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Year-round webinar series

The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America hosts webinars on topics of interest to the carillon community. Through our year-round series, we provide you with high-quality education and training from the comfort of your own home or office. We offer a broad range of programming to keep you up to date on the latest research, industry best practices, general interest lessons, special topics, and more.

Webinars are advertised to members of the GCNA and recordings of many past webinars are available for members to watch at any time. Join the GCNA today to tune in!

Call for webinar proposals

Do you have new knowledge or personal experience to share with the North American carillon community? We invite you to submit a proposal to host a webinar as part of our year-round series. Anyone may submit a proposal using our online form. We have rolling deadlines for each "season" (fall, winter, etc.; the form can also be used to submit proposals for GCNA Congress presentations).

We especially encourage students to propose presentations. For example, share your term papers on carillon-related musicological topics, or the history component of your Associate Carillonneur Exam if you chose to conduct original research beyond the basic requirements.

Questions? Contact the Board Subcommittee on Events at events@gcna.org.

Upcoming webinars

Watch this space for announcements about future webinars!

Past webinars

Repertoire for Smaller Instruments

Presented by Charles Nix, Lisa Lonie, and John Gouwens on February 11, 2024

Watch the recording (for members)

Join us for a panel discussion webinar on repertoire for smaller instruments (2-octave and 3-octave carillons). Charles Nix, Lisa Lonie, and John Gouwens share tips and resources.

About the presenters

Charles Nix was first exposed to bells building the steel tower for the 27-bell Meeks and Watson carillon at St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church, Ooltewah, Tennessee, when his business partner, William Barger, was the first carillonneur there. He then played them nearly twenty years later, in July 2021, after the instrument had been largely silent for several years. Charles is now staff Carillonist at the church, and is establishing a carillon culture at the parish and its surrounding community, through weekly mini-concerts before and after each Sunday service, and special concerts sponsored by the parish throughout the year. By day, he is part-owner of Barger & Nix Organs, a regional pipe organ building and service firm, which he and William Barger (now deceased) established in 1983.

Lisa Lonie is the University Carillonneur at Princeton University, as well as carillonneur at two parishes: St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh, and The Church of the Holy Trinity (Philadelphia) which houses the oldest carillon (1882) in North America. She's also a carillon instructor for the North American Carillon School (an affiliate of The Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" of Mechelen, Belgium) and maintains a robust teaching studio at Princeton and St. Thomas as well as an active master class and recital schedule. She is also the Assistant Chief of Staff of Haverford College.

John Gouwens served as Organist and Carillonneur of Culver Academies, Culver, Indiana, for 39 years. Since his semi-retirement in 2019, he has been the carillonneur at The Presbyterian Church of La Porte, Indiana, where he plays a 3-octave, 36-bell carillon by Petit & Fritsen (for which he had been the consultant). Continuing to also play large carillons, his most recent recital tour was in Belgium, Poland, and the Netherlands in the summer of 2023. He is a prolific composer, music editor, and arranger. His original carillon compositions and the widely-used Playing the Carillon: An Introductory Method also authored by Gouwens, are published by the GCNA. Several of his more recent compositions and arrangements have been written for three octaves.

Comparative Bell Casting Techniques (Barnes Grant project)

Presented by Benjamin Sunderlin on December 6, 2023

Watch the recording (for members)

Benjamin Sunderlin shares his research casting four 20-inch, 225-pound bells of the same profile in different molding and casting methods. These four methods—traditional swept-loam, English, resin-bonded sand via pattern, and swept resin sand molding—represent the primary techniques of bell production by which many carillons have been and continue to be cast. Despite centuries of bell production utilizing these methods, very little information exists publicly on the metallurgical and acoustic properties of manufacturing bells by comparing one process to another. Ben shares his experiences and insights with us from B.A. Sunderlin Foundry.

New Transcriptions of Early Carillon Music

Presented by Carson Landry on October 22, 2023

Watch the recording (for members)

In the 18th century, the carillon art in the Southern Netherlands experienced a great heyday. Now, a new book published by the Royal Carillon School in Belgium offers an anthology of carillon music from this time, including relatively unknown works like arrangements by Vanden Gheyn, lengthy themes and variations from the Leuven Carillon Manuscript, and works from the carillon book of Frans de Prins, none of which have yet been published in digital music notation. In this webinar, Carson will introduce the book's contents, explain its scholarly and performance merits, and discuss performance practice.

