*Location:

   École secondaire catholique
     St-Jean-Baptiste
     (was Église St-Jean-Baptiste)
   Empress Avenue at Primrose Avenue N
   Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
   LL: N 45.41182, W 75.70982

Site locator map

*Carillonist:

   (None)

*Contact:

   École secondaire catholique
     St-Jean-Baptiste
   96, avenue Empress
   Ottawa, ON  K1R 7G3
   Attn: Annie Touchette
   T: 613-216-0016
   E: touchan@ecolecatholique.ca

*Schedule:

   (None)

*Remarks:

   5 basses (C,F,G,A,C) originally swung;
   now have electric strikers to
   simulate swing.
   Manual has bass Bb key without bell.
   Was unplayable for 60+ years because
   all transmission wires had been cut;
   keyboard restored to playability in
   2022; other improvements by volunteers
   continue.
   Property sold to French Catholic school
   system in 2024, and is being
   converted to a secondary school.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 47 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is C  in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     C C   /    C F   
   Transposition is nil (concert pitch)
   There are two missing bass semitones
   There is no practice console
   The whole instrument was installed in 1940
     with bells made by Michiels         
   Auxiliary mechanisms: nS5   
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2022

School Website (in French only)

The former parish Website had a page (published 17 Apr 2022) about the original dedication and the refurbishment, with a large photo of the bells on the ground.

Newspaper article (17 Dec 2016) detailing this history of the church, with old photos of its predecessor; much of its text was translated to French for the parish page linked above.

A Waymarking page for these bells has 10 photos, including one of part of the keyboard.

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Michiels 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 ON.

Index to all tower bell instruments in ON.

   This page was built from the database on  3-Sep-26
   based on textual data last updated on 2026/09/02
   and on technical data last updated on 2022/06/23