World-renowned organist and carillonneur Steven Ball plays MSU’s carillon Wednesday evening inside Beaumont Tower. Ball graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in organ performance and is one of the few musicians worldwide who can play the complex bell instrument, the carillon.
This year, MSU Carillonneur Ray McLellan will be performing with a special purpose in mind.
McLellan’s performance will feature a dedication to Milton Muelder, an MSU faculty member and carillonneur who died recently, as well as compositions by two of his other musical influences.
“This year it’s a little bit of a special recital — I’m dedicating it to three different people,” he said. “We are trying to remember those people.”
Muelder was a leading force behind the foundation of the Summer Carillon Series, which began in 1996. This year will be the series’ 14th year of operation and the first without Muelder, who died in May.
The summer series kicked off Wednesday evening at the Beaumont Tower with a performance from Steven Ball, a carillonneur from the University of Michigan. The event welcomes people from the community to sit outside and listen to the music playing from the tower’s bells.
Ball said the bells give an attraction to campus that is intangible and unique to MSU.
“(The ringing) sort of perfumes the air with music,” he said. “It’s an important attraction because it provides another dimension to the campus other than just visual.”
The performer is inside the tower, unseen to the public until the end of the hour-long performance, when he or she is introduced afterwards. The series features five performers through July 28, including McLellan, who will be performing July 14.
The series has become an attraction for the university during the summer, when most of the student population has left, said McLellan.
“Many universities that have carillonneurs will have summer recitals here,” he said. “It’s a way for the public to visit the campus. Usually, the summer is a really beautiful time to visit the campus.”
After the performances, McLellan leads tours in the tower for the public to observe the bells and how they are played. Visitation inside the tower is popular with people of all ages, he said.
“We have had as many as 400 people here for these recitals,” McLellan said. “Sometimes the kids want to come because they know they’re gonna go up to see the bells afterwards. All kinds of people come, older people, younger people.”
Lansing resident Michael Farlin sat outside the tower with a book in one hand and snacks in the other. Farlin has been attending the annual series for the past five years and said it is a calming pasttime every year.
“I enjoy it, it’s nice and quiet,” he said. “It’s just nice to listen to the bells. It’s something different you don’t hear, it’s relaxing.”
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