Guest artist Wesley Arai is University Carillonist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Join us rain or shine on Monday, July 24 at 7 PM for his 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
EASY AS 1, 2, 3
Piece Without Expression No. 1 (1962)
Percival Price (1901–1985)
The Second Waltz, from Suite for Variety Orchestra
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975), arr. Frank Steijns
Preludio III
Matthias Vanden Gheyn (1721–1785), ed. Ronald Barnes
BACH & BACH-INSPIRED
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645
J.S. Bach (1685–1750), arr. Wesley Arai
Blackbird (1968)
John Lennon (1940–1980) & Paul McCartney (b. 1942)
WORKS BY WOMEN COMPOSERS
Reflections from the Tower (1990)
Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927)
Nocturne (1968)
Margo Halsted (1938–2023)
Dance of Dreams (2017)
Liesbeth Janssens (b. 1971)
LET’S DANCE!
Bethena, a Concert Waltz
Scott Joplin (1868–1917), arr. Wesley Arai
MUSIC FROM FAMILY MOVIES
“One Summer’s Day” from Spirited Away
Joe Hisaishi (b. 1950)
“You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story
Randy Newman (b. 1943)
“Beauty and the Beast” from Beauty and the Beast
Alan Menken (b. 1949) arr. Frank Steijns
PROGRAM NOTES
Piece without Expression No. 1 was written by Percival Price in 1962 for Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The piece was originally meant to be played without expression, played on the bells from the organ console. Piece without Expression No. 1 evokes the sound of joyous change ringing. The Second Waltz is a movement from the Suite for Variety Orchestra, a collection of eight short pieces by Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich, arranged by Levon Atovmyan. The piece has a mysterious quality and is reminiscent of circus music. The Second Waltz has been popularized in film and television, including the Stanley Kubrick movie Eyes Wide Shut. Matthias Vanden Gheyn was a Flemish composer who is best known for his carillon and organ compositions. Preludio III belongs to a set of eleven preludes, which are among the few surviving original works for the carillon from the late 18th century and are still performed frequently today due to their musicality and technical virtuosity.
Johann Sebastian Bach’s chorale prelude Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (“Sleepers Awake”), BWV 645, is from a set of six organ pieces that Bach published around 1748 to make some of the music from his earlier cantatas more accessible. The cantata (BWV 140) on which this piece is based was inspired by a Lutheran hymn written by Philipp Nicolai. Blackbird is from the Beatles’ White Album, which was released in 1968. The original song features Paul McCartney singing and playing the guitar, as a solo. The song’s guitar accompaniment is said to have been inspired by one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suites for Lute, BWV 996.
Emma Lou Diemer’s career as a composer has spanned over 60 years and includes works for various choral and instrumental mediums. Her piece Reflections from the Tower was written for the carillon at the University of California, Santa Barbara. According to the composer, “It is a reflective, impressionistic piece, and the ideas expressed are imbued with the unique sonorous and contrasting registers of the carillon.” Margo Halsted taught carillon at the University of Michigan from 1987 to 2003 and oversaw the installation of the Lurie Carillon on the university’s North Campus. Her 55-year career also included teaching posts at Stanford University, the University of California, Riverside, Michigan State University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Over the course of her career, she taught over 200 students to play the carillon. Halsted’s Nocturne was composed during her time teaching and serving as Associate Carillonneur at Stanford University. Dance of Dreams was written in memory of Robin Williams by Liesbeth Janssens, city carillonist of Antwerp and Lommel in Belgium. The piece covers a wide range of moods, from tender and sentimental to lively and playful, perhaps reflecting the emotions that Williams’s film and television roles evoke.
While Scott Joplin is best known for his traditional rags, such as The Entertainer and the Maple Leaf Rag, his Bethena (1905) is unique in that it combines the classical waltz with elements of ragtime. The waltz begins with a tender and nostalgic main theme that reappears between several episodes, each of which reflects a different character and mood. The main theme comes back one last time to close out the piece.
One Summer’s Day is from the 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film Spirited Away. The widely acclaimed film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and is the only hand-drawn, non-English-language film to win the award. You’ve Got a Friend in Me is the theme song for the popular animated movie series Toy Story. Today’s recital closes with the title song from the 1991 animated film (and 2017 live-action movie) Beauty and the Beast. The animated film was based on an 18th century French fairy tale and won Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Wesley Arai serves as University Carillonist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he performs regularly on the 61-bell Storke Tower carillon and maintains an active carillon studio. He studied carillon with Jeff Davis at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received BA degrees in Mathematics and Statistics with a minor in Music. While earning an MA degree in Mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles, Wesley continued to play the carillon and subsequently passed the advancement examination of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.
An active recitalist, Wesley has performed extensively across the United States and abroad. He completed a recital tour of Europe in summer 2022, performing in England, Ireland, France, and Spain, including at the 20th Perpignan International Carillon Festival and the 29th Barcelona International Carillon Festival. Other recent performances include recitals in Australia, the dedicatory recital for the carillon at the University of Washington, and performances at the Eighth Berkeley Carillon Festival, the 76th Congress of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, and the Springfield International Carillon Festival. Wesley is also an annual recitalist at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, Washington, and is a frequent recitalist at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.
In addition to the carillon, Wesley has studied piano, trombone, and voice, and has performed in a number of different concert bands, marching bands, jazz bands, orchestras, and choral groups. He enjoys arranging music and occasionally performs some of his own arrangements on the carillon. Wesley’s day job is as an actuary.
The University of Michigan annual summer carillon concert series is supported by the Armbruster Fund, given by carillon professor emerita Margo Halsted (1938–2023). Please consider donating to the Armbruster Fund in her memory.
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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