Beginning his carillon studies at Yale in 2000 and graduating in 2005 with a degree in mathematics, Jon Lehrer had a 20-year dual career: one in music and the other in cancer research, environmental economics, software and data science.

But for four years now, he has been Michigan State University's carillonist, ringing bells for the campus community.

Functional tool becomes artistic one

The carillon is older than the piano and younger than the harpsichord — a keyboard instrument played with both hands and both feet — it functions as a hybrid of piano and organ, according to Lehrer.

Before there were cellphones and radio, Medieval countries in Europe had communication systems to tell time, let people know when to start and stop working, when the army was coming and when city gates were closing. They communicated all of that through bells in giant towers.

During the 1500s, after bells that originally served a single purpose had accumulated, people realized they could use them for music, according to Lehrer. What was once a functional tool became an artistic one, and it spread like wildfire over Europe.

“Every tiny little town had their own carillon because it’s what created this sort of civic ambiance and beauty in their town,” Lehrer said, adding that cities competed over who had the best schools and the best bells.

“Despite the fact of its European origins, there are many distinctive parts of North American carillon culture,” Scott Hummel, president of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA), said. “In Europe, many carillons are in public spaces. There are many towns that have a city carillonneur that plays for the town. They’re in public buildings. Whereas in the U.S. and Canada, public (state-owned) carillons are not as common.”

Hummel said people can find them in gardens, churches and other places, but publicly owned instruments are not as common in North America as they are in Europe.