After Naperville’s new carillon sounded the last notes of an 18th Century melody Wednesday morning, a small group of visitors applauded.
So did the construction worker perched among the bells.
At the moment, Naperville’s monument to the year 2000 is a hard-hat zone, with cables snaking among its 72 bronze bells. But organizers vow the carillon will be shipshape for its debut concert, scheduled to begin 7:30 p.m. June 29.
The bells themselves are ready to go, as many Naperville residents are aware.
“All we have to do is play it, and people start coming from all directions,” said Chuck Seidel, a co-chairman of the Millennium Carillon Foundation and an occasional player himself.
“And then you get down [from the carillon], and they say, `Aren’t you going to play anymore?’ And I say, `Well, it’s 167 steps up, so not right now!'”
Organizers broke ground last year on the 158-foot bell tower along the Riverwalk, after deciding the carillon’s blend of history and longevity made an ideal symbol for the new millennium.
Carillons–instruments played as though giant pianos, with heavy bells instead of wires–originated in 15th Century Belgium. There are now about 600 worldwide, including 160 in North America, according to Wylie Crawford, the University of Chicago’s carillonneur and a key player in the building of the Naperville tower.
The Naperville carillon will be among the world’s largest, and players from all over the globe are to ring it in at a series of concerts slated from July 4 to 14. There are to be simultaneous concerts at the carillons at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the U. of C., the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe and the Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston.
“The birth of a new instrument is to be celebrated–it’s a rare event,” Crawford said.
The Naperville carillon is all the more rare for being designed as a museum of sorts as well as a musical instrument.
For now, the tower is closed to the public. But organizers are trying to raise $2.2 million more for an elevator and other improvements to accommodate visitors.
Meanwhile, the bells will toll the hour throughout the day, play tunes two or three times a day and accompany special events.
All told, the project is expected to cost $6.5 million. That is nearly twice the original estimate but worth the money, Seidel said.
“It is a performing art. It’s culture,” he said, adding that “it’s built to represent 2000 years of history.”
