Sonata Duo

Happy 4th of July from Cranbrook, MI

sonata duo

Played on the Cranbrook Carillon in Michigan on July 3, 2016

Here is a quick video excerpt of our concert on the two-octave carillon of Plainfield United Methodist Church: an improvisation by Jakob!
Plainfield

We arrived a couple days ago in Ann Arbor, Michigan after a very busy few days in Chicago, where we played four concerts in three days. In the last few days we got ready for our next concert series that starts today in St. Mary’s of Redford. Below is a quick overview of the Chicago concerts and a little teaser of our upcoming concerts!

Plainfield United Methodist Church – Sunday, June 26

In Plainfield, IL we began our concert tour on the smallest carillon possible, 23 bells tuned in meantone. It was not the easiest to play because of the tuning of the bells, and the really high temperature… but we had a lot of fun anyway! We played a mix of solo and duet pieces, including some classical pieces as well as popular songs like You Are My Sunshine, Hit the Road Jack, American Pie, Les Champs-Elysees, and more.

The keyboard is really small and has no pedals:

This instrument was not always a carillon; it started as a chime, and there are some silent witnesses of that in the playing cabin:

The tower is also really low (meaning, fewer stairs to climb!), and is the oldest church in the area:

Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, University of Chicago – Sunday, June 26

In one day, we went from the smallest carillon to the biggest carillon possible—the heaviest carillon in the world weighing a dazzling 100 tons in total. Of course, here we were a bit more comfortable playing our duets!

Here, you can see how big the keyboard actually is:

The tower:

From these 2 concerts they also made dvd’s, that we will put online once we are back in Belgium.

Botanic gardens of Chicago – Monday, June 27

As third concert of the Chicago series we played in this beautiful garden, where we played for a big audience of at least 350 people.

The carillon:

The keyboard:

The audience was scattered around the gardens, but some listeners can be seen here from a distance:

Naperville – Tuesday, June 28

The last concert of the Chicago series was in a big park in Naperville near Chicago. We lucked out again with beautiful weather for our concert!

The Moser Tower and the Millennium Carillon:

The playing console:

Some of our audience:

Tomorrow, our U.S. tour will officially start with two concerts in the Chicago area. We begin at 9 am at the beautiful church of Plainfield, IL, where we will play on a unique 2-octave, meantone carillon with no pedals (see Facebook event). After that we will head over to the University of Chicago to perform on the carillon of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel—one of the heaviest carillons in the world!

You can find a sneak peak of our programs here:

Plainfield United Methodist Church:

Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 in G – J.S. Bach
Amazing Grace – Traditional
Hit The Road Jack – Ray Charles

University of Chicago:

Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 – Villa Lobos
Ave Maria – Astor Piazzolla
…

Stay tuned to see pictures, hear sound fragments, and watch videos of our concerts!

This summer, we’re excited to be giving carillon concerts throughout the eastern and midwestern US. Check out our calendar to see if we’ll be in your area!