent feature in the bell towers of churches and government buildings.
Carleton University performance faculty member Andrea McCrady — who since 2008 has served as Canada’s official Dominion Carillonneur, playing the Peace Tower carillon regularly — and Carleton student Devon Hansen are touring the region with the travelling carillon. Collaborating with groups such as Ottawa Chamberfest, the producers of the Parliament Hill military musical performance Fortissimo and Carleton’s annual summer Jazz Camp, McCrady and Hansen will be playing the carillon at a series of events in July and August.
Hansen first learned about the carillon from his friend, Jonathan Hebert, who is now a professional carillonneur. “Like most people, I had no idea what it was,” said Hansen. “I had heard carillons but didn’t know there was a person playing the bells. Dr. McCrady introduced me to the instrument and immediately I thought, ‘I need to pursue this.’”
Manual carillons such as the Mobile Millennium Carillon are played with a keyboard and pedals, a technique Hansen is refining in Carleton’s carillon studies program, the only one of its kind in Canada. Over the course of four years Carleton Bachelor of Music students can fulfill their performance studies requirement by learning to play the carillon. The program also offers a stand-alone two-year Certificate in Carillon Studies, which Hansen is in the process of completing.
Using a practice carillon donated by Carleton alumnus Dianne Parsonage, which launched the program in 2011, students are able to train on campus in a specially designed room. Once they are ready, they perform on the national Peace Tower carillon for spectators on the ground below.
While untold numbers of visitors to Parliament Hill have heard the melodies played by the carillonneurs, the keyboard and performer are tucked away in the tower. With the Mobile Millennium Carillon, the keyboard is built into the rectangular structure containing the bells and is in clear view of the audience. The mobile carillon’s tour will showcase the instrument’s unique mechanisms.
While he has played from the Peace Tower before, this will be the closest he has been to an audience. “Actually being able to play and see your audience is very rare,” said Hansen.
McCrady shares this perspective.
“It’s a travelling musical ambassador,” she said. “People can see that it’s not a machine or a computer. Most of the time the carillonneur is anonymous, but with the mobile carillon we can really engage the audience personally and directly.”
The tour began in mid-July with three days of performances on the steps of Parliament Hill. From July 20 to 22, McCrady performed a midday hour-long recital followed by an evening show prior to the beginning of Fortissimo. The Parliament Hill carillon performances will end with a July 23 prelude Fortissimo performance. The next tour stop will be a July 31 recital by McCrady and Hansen at the Ottawa Chamberfest on the grounds of Rideau Hall. On August 2, a visiting American carillon duo, the Treblemakers, will also perform at the festival.
In August the tour will become more informal. The carillon will make an appearance at the Carleton Jazz Camp on August 10. Campers of all ages will have the opportunity to play on and with the carillon. The tour ends on August 13 with a visit to the Carp Farmers’ Market, where carillon students will perform for market visitors.
Moving the instrument around is not easy. Due to its gargantuan size, the carillon must be transported by truck and trailer to each stop.
Logistical challenges aside, Hansen looks forward to introducing the unique instrument to new audiences. The tour also presents a great opportunity to engage fellow musicians. “Not only do we want to show them how it works,” Hansen said about the Jazz Camp stop, “but also get them to try it out for the first time. Getting new people to try the carillon is exciting.”
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Friday, July 22, 2016 in Miscellaneous
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