Tour the Cook Carillon Tower December 8

Standing at 100 feet to the top of its spire, the Cook Carillon Tower is a focal point on the Allendale Campus that chimes every quarter hour.

On Tuesday, December 8, from 1:30-3 p.m., the Grand Valley community is invited to tour the massive structure that was built and installed in 1994. The tours will be facilitated by Julianne Vanden Wyngaard, university carillonneur.

Named for major donors and longtime Grand Valley supporters Peter and Pat Cook, who died in 2010 and 2008 respectively, the Cook Carillon Tower contains 48 bronze bells created in the Netherlands. The size and weight of each bell determines the individual tones. The bells range from 7.5 inches to more than 51 inches, and weigh from 14 to nearly 3,000 pounds. 

Arranged in a chromatic series, a carillonneur plays the bells after climbing 61 steps to the playing cabin, just below the bells and clock mechanism. Cables connect the bells to a keyboard and pedal board that permit loud or soft tones through a variation of either hard or soft strikes by fists and feet.

Vanden Wyngaard will also hold a holiday concert via the Beckering Family Carillon located on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus on Christmas Eve, December 24, from 9:30-10:15 p.m. This concert will be free and open to the public.

For more information, contact the Music and Dance Department at (616) 331-3484.