Beckering Family Carillon International Concert Series begins 10th year

The Grand Valley State University 10th Annual Beckering Family Carillon International Concert Series kicks off Wednesday, July 7. The free one-hour concerts begin at noon, each Wednesday in July, at the Lacks International Plaza at Richard M. DeVos Center, Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids Campus, 401 W. Fulton, Grand Rapids.

The concerts will take place rain or shine, and feature renowned carillioneurs from the U.S. and abroad. Free parking is available in Watson Lot, south of Fulton Street behind Secchia Hall.

University Carillonneur Julianne Vanden Wyngaard, who joined Grand Valley's music faculty in 1967, kicks off the series on Wednesday. She has studied the carillon at the Netherlands Carillon School since 1996, and in 2000 she earned the Diploma in performance, literature and arranging from the NCS in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. She has been principal performer on the two carillons at Grand Valley State University since 1994. In 1999, she qualified as a Carillonneur member of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America and has served that organization as a member of the examinations committee for several years.

Additional concerts in the series include:

July 14 - Sharon L. Hettinger, director of music and organist at St. Andrew's Episcopal church in Kansas City, Missouri. Hettiger is a full member of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.

July 21 - Peter Langberg, founder of the Danish State Church Music School in Logumkoster, Denmark, including the Scandinavian Carillon School where he served as director for 30 years.

July 28 - Gert Oldenbeuving, from The Netherlands, is carillonneur in the cities of Zutphen, Lochem, Groenlo, Winterswijk, and Nijmegen. He served as president of the Dutch Carillon Guild from 1982 - 1994.

Grand Valley's Allendale Campus is host to the 16th Annual Cook Carillon Concert Series, at 8 p.m. on Sundays, through August 22. For more information, please call (616) 331-3484 or visit www.gvsu.edu/music.