The bells of the Carillon can be played manually on a special keyboard, called a Clavier. The Clavier is half-way up the tower. Some of the talented Carilloneurs, or Carillon players, who performed in our summer concert series for 2007, are listed below.

The bells can also be played through the Gus and Connie Schoenherr Electronic Playing System.

"BIG JOE" our largest bell, strikes the hour from 9:00am to 10:00pm Monday through Friday, and from 10:00am to 10:00pm Saturday and Sunday. The Westminster Chime is played just prior to the hourly striking.

Each day of the week, at noon, 4:00pm and 7:00pm, several songs are played using the automatic system, so the Carillon can be enjoyed every day.

Of course, on special occasions and on Tuesdays during the summer, we have our concert series. Visit the Concert Schedule page for dates and performers.

	photo by Sun Photographer Beck Diefenbach

Tim Sleep is the Naperville City Carillonneur and plays recitals regularly on the Millennium Carillon in Naperville, Il.  He also plays on the Laura Spelmann Memorial Carillon at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, University of Chicago.

He studied carillon with Wylie Crawford and John Gouwens and became a carillonneur member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America in 2004. He holds a bachelor's degree in Music Education from North Central College in Naperville, and a master's degree in Educational Administration from Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, IL. A retired band director, middle school principal and long-time church musician, Mr. Sleep also currently serves as organist for Our Saviour's Lutheran Church and Knox Presbyterian Church, both of Naperville.

As City Carillonneur, Timothy will play regularly and manage the recital schedule. He is also responsible for developing and managing the educational programs at the carillon.

Sue Bergren is an Assistant Carillonneur at the Millennium Carillon in Naperville.  She plays regularly in Naperville, and weekly at the Rockefeller Memorial Carillon in Chicago. 

She is a Carillonneur member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, and is a co-editor for Carillon News, the GCNA’s newsletter. 

Ms. Bergren holds a master’s degree in organ performance from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and serves as Director of Music and Organist for St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Naperville. 

Wylie Crawford is the University Carillonneur at the University of Chicago, a position he has held since 1984. In addition, he is the Resident Carillonneur for the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois (since 1986), the Seminary Carillonneur for Seabury Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and the past City Carillonneur for the Millennium Carillon in Naperville, Illinois.

Mr. Crawford fulfilled the requirements of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America to become a certified Carillonneur in 1977. During his thirty-three year association with the Guild, he has served on numerous committees, most notably as the Chair of its Membership Committee and as sponsor of the GCNA World Wide Web server (www.gcna.org). He is currently the GCNA’s Vice President and spearheaded a proposal to include a carillon at the World Trade Center site in New York City.

He also heads the GCNA’s delegation to the World Carillon Federation (www.carillon.org). The WCF is a federation of international associations that organizes biannual conferences in countries with a carillon culture. Mr. Crawford was recently elected President of the WCF, having served as its Treasurer since 1990.

A Chicago native, he is the father of twin daughters and husband of Erica Karp, a geriatric care manager. To supplement his carillon income, Mr. Crawford is the President of Compassionate Computing, a PC training and support organization.

Jim Brown is an Assistant Carillonneur at Naperville’s Millennium Carillon. He studied with Wylie Crawford and became a Carillonneur Member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America in 2003. He performs regularly on the Millennium Carillon in Naperville and at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel in Chicago. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Benedictine University. Jim is the Assistant Branch Manager of the A. G. Edwards & Sons Naperville Branch Office and serves as Assistant Organist of Visitation Catholic Church in Elmhurst.

We welcome these talented performers from all over the world to play for us here in Naperville. Here is a little bit about each one.

Frans Haagen is the carillonneur at Kampen, Almelo and Rijssen in The Netherlands.  He studied carillon with Bernard Winsemius and Arie Abbenes. 

He received conservatory education in organ (for which he graduated summa cum laude), church music, and choir conducting in Zwolle, and music pedagogy in Hilversum.  At the conservatory in Enschede he studied piano.  Haagen has been awarded several prizes in carillon and organ competitions and is currently chairman of the Music Committee of the Netherlands Carillon Society. 

Mr. Haagen plays regularly in The Netherlands and has been a featured recitalist in carillon venues in Germany, Austria, France, Poland, Spain, Norway and the United States.  Next to his interest ancient music performance, he also frequently performs romantic and contemporary music.  Many composers have written new works for him, both for carillon solo and for carillon with electronics.

Koen Cosaert is the carillonneur for the Belgian cities of Roeselare, Harelbeke and Izegem.  He was graduated with distinction from the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen and holds a Masters degree in the history of art and musicology from Louvain's Catholic University.  He studied the organ at the conservatorium of his home town, Kortrijk.

