Fourteenth Annual Carillon Concert Series to be Held at Smith College

Beginning Monday, July 5, Smith College will hold four evening carillon concerts on consecutive Mondays, each at 7 p.m. All concerts in the series are free and open to the public.

Performers will come to Smith from throughout the country and Canada to play the college's Dorothea Carlile Memorial Carillon, which is housed in College Hall. The most ideal place to attend the concerts is in the college's main quadrange in front of Neilson Library, where the music of the bells resonates.

The carillon, which consists of 47 chromatically tuned bells covering four octaves, is played by striking large wooden keys with one's fists and feet. The keys are arranged in two rows like piano keys and attached by wire to the bells, which each weigh between 24 and 2,800 pounds. The instrument was donated to the college in 1919 by W. Wilson and Florence Jeffrey Carlile in memory of their daughter, Dorothea, who died of influenza during her first year at Smith in 1918.

Performers for this year's concerts are George Matthew, of Brandon, Vermont, July 5; Marcel Siebers, from Cuyk, Netherlands, July 12; Marietta Douglas, of Cos Cob, Connecticut, on July 19; and Gerald Martindale Thornhill, from Ontario, on July 26.

Audience members wishing to see the carillon or meet the performers after the concerts should go to the entrance of College Hall.

Concerts are held rain or shine. Parking is available in the college lot off Green Street.

June 15, 1999