*Location:

   Carillon Tower
   University of California
   University Avenue near I-215/Cal.60
   Riverside, California, USA
   LL: N 33.97334, W 117.32817

Site locator map

*Carillonist:

   David Christensen   (C)
   12355 16th Street
   Yucaipa, CA  92399-1749
   H: 909-794-4644   W: 951-827-3245
   E: DaCapo8@aol.com
      dacapo8@verizon.net

   1966-76 Lowell Smith   (C)
   1976-77 Patti Ouimette, Interim   (C)
   1977-87 Margo Halsted   (C)

*Contact:

   Music Department
   University of California
   900 University Avenue
   Riverside, CA  92521
   T: 951-827-3245

*Schedule:

   Mondays 1200-45 during academic year
   (Oct-Jun) plus special events.

*Remarks:

   Hour strike "O God Our Help" (first
   phrase only, except full tune at noon)
   Elevator to 14 steps below keyboard.
   Original installation by Arthur Bigelow
   (perhaps his last one); this is a
   near-twin to East Northfield, which
   was installed in the same year.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 48 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is C  in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     C C   /    C G   
   Transposition is nil (concert pitch)
   There is one missing bass semitone
   There is an identical practice console
   The whole instrument was installed in 1966
     with bells made by Paccard      
   Auxiliary mechanisms: H*    
   Tower details: 
     Height of console:                 39 meters above ground
     Height of lowest level of bells:   43 meters above ground
     Height of highest level of bells:  48 meters above ground
     Belfry openness:  50%
   Year of latest technical information source is 1994

UCR considers the Bell Tower so important that it has its own Website, which is cleverly designed and presents a lot of interesting information.  There is a gallery of 62 historical photos, unfortunately not in any sort of order, and with skimpy captions.

Photo article celebrating the 50th anniversary of the carillon

A UCR news article about the tower's 40th anniversary describes special activities, lists planned concerts, and includes historical photographs.

Another news article about the 40th anniversary is accompanied by an enlargeable photo of the 1966 dedication.  Also announced is a fund-raising dinner for the Friends of the Carillon, and sale of a limited edition poster.

The tower is in the background of the introductory photo on the Student Information Webserver.

A news article (Feb'20) about planned maintenance for this carillon includes an automatic slideshow with 10 photos.

A news article (Mar'20) on recent maintenance work by Meeks, Watson & Co. has a slide show of work on the keyboard and in the belfry.

A Waymarking page has three rather distant photos of the tower.

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Paccard bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American traditional carillons by weight.
Ranking among all North American traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American concert class carillons by year of completion.

Other concert carillons with similar keyboard ranges.

Index to all traditional carillons in CA.

Index to all tower bell instruments in CA.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2012/11/03
   and on technical data last updated on 1976/12/31