About the presenter

Carson Landry is carillonist of Grosse Pointe Memorial Church in Michigan. He's currently pursuing his master's in carillon performance at the University of Michigan, studying with Tiffany Ng and Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra. He holds a diploma from the Royal Carillon School in Belgium and a BA in music studies from Principia College. A native of Orlando, Florida, he has held two carillon fellowships and continues to give concerts in the US and Europe.

Music Performance Anxiety Workshop

Presented by Daniel Ramjattan on January 23, 2022

This workshop was not recorded.

Music performance anxiety (MPA), otherwise known as stage fright, affects nearly all musicians in some way or another, and it often leads many musicians to abandon music or use maladaptive coping mechanisms to deal with their symptoms. In this workshop, Daniel presented strategies from cognitive-behavioural psychology, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and sports psychology to help us manage our experience of stage fright as it appears in the body and mind, and participants learned to develop new patterns of behaviour that will improve our experience of music-making while also helping us to perform more musically and accurately on the instrument.

About the presenter

Daniel Ramjattan maintains a versatile musical career as a classical guitarist, teacher, and performance coach. He has given concerts in North America, Europe, and Japan, has received awards in national and international guitar competitions, and has premiered dozens of new works by living composers. He releases his debut album, Inspirations: New Works for Solo Guitar, in December 2021, which features premiere recordings and commissions of new works from 21st-century composers in Canada. Daniel works as a classical guitar instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Music, while simultaneously completing his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto, where his research focuses on music performance anxiety in guitarists. He has given presentations on this topic at the University of Toronto and Wilfrid Laurier University and is slated to give presentations on this topic at Mohawk College and the Guitar Society of Toronto in 2022. His students have won local and provincial music competitions and can be found in undergraduate and master's level guitar programs across Canada. His performance coaching clients have included pianists, guitarists, and carillonists from all walks of life. His website is available at danielramjattan.com.

Creating Inclusive Engagement in Campus: Carillon Student Perspective

Presented by Hyo Jin "Jenna" Moon on January 9, 2022

Watch the recording (for members)

In this workshop, Jenna addressed the important role of student carillonists as valued contributors to the diverse campus community and strategic approaches to exercise meaningful engagement with all students, faculty, and staff who encounter carillon music on the campus. Jenna shared her experiences in the University of Michigan Carillon Studio as a former student of Associate Professor Tiffany Ng, which transformed her perspective on the carillon, sacred music, and the power and value of inclusive music making. She found campus carillons fascinating for their impact on the soundscapes that can cultivate more vibrant and inclusive university environments to serve various groups of student body, faculty, and staff in our community. She shared her weekly noon recitals and a collaborative virtual concert with grants from the campus organization that highlighted culturally and socially underrepresented populations, such as African American, Latinx, Native American, Asian, and women of color. She shared her strategies and the challenges of representing certain groups and current demographics of studio students and carillon composers. The presentation concluded with providing useful publicity and social impact resources.

About the presenter

Hyo Jin "Jenna" Moon received her M.M. and D.M.A. in sacred music and organ performance from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She studied carillon with Dr. Tiffany Ng and arrangement with Dr. Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra. She is a weekly recitalist at the Charles Baird and Lurie carillon at the U-M and a research assistant at the Music of the United States of America. Her published carillon works include Parang-Sae Toccata (2020) and Sae Ta Ryung Variations (2020) which were introduced and performed at the 2021 virtual congress of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America. In addition to her successful exam recordings, her bilingual "FAQ: A Perspective for Korean Americans" shares carillon history and advances knowledges about Korean-American carillon composers and accessible to major Korean-American metropolitan populations.

Meet Me at the Metz

Presented by Lynnli Wang on January 9, 2022

Watch the recording (for members)

Lynnli shared the journey of her first 1.5 years as the first Associate Instructor of Carillon at the newly renovated Metz Carillon at Indiana University. She collaborated with different members of the community across the campus and city of Bloomington, and shared success stories, tips and tricks, and other fun tidbits from her experience working with students, musicians, and more.

