Jeremy Chesman, university carillonneur and music instructor at Southwest Missouri State University, will perform at 7 p.m. Monday, July 18, on the Eastman Quadrangle of the University of Rochester’s River Campus. The concert is the second in this summer’s Hopeman Memorial Carillon Concert Series sponsored by the Department of Music.
The first person to earn a Master of Music degree in carillon performance at the University of Michigan, Chesman has performed throughout the United States and Europe, where he gave a recital in Portugal on the European Union’s day of mourning for the events of September 11. He has lectured on American carillon music, serves on the membership committee of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, and is working on a book about the carillon in universities in America.
At the University of Rochester, Chesman will perform a program that includes arrangements of American songs such as “Yankee Doodle,” “America the Beautiful,” “Beautiful Dreamer,” and “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” as well as early and contemporary music written specifically for the carillon.
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.
For more information, contact (585) 275-2828.