Our friend Chip invited us to go with her and her son Parker to the UofM campus on Monday, to listen to a Carillon concert.

“A what?”, you may be asking. I know that’s what I asked.

A carillon is, in very basic layman’s terms, a musical instrument that most of us would consider “Bell Tower Chimes”. It’s played like a huge piano that has bells instead of strings, and although it’s played somewhat like a piano, the ‘keys’ are big wooden batons that are struck with an open fist, and there are a lot more pedals on the floor.

It was really amazing. The concert we attended was at 7pm, on a beautiful evening. We sat in the shade on the grass, and the carillonneur played an hours worth of music, a mix of classical, disney, swing and Broadway! She was up in the tower, of course, but they had set up a TV monitor at the base of the tower and if you wanted you could sit close and watch her play on the monitor!

The kids loved it, I was surpised how into it they were. After the concert, we met the carillonneur, Lisa Lonie, and got a tour of the Lurie Tower, which houses the carillon. It was quite spectacular.

Check out the website for the Lurie Tower Carillon. There are some great pictures, and a link to listen to recorded music AND live sounds from the carillon all day long.