About the presenter

Lynnli Wang is the current University Carillonneur and Associate Instructor of Carillon at Indiana University, where she plays both the Metz Carillon and also the Music Addition Carillon, and teaches a studio of student carillonneurs. Her carillon journey started at Yale, where she studied with Ellen Dickinson, and she passed her Carillonneur membership exam in 2014. Besides making beautiful bell music for her community, Lynnli loves bringing people together to collaborate on the carillon – she co-authored a children's book on the carillon, Rosie Meets the Carillon; commissioned new works for carillon plus other instruments; and has even worked with various cultural centers and athletic teams to highlight the carillon and music of underrepresented populations.

Matthias Vanden Gheyn: the man, the musician, the myth

Presented by Luc Rombouts on September 26 and October 3, 2021

Watch the recording (for members)

In 2021, the carillon world celebrates the 300th anniversary of organist, carillonneur and composer Matthias Vanden Gheyn (Tienen, 1721 – Leuven, 1785). Although his preludes for carillon are widely played, many aspects of the life and work of the musician who was nicknamed "the Bach of the Carillon" are not commonly known or have been forgotten over the years. This anniversary year offers the opportunity to refresh our knowledge of Matthias Vanden Gheyn, to distinguish facts from myths, and to reexamine the nature and function of his famous carillon preludes.

This series of two lectures covered the following topics: facts and myths about Vanden Gheyn's life; overview and assessment of his works for carillon and other keyboard instruments; recent insights, based on the holograph of his preludes for carillon, that was rediscovered in 1995. The first session focused on his biographical data (ancestors, life, and myth), while second session focused on his music, more particularly on his preludes (playing history, autograph analyses and musical value).

About the presenter

Luc Rombouts (b. 1962) studied classical philology and obtained an MBA at the University of Leuven (Belgium). He graduated at the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" in Mechelen in 1987. He is city carillonneur of Tienen (Belgium), university carillonneur of Leuven (Belgium), and carillonneur of Park Abbey near Leuven. He has given recitals in Europe and in the USA and has performed during festivals and congresses. Together with his colleague Twan Bearda he forms the carillon duet The Bells' Angels, that has been exploring the repertoire for four hands carillon playing since 2000. He teaches carillon history and campanology at the Mechelen Carillon School.

Luc wrote several books on the carillon, among which the award-winning carillon history book Zingend brons, that was published in English in 2014 under the title Singing Bronze: A History of Carillon Music. In 2016 he obtained a PhD degree cum laude from the University of Utrecht with a dissertation on the origin of the carillon. Luc coordinated the project that led in 2014 to the recognition of the Belgian carillon culture as a best safeguarding practice in intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO and is president of the Belgian Carillon Heritage Committee. He is board member of the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" in Mechelen (Belgium) and director of the Singing Bronze Foundation, based in Asten. He co-founded the International Network of War Memorial and Peace Carillons, based at the Peace Palace in The Hague (the Netherlands).

Re-mastering the Master Class

Presented by Andrea McCrady on August 19, 2021

Watch the recording (for members)

Each fall from 2009 to 2018 the House of Commons Administration sponsored an annual carillon conference, the Percival Price Symposium at the Peace Tower Carillon on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. As attendance grew through the decade, the most popular element of the event was the "problem-oriented" master class. Dominion Carillonneur Andrea McCrady shared the host's perspective on the preparation and organization of this regional gathering, including the design of registration materials, technical challenges, and accommodating the master class participants' and observers' needs.

About the presenter

Following 18 years as the carillonneur at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, WA, Andrea McCrady was appointed to the position of Dominion Carillonneur in Ottawa in 2008. She has been an active member of the GCNA since 1976, achieving Carillonneur status in 1979. She holds a B.A. (History) from Trinity College, Hartford, where she first encountered the carillon; a medical doctorate from McGill University in Montreal, and a B.Mus. (carillon) from the University of Denver. She serves as a Performance Instructor in carillon studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.

A Work of Art and Engineering: Iowa State University Campanile-Carillon Model

Presented by James Heise, Robert Sunderman, and Tin-Shi Tam on April 13, 2021

This workshop was not recorded.

