{"id":379102,"date":"2019-05-14T13:01:56","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T17:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=379102"},"modified":"2019-05-14T13:01:56","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T17:01:56","slug":"alexander-johnson-carillon-physics-major-379102","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/alexander-johnson-carillon-physics-major-379102\/","title":{"rendered":"Carillon strikes a chord for senior physics major"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Three questions
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Favorite class?<\/strong> \u201cMUR 104: Carillon taught by Doris Aman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Favorite tradition?<\/strong> \u201cSledding down the Sue B. Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Favorite spot on campus?<\/strong> \u201cThe carillon cabin, Dewey B 314 (carillon practice room), the first floor of Rettner (where I did most of my studying), and the trees between Interfaith Chapel and Todd Union (a delightful spot). \u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Alexander Johnson \u201919 had never even heard of a carillon before his visit to the University of Rochester as a high school student. But this fall, he\u2019s off to Mechelen, Belgium, to study at the first and largest carillon school in the world\u2014the Royal Carillon School<\/a>\u2014courtesy of a grant from the Belgian-American Educational Foundation.<\/p>\n

A native of northern Texas, Johnson was captivated when a Meridian leading him on a campus tour nonchalantly declared that any student could play \u201cthe bells.\u201d\u00a0 The bells refer to the Hopeman Memorial Carillon<\/a>, an instrument made of 50 bronze bells and located in the tower of Rush Rhees Library.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s what made the decision for me to attend Rochester,\u201d says Johnson, who was drawn to the University\u2019s strong programs in the sciences and music. \u201cBut in hindsight, it was one of the best things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson has made a lot of his time at Rochester. He graduates in May with a major in physics and a minor in music; he\u2019s been a member of the Mbira and Gamelan ensembles at the Eastman School of Music<\/a>; he was involved with the swing dance club for two years and dabbled in tango club as well; and all the while, he was getting really good at playing the carillon through his lessons with Doris Aman, coordinator of the University\u2019s Carillon Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Johnson was attending an annual Carillon Congress, an event of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, when Aman sought to connect him with a new teacher. She wanted to find him one who could help him to reach a higher level of repertoire\u2014even if he had to take lessons through a service like Skype.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t sure what I wanted to do,\u201d says Johnson, who was focused at the time on physics research and considering a math major. He had also spent about a year pursuing linguistics. \u201cIt all was part of an exploration to find what truly captured and sustained my interest,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

At a crossroads, turning to music<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the end, he chose to devote more of himself to music.<\/p>\n

Over a winter break, Johnson and several other students worked to build a new digital practice carillon<\/a> for the music department. They assembled it with only the instructions from a box, online videos, and their enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

After passing an exam and a juried solo program performance, Johnson was declared a full member of the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America<\/a>. He joins only three other Rochester alumni trained on the Hopeman Memorial Carillon to receive this honor.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 2018, he was a visiting performer at the Luray Singing Tower in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. He also spent a semester studying physics and music in Sydney, Australia, before coming back to the states in the spring for a fellowship with world-renowned carillonist Geert D\u2019Hollander in Lake Wales, Florida.<\/p>\n

He was awarded two grants to study at the Royal Carillon School\u2014a Fulbright in addition to a Belgian-American Educational Foundation, which is the one he ultimately chose.<\/p>\n

Honey Meconi, a professor of music and chair of the Department of Music<\/a> in the College, writes: \u201cHis accomplishment is owing to his talent and dedication, but also very much to Doris Aman, our director of carillon activities. She provided the opportunity for him to realize his gifts. Her passion and knowledge fueled his.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson seconds the praise for Aman. At a time when he wasn\u2019t sure just how much of himself he wanted to dedicate to the interest, \u201cshe kept me interested in the carillon,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

After a year in Belgium, perhaps he\u2019ll study at the Netherlands Carillon School<\/a>. He is also considering graduate programs in music theory. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s my experience with physics and linguistics that has led me to believe that I would really enjoy research in that area,\u201d says Johnson. \u201cLots of deciding to do. There isn\u2019t a wrong decision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a major in physics and a minor in music, Alex Johnson ’19 is heading to Belgium after graduation to learn more about “the bells\u201d that inspired him in Rochester. \u201cLots of deciding to do. There isn\u2019t a wrong decision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":236,"featured_media":379122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[21502,26692,18662,7836],"class_list":["post-379102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-arthur-satz-department-of-music","tag-class-of-2019","tag-department-of-physics-and-astronomy","tag-hopeman-memorial-carillon"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCarillon strikes a chord for senior physics major<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With a major in physics and a minor in music, Alex Johnson '19 is heading to Belgium after graduation to learn more about "the bells\u201d that inspired him.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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