The 2009 Smith Carillon Concert Series at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, presents:
Thursday, July 9
Todd Fair
University Carillonneur, University of Denver
Thursday, July 16
Dennis Curry
Carillonneur, Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Thursday, July 23
Laura Ellis
Associate Professor of Music, University of Florida
Thursday, July 30
Jeremy Chesman
University Carillonneur, Missouri State University
All four performances begin at 7p.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, seats will be 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) 898-6609.