Iowa State University Campanile-Carillon Model is a cross-disciplinary project to construct a working, mobile model of the Iowa State's Campanile and a 27-bell carillon. This model will be used at various university events and outreach programs across the state and throughout the nation. It will also serve as an educational tool and a musical instrument. Three ISU faculty shared this adventure from the inception of the idea to build a 1:5 scale replica of the campanile to working with students, faculty, staff and alumni in the design and engineering of this model.

About the presenters

James Heise is Professor of Practice, Department of Mechanical Engineering, at Iowa State University.

Robert Sunderman is Associate Professor of Theatre: Resident Scenic Designer, Department of Music and Theatre, at Iowa State University.

Tin-Shi Tam is Charles T. & Ivadelle Cobb Cownie Professor of Music, Department of Music and Theatre, at Iowa State University.

A Basic Workshop in Using Facebook and Twitter to Promote Your Carillon

Presented by Michelle S. Lam on February 28, 2021

To facilitate active participation, this workshop was not recorded.

Participants were led through the process of how to create accounts on Facebook and Twitter, learned how to do basic posts and ads, and create basic visualizations using Canva. Participants could follow the workshop in real-time or just watch. This workshop was intended to be interactive with back-and-forth, and was not recorded in order to encourage active participation and questions as they came up. A list of helpful tutorials was provided to participants.

About the presenter

Michelle S. Lam joined the GCNA in 2019, is the current president of the University of Michigan Carillon Guild and the carillonist at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church. She has run the social media campaigns for the UM and the GPMC carillon summer series, as well as for various carillon events hosted by the UM Carillon Guild and the Wellesley Guild of Carillonneurs.

Processing and Discovering Treasures in the Barnes Collection (Barnes Grant project)

Presented by Robin Austin, Lisa Lonie, and Janet Tebbel on July 23, 2020

Watch the recording (for members)

Ronald Barnes (1927–1997) was a prolific carillonneur, composer, and more. Prior to his death, he made arrangements for his manuscripts and papers to be transferred to the Anton Brees Carillon Library at Bok Tower Gardens (BTG). The Barnes Collection – which is approximately 58 linear feet of materials – spans more than 50 years of manuscripts, letters, publications and ephemera. It is a unique and invaluable resource. The "Barnes Trio," Robin Austin, Lisa Lonie, and Janet Tebbel, received a Barnes Grant and worked closely with BTG librarian Jaime Fogel to process the collection, provide folder-level descriptions of the materials, and develop a user-friendly finding aid. The presentation shares the status of this project and reveals some hidden treasures found in this extraordinary collection!

About the presenters

Robin Austin began his carillon studies in 1979 with Frank Péchin Law and passed the GCNA advancement examination in 1981. In 1982 he earned the carillonneur's diploma from the French Carillon School, studying with Jacques Lannoy. He served as carillonneur for Princeton University (1993–2012) and the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon (2012–2014). A professional fundraiser, now retired, Robin has held leadership positions at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Lisa Lonie is the Carillonneur of Princeton University; St. Thomas' Church, Whitemarsh; and Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, which houses the oldest carillon (1882) in North America. Prior to these positions, she was the carillonneur of the Schneider Carillon at Trinity Church in Holland, Pennsylvania, for over 15 years. She is a Carillonneur member of the GCNA, former Chair of the Examinations Committee, and has served on its Board of Directors and on a variety of committees. Lisa began her carillon studies as a teenager with Frank Law, carillonneur at the Washington Memorial National Carillon in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and continued with Frank DellaPenna, Mr. Law's successor.

Janet Tebbel is the carillonneur for two carillons in the historic Germantown section of Philadelphia. She has served as carillonneur of the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, playing the 50-bell Taylor carillon since 1979, and has also been the carillonneur of the Miraculous Medal Shrine, with a 47-bell Paccard/Bigelow carillon, since 2002. Janet began her carillon studies with R. Hudson Ladd at the University of Michigan and continued to play at the University of Rochester, New York, while earning a Master's degree in Organ at the Eastman School of Music. With a grant from the Belgian-American Educational Foundation, she spent a year at the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen, Belgium, studying with Piet van den Broek, and earned a final diploma from the school.

