UPDATE: Current plans for the University Carillon call for a freestanding tower located on the south quad near the ACES and architecture buildings. The bells will be automatically played by a computer located in the base of the tower with an option to play on an attached electronic keyboard at ground level. The bells themselves will not be accessible.
For further information about the project, please feel write, phone, or email Richard Herman, Chancellor, 317 Swanlund Administration Building, MC-304, 601 E. John Street, Champaign, IL 61820. Phone: (217) 333-6290. Email: rhh@uiuc.edu
Throughout his 37-year career as University Chimesmaster, Albert E. Marien promoted the acquisition of additional bells to either convert the 15-bell chime to a carillon, or leave the chime as it presently exists in the tower and install a four-octave, 49-bell carillon as a separate instrument. A carillon is a chromatically matched set of 23 or more bells playable from a baton-type keyboard. A four-octave carillon is considered a very respectable-sized instrument in the world of playable cast-bell systems. Such an instrument would permit the playing of the large wealth of carillon music that is currently available.
Over the years, a number of individuals and University organizations have shared Mr. Marien's dream of acquiring a major carillon. When Mr. Marien retired in 1994, enough unsolicited donations were in the University of Illinois Foundation's coffers to fund one bell in recognition of his many years of service as University Chimesmaster. That bell is the first of the new bells purchased for the carillon. It is the 347-pound F-natural bell included in the chart below.
Friends, students, and alumni of the University of Illinois are urged to help fund this project. Because of the wide popularity of the bells in the Altgeld Hall Tower and the music they produce, it is expected that the new carillon will be funded, not by several major donors, but by a myriad of individual donors who appreciate the bells.
Developing the new carillon will be an expensive venture. The University of Illinois Foundation has established a fund to receive monies for the project. All donors contributing $1,000 or more will have their names included on a bronze plaque to be displayed at the base of the tower. Each bell weighing 100 pounds or more will be inscribed with the date of the gift and with the name of the donor or group providing the funds for the bell. Bells smaller than 100 pounds in weight cannot be inscribed.
Efforts to secure gifts for the carillon have stretched over several years. Fundraising for the bells has been completed; however, total funding for the remodeling of Altgeld required in order to install the bells or construction of a separate tower (historical note) has to be secured. Due to budget cuts, funding from University funds are impossible. Thus, all of the funding will have to be secured from private gifts.
| Note | Weight | Cost | Funded |
| Middle C | 4641 | $46,410 | X |
| C# | 3,924 | $40,838 | X |
| D | 3206 | $35,266 | X |
| D# | 2654 | $33,175 | X |
| E | 2235 | $29,613 | X |
| F | 1992 | $27,390 | X |
| F# | 1550 | $22,862 | X |
| G | 1418 | $22,397 | X |
| G# | 1109 | $20,516 | X |
| A | 1054 | $18,962 | X |
| A# | 844 | $16,880 | X |
| B | 760 | $15,960 | X |
| C | 645 | $14,190 | X |
| C# | 546 | $12,890 | X |
| D | 458 | $10,750 | X |
| D# | 402 | $9,890 | X |
| E | 398 | $9,392 | X |
| F | 347 | -- | X |
| F# | 270 | $7,686 | X |
| G | 259 | $7,400 | X |
| G# | 237 | $6,980 | X |
| A | 208 | $6,540 | X |
| A# | 193 | $5,900 | X |
| B | 171 | $5,500 | X |
| C | 148 | $4,900 | X |
| C# | 146 | $4,831 | X |
| D | 126 | $4,530 | X |
| D# | 107 | $4,255 | X |
| E | 100 | $4,188 | X |
| F | 98 | $4,167 | X |
| F# | 86 | $4,024 | X |
| G | 71 | $3,873 | X |
| G# | 60 | $3,766 | X |
| A | 57 | $3,742 | X |
| A# | 55 | $3,720 | X |
| B | 53 | $3,634 | X |
| C | 49 | $3,396 | X |
| C# | 49 | $3,318 | X |
| D | 46 | $3,188 | X |
| D# | 44 | $3,060 | X |
| E | 44 | $3,037 | X |
| F | 43 | $3,001 | X |
| F# | 38 | $2,901 | X |
| G | 35 | $2,847 | X |
| G# | 35 | $2,847 | X |
| A | 33 | $2,801 | X |
| A# | 31 | $2,772 | X |
| B | 29 | $2,772 | X |
| C | 29 | $2,772 | X |
Maintained by chimes@uiuc.edu