Guest artist Simone Browne advocates for carillon music composed by women and is the leading U.S. scholar on Ukrainian carillon culture. Join us rain or shine on Monday, July 17 at 7 PM for her concert on the 53-bell Charles Baird Carillon in Burton Memorial Tower as part of our “2023: A Century of Women and the Carillon” concert series. Our summer concerts are free and family-friendly, so bring a picnic to Ingalls Mall! For the best acoustics, listen at a distance from the belfry (e.g. closer to the Michigan League than the tower).
An accessible, gender-inclusive restroom is located on floor 3, Room 343 of the Michigan League, entry from N University Ave. The Provost’s Office maintains a list of lactation rooms and reflection rooms; to access the reflection room, speak to our staff (wearing nametags). The nearest municipal parking structures are at 324 Maynard and at 510 E Washington. Street parking is limited due to nearby construction.
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PROGRAM
SONGS FROM UKRAINE
Лелеки [The Storks]
Iryna Riabchun (b. 1957)
Молитва за Україну [Prayer for Ukraine]
Mykola Lysenko (1842–1912), arr. Iryna Riabchun
Ніч яка місячна [What a Moonlit Night]
Mykola Lysenko, arr. Simone Browne
REFLECTIONS: CONTEMPORARY CARILLON MUSIC
Itsuki Lullaby (2020)
Japanese Traditional, arr. Naoko Tsujita
Selections from Kaleidoscope (2016): Prelude, Images, Chaconnine, Spectrum
Joey Brink (b. 1988)
Valse Triste (2020)
Mary Beth Bennett (b. 1954)
POPULAR FAVORITES
Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) (1972)
Don McLean (b. 1945), arr. Joey Brink
“Lullaby” from Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Javier Navarette (b. 1956), arr. Brink
Nothing Else Matters (1992)
James Hetfield (b. 1963) & Lars Ulrich (b. 1963), Metallica, arr. Audrey Dye
PROGRAM NOTES
I (the performer) am Ukrainian-American myself, and I have many Ukrainian friends whom I met during my time living in Ukraine. I have chosen to perform these pieces in continuing solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
Songs from Ukraine
Originally composed for voice and piano, The Storks [Лелеки] was later adapted for carillon by its composer, the Ukrainian carillonist Iryna Riabchun. It uses an echoing, swelling melody to reference the symbolic role that storks play in Ukrainian culture, evoking feelings of melancholy and longing. It is accompanied by the following text (also by Riabchun):
I feel so far from my destiny,
as if the storks mistook me for someone else
and left me in a distant field.
The storks mistook me for someone else
and left in the open air.
They flew on and left me,
so far from you!
I will wander in that distant field
on the tangled paths of another’s destiny,
day by day I will look at the sky
waiting for the storks to appear.
Prayer for Ukraine [Молитва за Україну] was originally written by prominent Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko to accompany a patriotic poem by Oleksandr Konysky. The piece, which is often performed during religious ceremonies and occasions significant to Ukrainian independence, is extremely well known in Ukraine and espouses hope and strength as the country’s unofficial spiritual anthem.
Lastly, What a Moonlit Night [Ніч яка місячна] is a melancholy song about two lovers walking and watching the stars in the night sky together. Often performed by a vocalist accompanied by the bandura (Ukrainian national instrument, similar to the lute), “What a Moonlit Night” is also generally attributed to Mykola Lysenko, but the tune was modified significantly by the kobzar Andriy Voloshchenko to become the famous melody heard most often today. This arrangement features the simple, beautiful theme developed across several variations that culminate in a cadenza.
Reflections: Contemporary Carillon Music
Itsuki Lullaby is an award-winning 2020 carillon arrangement of a traditional Japanese tune. The plaintive melody reflects an uneasy and complex lullaby; in the words of the composer, Naoko Tsujita: “This is one of many Japanese folk songs that were sung by little girls from poor families who were sent to serve ruling class families. Unlike the Western classical lullabies that were sung for babies by their parents, this folk song was sung by teenage girls who were forced to babysit their landlord’s children. Therefore, the lyrics…represent the little girls’ miserable circumstances and nostalgia for their family.”
Kaleidoscope is a contemporary piece composed for the carillon by my first carillon teacher, Joey Brink. I am performing four of the eight total movements; the peaceful second movement “Images” was one of the first pieces I ever learned on the carillon and remains one of my favorite pieces to play. Within its distinct movements, the piece contains a wide variety of different melodies, interesting rhythms, and harmonic “colors” that remind me of looking through a colorful kaleidoscope, and of the years I spent amongst the beautiful stained-glass windows of the University of Chicago Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, climbing the spiral staircases and learning to play the carillon.
Valse Triste, or “sad waltz,” was composed by American organist Mary Beth Bennett and won a Performance Award in the 2021 Franco Composition Competition of the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America. This slow-burning, pensive piece evokes bittersweet memories, making wonderful use of the many nuances of bell harmonies as it sighs and floats its way into idiomatic carillon music.
Popular Favorites
Today’s program concludes with three songs that may ring a bell. Don McLean’s Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) is a classic and very catchy song from the 70s that remains well-known around the world. The lyrics reference McLean’s interpretation of the artworks and life of Vincent Van Gogh, particularly his most famous painting, “Starry Night.”
Javier Navarette’s Lullaby, from the 2006 fantasy movie Pan’s Labyrinth, features a simple tune that evokes a dreamlike Labyrinth. The film’s soundtrack, which was nominated for an Academy Award, was entirely structured around the lilting, otherworldly Lullaby.
Nothing Else Matters is one of Metallica’s most famous songs—and also one of the nicest “heavy metal” songs one can play on the heavy metal of carillon bells.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Simone Browne is a carillonist originally from Tucson, AZ. She was introduced to the carillon at the University of Chicago, where she joined its Guild of Carillonneurs and studied with Joey Brink. After graduating in 2019, Simone spent a year living in Chernivtsi, Ukraine through the Fulbright program, teaching English and visiting Ukrainian carillons.
With the support of the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF), she studied under Eddy Mariën, Koen Van Assche, Tom Van Peer, and Dina Verheyden at the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen, Belgium from 2020-2022. She graduated “with great distinction” in June 2021, then remained at the Carillon School for an additional post-graduation specialization year. In 2023, she spent several months studying with Geert D’hollander as a Carillon Fellow at Bok Tower Gardens.
Simone researches carillon culture and enjoys learning languages in her spare time. She has performed recitals on carillons in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Lithuania, Denmark, the US, and Ukraine.
Download our printable summer series flyer in regular color or high-contrast format.
If you have any comments, feedback, or concerns about your experience at today’s concert, please email michigancarillons@gmail.com to share your thoughts with us!
Carillons at the University of Michigan 
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