Live music will ring throughout the Ball State campus Saturday as a renowned carillon bell musician performs from Shafer Tower.
Margo Halsted will play a variety of songs on the tower's 48-bell carillon in a dedication for the structure. The hourlong ceremony begins at 11 a.m. and will be the first recital played on the university carillon.
A carillon is a musical instrument composed of at least 23 bells arranged in chromatic sequence and usually housed in a tower.
The public is invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets to the lawn between Bracken Library and the Architecture Building to participate in the dedication.
Halsted said she will be playing on a keyboard near the top of the tower, below the bells. The keyboard is attached to cables that move a clapper inside the bell.
"We play these by striking the keys with our fist," the carillonneur said. "The bigger bells are played with our feet. You use your whole body. It is very exciting."
Halsted has been performing carillon music for 37 years and said she has performed in several thousand concerts. She is a professor of campanology (the art of bell ringing) at the University of Michigan, where she said she performs about 10 times a week on the university's two carillons.
Halsted said she will be performing "America the Beautiful," the Ball State alma mater, a medley from "The Sound of Music," and two traditional carillon songs.
In addition to Halsted, John Courter will play "Suite No. 1," a piece he wrote himself. Courter is a professor of music and carillonneur at Berea College in Kentucky.
Halsted said the carillon is a versatile instrument. She has played songs ranging from the Beatles to "The Simpsons" theme music.
Halsted said there are 500 carillons in the world. One hundred and sixty-eight are in the United States and seven are in Indiana. Indiana University has two. The Scottish Rite Cathedral of Indianapolis, Culver Academy, Depauw University, Notre Dame University and Ball State University all have one.
"Ball State has a particularly nice carillon," Halsted said. "The bells are magnificent."
Halsted said the tower is a wonderful addition to the campus and she hopes the university hires a full-time musician to play the tower bells.
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