Charles Baird Carillon

*Location:

   Marion Leroy Burton Memorial Tower
   Main Campus
   University of Michigan
   Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
   LL: N 42.27952, W 83.73872

Site locator map

*Carillonist:

   Dr. Tiffany Ng,  (C)
     Associate Professor of Music
       and University Carillonist
   900 Burton Memorial Tower
   University of Michigan
   Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1270
   W: 734-764-4414
   E: tiffng@umich.edu
   - and -
   Julie Zhu, Asst. Prof. of Music
   - and -
   students, alumni, guests, etc.

   1936-38 Wilmot F. Pratt
   1938-71 Percival Price (d.)
   1971-81 Richard Hudson Ladd   (d.)
   1981-87 William De Turk   (C;d.)
   1987-2003 Margo Halsted   (C;d.)
   2003-04 Ray I. McLellan   (C;d.)
   2004-05 Joseph Daniel   (C)
   2005-13 Steven J. Ball   (C)
   2013-15 Kipp B. Cortez   (C)

*Contact:

   David Gier, Dean
   School of Music, Theatre & Dance
   The University of Michigan
   1100 Baits Drive #2102
   Ann Arbor, MI  48109
   T: 734-764-0584
   E: dgier@umich.edu

*Schedule:

   Mon-Fri 1200-1230; tower open to public
   1200-1245 during academic year;
   summer series mid-June thru July,
   7pm Monday (guests), alternating weeks
   between here and the Lurie Carillon.

*Remarks:

   1966 expansion was 2 trebles borrowed
   from Cranbrook's disused duplicates,
   cast in 1928.
   1974 work replaced #31-53,54-55, which
   were put into storage, and cast
   #56-68 but did not install them.
   1976 console changed transposition, and
   had space for a half octave of those
   trebles, but they were never installed.
   Three practice consoles:
   original Taylor (renovated 1992),
   Meeks & Watson (new 1992),
   and Dutch standard.
   The 2011 restoration involved reversion
   to the 1936 Taylor console and
   treble bells, with new clappers.  The
   1976 console, the 3 octaves of 1974
   trebles and their clappers are in
   storage, but the disposition of the
   2 borrowed Cranbrook trebles has not
   been reported.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 53 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is D# in the bass octave
   Keyboard range:     G C   /    G C 29
   Transposition is down 4 semitone(s), i.e., from C to G#
   There is one missing bass semitone
   There is an identical practice console
   The present keyboard was installed in 2011
     by Taylor       (and removed 2 bells)
   Prior history:
     In 1976, the keyboard was replaced
       by Taylor          
       Keyboard range was:     F C   /    F C 31
       Transposition was down 2 semitone(s), i.e., from C to A#
     In 1974, some bells were replaced
       with bells made by Taylor      
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1966, the instrument was enlarged to 55 bells
       using 2 bells cast by Taylor in 1928
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     G D   /    G C 29
       Transposition was down 4 semitone(s), i.e., from C to G#
     In 1936, the instrument was begun with 53 bells
       by Taylor          
       Keyboard range was:     G C   /    G C 29
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2013

The University Website once had a picture of Burton Tower on the home page, indicating its significance in campus life.
The University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, Department of Organ has a page describing carillon study and includes photos detailing both of the carillons at U of M.  (There are links to individual pages about both U of M carillons that will appear on a main carillon studies page linked from the main page of the organ department site.
A 1958 article on the history of the tower and carillon is accompanied by several historical photos (all clickable for enlarged versions).
A map of the Central Campus locates Burton Tower at #18 (south of Washington Street and east of State Street).
Numerous news articles are available through the Search facility; of particular interest are the following:

• Jan.2001: Ringing through the mist
• Nov.2001: Burton Tower and Baird Carillon (statistics and construction photos)
• Mar.2006: peregrine falcons in the tower

History of the building, including a drawing of the original proposed design (fortunately not built)
Photo and bio of Margo Halsted (emeritus faculty)
A student Website contains analyses and comparisons of the Baird Carillon and the Kerrytown Chime.

Historic photos of Burton Tower are unfortunately not captioned.  But the text gives the history of the tower and carillon.

Waymarking page

YouTube videos

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Taylor bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
The second phase of this work involving recycled bells, it is not indexed by foundry.
Where the third phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Taylor bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
The final phase of this work involving restoration of original bells, it is not indexed by foundry.

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 grand carillons with similar keyboard ranges.

The five bass bells of this carillon are among all great bells in North America.

Index to all traditional carillons in MI.

Index to all tower bell instruments in MI.

   This page was built from the database on  2-Mar-25
   based on textual data last updated on 2025/02/22
   and on technical data last updated on 2014/08/06