Since 1987, he has been a teacher in carillon, campanology, harmony, music theory, and piano at the Mechelen Carillon School.  This year he was invited as visiting professor of carillon at the St. Petersburg University in Russia.  A member of the School's Board of Directors, he also serves as musical advisor for the international Queen Fabiola Carillon Competition. 

He has performed frequent carillon and organ recitals in Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, Russia, Germany, France, England, Ireland and Spain.

As archivist for the Royal Carillon School, he lectures on topics of campanological interest and has published numerous books and articles.

Frank Deleu holds a Master’s degree in History of Art and a Musicology degree from the State University in Ghent, Belgium.  He is also a graduate of the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen, also in Belgium.  He is the city carillonneur at Kortrijk and Menen and adjunct city carillon in Bruges.  Mr. Deleu works as a producer for Radio Klara, the classical music network in the Flemish section of Belgium, and also serves on the Executive Committee of the World Carillon Federation.  He was the First Prize Winner of the International Carillon Competition in Dijon, France in 1980 and has given recitals on carillons in several countries in Europe, as well as the United States.  He has also published several articles and CDs.

Suzanne Magassy began her carillon studies with John Gordon (Carillonneur at the Sydney and Canberra carillons) in 1979 and became an Assistant Carillonneur in 1980 at the National Carillon in Canberra.  Further studies have been with Milford Myhre in Florida , and at a carillon summer school in The Netherlands.

She has performed as a recitalist in many carillon guest series in the United States, and also in Europe and Denmark. She was the first foreign carillonneur to pass the requirements for Carillonneur member status of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, and is the one Australian to perform as guest artist at the 2000 GCNA Carillon Congress.  She has also been a representative recitalist at World Carillon Federation congresses

Suzanne’s music background began with piano and continued with related study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Sydney Teachers’ College.  She has taught music at High school and College levels and, for the last two decades, at schools for the disabled.

For the past three years, Suzanne has been the Visiting International Carillonneur to Trinity College in Hartford, CT and co-planned Trinity College’s three-day 75th Anniversary Carillon Festival in 2007.

Roel Smit was born in 1946, in Utrecht, The Netherlands.  He studied organ with Stoffel van Viegen (organist of the Dom Church in Utrecht), Nico van den Hooven and Prof. Dr. Ewald Kooiman.  His carillon studies were with Leen ‘t Hart, and afterwards with Peter Bakker.  In 1979, he earned the “Prix d’Excellence” for his carillon playing.

Since 1972, he is the carillonneur of the Lebuïnustower at Deventer, which hosts the oldest Hemony carillon in the world - 28 bells, made by the famous Hemony brothers in the year 1647.  In later years, he was appointed carillonneur in Doetinchem, Hengelo and Doesburg.

Mr. Smit has given carillon concerts in several European countries, New Zealand, and the United States.

Gordon Slater was given piano lessons from the age of four and started play¬ing the carillon when he was seven by assisting his father, James, the former Carillonneur at the Metropolitan United Church in Toronto.  He later studied the carillon with Milford Myhre.

He held the position of Carillonneur at three Canadian carillons: the Rainbow Tower Carillon in Niagara Falls, On¬tario; the Carlsberg Carillon of the Canadian Na¬tional Exhibition in Toronto; and the Soldiers’ Tower Car¬illon of the University of Toronto before being appointed Dominion Carillon¬neur of Canada in 1977.  In that capacity he plays the Peace Tower Car¬illon at the Canadian Houses of Parliament in Ottawa in a regular recital series and for the special needs of the parliamentarians.  He also teaches the carillon.

Since 1978, Mr. Slater has been a Carillonneur member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America and was co-editor, with his wife Elsa, of that organization’s an¬nual Bulletin from 1979 to 1985.  Mr. Slater has played numerous guest carillon recitals in Canada, the United States, England, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and has made several carillon recordings.

In his spare time, Gordon Slater conducts the Diverti¬mento Orchestra, a seventy-piece amateur symphony, and plays bassoon and contrabassoon with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra.

Ronald Kressman received a Bachelor’s degree in Church Music and Organ Performance from Westminster Choir College, an Artist Diploma in organ from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and a Master’s degree from the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

He has served churches in New York, New Jersey, and Michigan.  Currently, Mr. Kressman maintains an active studio for piano students in Berkley, Michigan.  He is a member of the Detroit Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and a member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.

John Gouwens joined the faculty of The Culver Academies in the fall of 1980, where he serves as Organist and Carillonneur of The Academies.  In the fall of 2002, he was appointed Visiting Lecturer in Carillon at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.