The Carillon Compositions of Alice Gomez

Presented by Laura Ellis on June 25, 2020

Watch the recording (for members)

Alice Gomez (b. 1960) is an internationally acclaimed Latina composer whose output includes works for symphony, ballet, opera, film, and chamber ensemble. Based in San Antonio, Gomez was introduced to the carillon through respected GCNA member George Gregory. Her background as a percussionist has given Gomez a rare insight into the sonic possibilities of the carillon. Her 20+ carillon compositions have rhythmic intensity and offer the listener an engaging tonal palette. This presentation will survey the compositions of Gomez and offer a performer's analysis of her compositional style.

About the presenter

Laura Ellis is Associate School Director and Professor in the School of Music at the University of Florida. A graduate of Luther College (Decorah, IA), she holds the MM degree in church music and the DMA in organ performance from the University of Kansas. While in residence at KU, she studied carillon with Albert Gerken. A carillonneur member of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA), Ellis has performed throughout the United States, the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia. For more details about the carillon program at the University of Florida, please visit www.arts.ufl.edu/carillon.

An Online Guide to Arranging for Carillon (Barnes Grant project)

Presented by Rachel Perfecto on June 21, 2020

Watch the recording (for members)

In this presentation, Rachel discusses the results of her Barnes Grant project, the creation of an online guide to arranging for the carillon. For this project, she analyzed existing carillon arrangements at the Anton Brees Carillon Library at Bok Tower Gardens, experimented with various techniques in her own arrangements, and compared the sound of these arrangements as played on different carillons. In this presentation, she discusses her analyses, shares the tips and tricks that she learned, and explains how the resulting online guide to arranging could be of interest to you and/or your students.

About the presenter

Rachel Perfecto is a carillonneur, conductor, and musicologist. She joined the GCNA as a carillonneur member in 2015 and graduated summa cum laude from the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" in Mechelen, Belgium, the following year. Rachel holds a bachelor's in music from Yale University, a master's in musicology from the KU Leuven, and a master's of music in conducting from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. Before starting her current position as the head librarian of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, she was the interim teacher of harmony, composition, and arranging at the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn."

Arranging Aaron Copland's Rodeo for Carillon

Presented by Frances Newell on June 13, 2020

Watch the recording (for members)

Come to Aaron Copland's orchestral tone painting of the spirited American West! Frances will bring you into Copland's orchestra pit and show you how to bring the symphony orchestra into your carillon! Lively cowboys, tough cowgirls, wild horses, and the vast prairies and mountains of the American frontier are brought to life in Copland's orchestration! Frances will show you how to get the most out of Copland's harmonies, melodies, counterpoints, rhythms, and instrumental colors to make them effective on carillon. Use the techniques that Frances will show you to arrange any orchestral score.

About the presenter

Photo of Frances NewellFrances Newell, experienced folk and opera singer, performed her original oratorio, Soul's Believing, and her original operetta, Captain Charlie, with members of the Monmouth Symphony. She played the carillon at St. George's-by-the-River in Rumson, New Jersey, and at The Church of the Ascension in Clearwater, Florida. Her original carillon duet, Passion, won First Prize in the Sacred Music Competition in Perpignan, France, in 2015. Newell's original carillon compositions and arrangements are published by The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America and American Carillon Music Editions. Her original handbell compositions and arrangements of Beethoven are published by From The Top Music.

Octatonicism and the Carillon

Presented by Tom Gurin on June 8, 2020

Watch the recording (for members)

The octatonic scale holds a special place in the carillon repertoire. Many of my colleagues will be familiar with octatonicism by way of Henk Badings, Roy Hamlin Johnson, or John Courter, to name a few. Others may have no experience with it at all. This presentation provides a conceptual overview of octatonicism and its relationship to the carillon, but it doesn't stop there. It also synthesizes music history, theory, and cognition, as well as original analyses from both the carillon repertoire and the broader musical universe, to offer new insights that will be useful for carillon composers and performers alike.

About the presenter

Tom Gurin studied Music at Yale University, where he also chaired the Yale University Guild of Carillonneurs. Within the Music Department, he concentrated his studies on Theory and Composition. He graduated from the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" with Great Distinction in 2019. He is a native of Philadelphia, and is currently based in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. He is an active carillon recitalist, composer, and arranger.


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