Carillon and Organ Concert Will Feature Local Musicians

Submitted release

Simsbury, CT -- Simsbury United Methodist Church (SUMC) will celebrate 25 years of carillon and organ music on Sunday, May 20, at 3 p.m., with The Foreman Festival, a free concert in the church sanctuary, located at 799 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury.

Several major organ works will be performed by notable musicians from area churches, including: Kevin Jones, Director of Music, Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford; Floyd Higgins, Chapel of Trinity College, Hartford; Yves Venne, Director of Adult Music, SUMC; Mark Mercier, Director of Music, First Congregational Church, Simsbury; and Dorn Younger, composer and musician from SUMC. Built by the Austin Organ Co. of Hartford, the organ has three keyboards and 33 ranks which total 1,731 pipes.

The concert will include music performed by Daniel Kerry Kehoe, who has 35 years of experience as a carillonneur, 25 of them at Trinity College.  Kehoe’s pupil, Jonah Garcia, an 8^th grader from Granby also will perform on the carillon.

There will be a video link from the bell tower to the church’s sanctuary so concert-goers can see Kehoe playing.

“The festival will be 90-minutes of extraordinary organ and carillon music that will be a pleasure to the ears,” said SUMC Pastor Woody Eddins. “We want to showcase two of the greatest gifts that our church has ever received.” Selections include timeless works by Mozart, Dutch and Flemish composers from the 1800s and more contemporary pieces.

A carillon is an instrument of at least 23 stationary bells, located in a bell tower so that their sound resonates to the surrounding area. A carillonneur plays the bells from a large keyboard similar to a piano keyboard.

There are 11 carillons in Connecticut; 180 in North America; and 600 in the world.  The Foreman carillon has 55 bells ranging from 20 to 4,730 pounds.

In 1986, the late Charles W.L. and Margaret H. Foreman, of North Granby, donated the carillon and organ “so that their love of music could be shared for decades. We are truly blessed to have such beautiful instruments in our midst,” noted Pastor Eddins.

A reception honoring members of the Foreman family will follow the concert.

For more information, visit www.simsburyumc.org or call 860-651-3356.