Gouwens is noted for his improvisation skills and has given presentations for several chapters of the American Guild of Organists and for an annual congress of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America on this subject.  He also won a carillon improvisation contest at the 1983 GCNA congress, the first such competition held by that organization.
 
He has written many works for carillon as well as several pieces for choir.  He was awarded the "Jef Denyn Prize" (first prize) in a carillon composition competition organized by the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen, Belgium.

Mr. Gouwens has played carillon recitals in the United States and abroad.  In August of 2005, he made his sixth concert tour of Europe, playing recitals throughout The Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark.  He studied organ and carillon at Indiana University (Bloomington), the University of Michigan, and the University of Kansas, holding degrees in organ performance from the latter two schools.

In the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, he serves as chairman of the Johan Franco Composition Committee (which commissions new music for carillon and organizes composition competitions).  He also serves on the Music Publications Committee and on the Student Examinations Committee.  He is very active as an editor and arranger of music for GCNA publications, as well as a contributing composer.  He has performed at numerous congresses of the GCNA, as well as at several carillon festivals and a congress of the World Carillon Federation.

Tiffany Ng grew up in San Francisco, where she studied piano in the Preparatory Division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with William Wellborn, graduating with Honorary Distinction.  She first learned to play the carillon and organ at Yale University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Music.  From 2004 to 2005, she served as Co-Chair of the Yale University Guild of Carillonneurs, directing belfry renovations and planning for the 2006 Congress of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA). 

She holds a Carillonneur membership in the GCNA and graduated magna cum laude in 2006 from the Royal Carillon School “Jef Denyn” in Belgium, where she studied with Geert D’hollander as a Fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation.  While abroad, she also studied organ with Joris Verdin at the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Antwerp.  She has curated campanological exhibits at the Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments and the Municipal Museum of Mechelen, Belgium, and serves as a news correspondent for the World Carillon Federation.

As of this writing, Ms. Ng is completing a Master of Music degree in Organ Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music under the direction of William Porter.  She serves as the University of Rochester’s carillon instructor and as a teaching assistant and system administrator in the Eastman Computer Music Center.  She loves cooking, cycling, and photography, and has had her photographs exhibited and published in the United States and Europe.  This year marks her third international carillon concert tour.

David Johnson has been the carillonneur at The House of Hope Presbyterian Church, St. Paul, Minnesota, since 1993.  He studied with Margo Halsted at the University of Michigan and in 1996 attained Carillonneur status in the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA).  He is active as a carillon recitalist, and has performed throughout the United States. 

He was a member of the GCNA’s board of directors from 1999 to 2005 and continues to serve as its recording secretary. He also co-chairs the Guild’s Ronald Barnes Scholarship Committee, chairs the Webpage and Internet Committee, and serves on the Bulletin Committee. 

He received his undergraduate degree from Hamline University, his M.A. from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in American Intellectual History from the University of Kansas. Dr. Johnson is the author of two histories of Hamline, a 150th anniversary history of the House of Hope and a history of Presbyterian Homes and Services of Minnesota.   He is currently working on a biography as well as another institutional history.  He taught at Kansas Wesleyan University, the University of Kansas and Pacific Lutheran University, and was Vice President for Programs at the Minnesota Medical Foundation, University of Minnesota, for 20 years, retiring in 2005.

Trevor Workman was appointed Carillonneur by the Bournville Village Trust in England upon the retirement of noted carillonneur Clifford Ball, who had occupied the position since 1924.  As an accomplished pianist, Mr. Workman went on to receive Carillon tuition from Clifford Ball before taking over the position in Bournville in 1965.  He is now the longest-serving Carillonneur in Bournville and is recognized as a Carillonneur on the world stage, having represented Great Britain in numerous European and World Carillon events.

Mr. Workman has previously played extensively in the United States, having been a guest recitalist in the International Carillon Festival at Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wales, Florida and has given recitals in numerous States including Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.  Mr. Workman has also completed extensive recital tours of Europe and plays regularly in The Netherlands, Belgium and France.  He also participated in 2005 in a series of Inaugural Concerts in celebration of the new Carillon in Alverca, Portugal.  This is his third appearance in Naperville.

Trevor Workman is currently the President of the British Carillon Society and is active in promoting the carillon and the carillon art in England.  His major priority at present, having celebrated the Bournville Carillon Centenary in 2006, is in developing the “George Cadbury Carillon School,” the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, which was inaugurated in October 2006 by Sir Adrian Cadbury.  This venture is being developed in conjunction with the “Royal Carillon School ‘Jef Denyn’ Mechelen.” and the “Netherlands Carillon Institute Dordrecht” and with professional music establishments in the UK. 

 

Copyright © 2007 Millennium Carillon Foundation. Site design by: Gnu Ventures Company