The Rochester Carillon

*Location:

   Plummer Building
   Mayo Clinic
   2d Street & 2d Avenue SW
   Rochester, Minnesota, USA
   LL: N 44.02179, W 92.46560

Site locator map

*Carillonist:

   Austin Ferguson,   (C)
     Mayo Clinic Carillonneur
   957 Pendant Lane NW #215
   Rochester, MN  55901
   H: 903-238-1117
   E: ferguson.austin@mayo.edu
      carillon@mayo.edu

   1928-57   Jimmy Drummond  (1889-1966)
   1958-2004 Dean Robinson  (1925-2004)(C)
   2004-2016 Jeffrey L Daehn   (A)

*Contact:

   The Mayo Foundation
   200 1st Street SW
   Rochester, MN  55905-0001
   T: 507-284-5266
   E: humanitiesrochester@mayo.edu

*Schedule:

   1900 Monday, 1200 Tue-Fri, 1530 daily;
   summer series (guests).
   Cambridge (Westminster) quarters;
   formerly quarter chimes on first 10
   days of the month by Jeff Daehn based
   on a tune by James Drummond.

*Remarks:

   Major restoration during summer 2006
   by Het Molenpad Expertise (S.Ball,
   G.Bodden et al) included re-tuning;
   topmost G&J bell, found to be cracked,
   was replaced by Taylor, with the
   old bell going into the Mayo Clinic
   Museum (along with the 1927 playing and
   practice keyboards).
   2024: Sunderlin making new WCF standard
   console, and restoring G&J electro-
   pneumatic chiming machine; will rehang
   P&F trebles and rework transmission.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 56 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is A# in the bass octave
   Keyboard range:     A#G   /    A#C 25
   Transposition is nil (concert pitch)
   There are two missing bass semitones
   There is an identical practice console
   1 bell was replaced in 2006
     by Taylor      
   Prior history:
     In 2006, the bells were retuned
       by the maker cited in Remarks above
     In 1977, the instrument was enlarged to 56 bells
       by Petit & Fritsen
       (33 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1928, the instrument was begun with 23 bells
       by Gillett & Johnston
       (22 bells remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     C C   /    C C   
       Transposition was down 2 semitone(s), i.e., from C to A#
   Auxiliary mechanisms: Q     
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2006

A Clinic blog about the carillon includes a link to a number of free score downloads.

A clinic Website has a history page about the carillon.

News article (30 June 2016) on a quarter tune ("Mayo Clinic Chimes") that was in effect during the tenure of Jeff Daehn.

A peace carillon page has photos and additional information.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Gillett & Johnston bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Petit & Fritsen bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Taylor 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 MN.

Index to all peace carillons worldwide.

Index to all tower bell instruments in MN.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2024/08/12
   and on technical data last updated on 2006/10/07