Marcel Siebers of the Netherlands will perform as part of the Hopeman Memorial Carillon Summer Recital series at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 22, rain or shine, on the Eastman Quadrangle on the University of Rochester’s River Campus.
A municipal carillonneur for two towns in the Netherlands as well as for a church in Germany, Siebers has performed many recitals in the United States as well as in Europe. He composes for the carillon and other instruments and has won awards for his works from the French Guild of Carillonneurs and in the Johan Franco Composition Competition.
Siebers’s program at the University will feature classical and popular standards as well as works composed for the carillon, including Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” and the first movement of his “Moonlight Sonata;” two ragtime works, including “The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin; and two of Siebers’s own compositions: “Bronze Green Oak Capriccio” and “Homage.”
The University of Rochester’s Hopeman Memorial Carillon, an instrument of bells connected to a keyboard, is located in the landmark tower of Rush Rhees Library. It is one of only six carillons in New York State and contains 50 bells that were imported from Holland. Its total weight is 6,668 pounds.
Concertgoers should bring blankets, lawn chairs, picnic baskets, and even a book to read and can sit anywhere on the Eastman Quadrangle in front of the library to enjoy the music.
The Hopeman Memorial Carillon Summer Recital Series is sponsored by the Department of Music. The remaining concert will feature Stephen Schreiber, organist and choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Church in Ambler, Pa., on July 29. For more information, call (585) 275-2828.