Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Sunday, May 28, 2023

At the heart of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, up a few flights of steps and onto a small metal platform, you will find a keyboard unlike most, made of wooden keys and a set of wooden pedals. The instrument itself is not located behind the keys, like in a piano. Instead, metal wires go straight up to a set of 56 carillon bells, each playing their own note to create the instrument’s unique sound that resonates far across campus.

The bells sit at the top of the aptly-named Carillon Tower, located just across from UW-Madison’s Sewell Social Sciences building. The tower was built with funds from senior gifts from the classes of 1917 through 1926, who originally donated funds to rebuild the Bascom Hall dome, where the carillon bells were initially meant to be housed. It eventually became evident the dome would never be rebuilt, and instead, the money was put in use to construct the tower, according to UW-Madison’s Department of Facilities Planning and Management.

The bells are played by UW-Madison Carillonneur Lyle Anderson, who has held the title since the mid 1980s. The title of carillonneur at UW-Madison is historically handed to the main player of the instrument.

Read the full story by Ian Wilder here.


Drake White-Bergey

Drake White-Bergey is the editor-in-chief of The Daily Cardinal. Before becoming editor-in-chief, Drake was the photo editor of The Daily Cardinal. You can follow him on Instagram at @whitebergey.photography and on Twitter at @DWhiteBergey.

More

PHOTOS: The University of Wisconsin-Madison honors the class of 2023 at the spring commencement ceremony

PHOTOS: The University of Wisconsin-Madison honors the class of 2023 at the spring commencement ceremony

The University of Wisconsin-Madison class of 2023 took to the field Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium for the spring commencement ceremony. A total of 8,625 individuals received their degrees, according to the university. The ceremony was also the largest commencement in university history. There were 7,826 degrees conferred to bachelor's, master's and law degree candidates on Saturday.



Listen now



Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2023 The Daily Cardinal