Annika Holmlund '15, a student in Professor Erin Davis' Winter Term Sound and Story: Documentary for the Airwaves, produced her own short radio piece. Interested in the "face" behind the Mead Chapel bells, Holmlund interviewed Middlebury's carillon player, George Matthew Jr., who has been playing the Mead Chapel bells since 1985. He was inititally intrigued by carillon-playing after traveling to the 1939 Worlds Fair in NY. Matthew Jr. then attended Colombia University and frequented Riverside Drive Church, home of the world's largest carillon. Middlebury's bell tower, a 75-step walk up Mead Chapel, holds a 2,300-pound bell (the same weight as the Liberty Bell). In addition to composing original pieces, Matthew Jr. plays an array of other musical numbers, including Bach and Ragtime. He hopes the tunes trigger personal experiences and memories for students and faculty alike. Listen to the whole story HERE!
