Kirk News Headlines
Tickets are now on sale for the Conspirare Concert on Sunday, March 4! Click here to purchase tickets online!
The February/March issue of Kirk News is now available! Click here to download this issue.
Bring your non-perishable food items to the Kirk each Sunday, along with your fresh produce for the Two-Pound Challenge!
The Kirk Carillon
High in the Kirk tower is the 77-bell carillon, the world's largest in number of bells (tied with our sister tower, Hyechon College in Korea). The carillon was cast by the 300 year-old royal bellfoundry of Petit and Fritsen, The Netherlands. The instrument was the gift of the Fruehauf family, designed by Dr. Frederick L. Marriott, longtime Kirk organist and carillonneur, and installed in 1960. The largest bell, the Bourdon, is 6' 10" in diameter and weighs over 6 tons, and the smallest is only 6" in diameter and weighs 14 pounds.
While thirty-six of the bells may be played electrically (and therefore without dynamic nuance) from the sanctuary organ console, the full 77 bell compass is playable only (with dynamic nuance) from a mechanical keyboard called a clavier, located in a cabin in the belfry. Five of the large bells (G, B, D, E and G) form a peal which swing freely; these five also sound in combination each quarter hour as directed by the instrument's computerized clock mechanism. Midway up the tower is the Marriott Library, which serves as both a repository of Dr. Marriott's music library and his many compositions (including his works for carillon) as well as the home to a practice clavier of the same design as the carillon's clavier.
The instrument is normally played each Sunday before worship, for recitals on Sundays after worship (during the Summer Carillon Series featuring carillonneurs from around the world), before other concerts during the year, and frequently for weddings. Tours of the tower can be scheduled by calling the Music Office at (248) 626-2515, ext. 109. 
The Kirk's carillonneur, Dennis Curry, serves as the vice president of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GNCA). He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the World Carillon Federation (WCF), serving as its vice president.
From June 26 - July 2, 2011, he will host the WCF's World Congress, celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the GCNA - which should be the largest gathering of carillonneurs in history!