The McDonogh Carillon

*Location:

   Tagart Memorial Chapel
   McDonogh School
   McDonogh Road
   McDonogh,
     Owings Mills, Maryland, USA
   LL: N 39.39309, W 76.77663

Site locator map

*Carillonist:

   William S. (Buck) Lyon-Vaiden   (A)
   836 Houcksville Road
   Hampstead, MD  21074-1809
   H: 410-374-4066   W: 410-581-4793
   F: 410-363-2652
   E: BLyonVaiden@McDonogh.org

*Contact:

   McDonogh School
   *parcel:
     8600 McDonogh Road
     Owings Mills, MD  21208
   *postal:
     P.O. Box 380
     Owings Mills, MD  21117-0380
   T: 410-363-0600

*Schedule:

   For special occasions; summer series
   at 7pm on 5 Fridays, Jul-Aug.

*Remarks:

   Original chime, with added semitones
   sharp 4th & flat 7th, was sold to the
   Verdin Co.; final disposition unknown.
   Originally listed as MCDONOGH, now a
   mosty obsolete place name based on the
   donor whose will funded the original
   purchase of the School's land.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 48 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is D  in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     C C   /    C C 24
   Transposition is up  2 semitone(s), i.e., from C to D 
   There is one missing bass semitone
   There is an identical practice console
   The whole instrument was installed in 1978
     with bells made by Petit & Fritsen
   Prior history:
     In 1898, a complete instrument of 10 bells was installed
       by McShane     
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
       Pitch of heaviest bell was F  in the middle octave
       Keyboard range was:     F F   /    NONE  
       Transposition was nil (concert pitch)
       There were two added semitones
   Auxiliary mechanisms: E23QH 
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2003

The school Website opens with a large aerial photo of the campus, in which the chapel tower can be seen near the left edge.  A page about the chapel has a photo of it, and links to a long page about the carillon.  The chapel is pictured and briefly described on a campus tour page.

A photo (180KB) of the chapel tower

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the McShane bellfoundry.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Petit & Fritsen 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 MD.

Index to all tower bell instruments in MD.

   This page was built from the database on 10-Mar-26
   based on textual data last updated on 2026/03/02
   and on technical data last updated on 2014/08/06