History of the Yorkminster Park Carillon (37 bells)

It is not every day a carillon is installed in Canada. In fact, it has been almost fifty years since Canada’s eleventh carillon was installed, but on Monday, July 10th Canada’s twelfth carillon was installed at Yorkminster Park. We added an additional twenty-three memorial bells (bringing the total number of bells to thirty-seven) and a carillon keyboard from which they can be played.

Bells have been ringing from the Yorkminster Park Bell Tower since the installation of four memorial bells donated in 2008 by Judith MacDonald. Five years later Judy donated an additional ten memorial bells. The bells were dedicated to the glory of God and in honour of Dr. Ralph Gerred and Dr. Donald MacDonald.

The keyboard was a memorial gift of Tom Logan in loving memory of his wife, Patsy, and his son Thomas.

The bells are chromatically tuned and so for the last ten years we have been able to offer some basic tunes on the bells using an electronic keyboard. The additional bells and the keyboard vastly extend the range of music and the various tones in which it can be played.

October 15, 2023, Naoko Tsujita was appointed Yorkminster Park’s first Carillonneur. Ms. Tsujita holds an MMus in percussion from the University of Toronto as well as numerous laureations from the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America and the North American Carillon School. She is also an award-winning composer for the carillon with commissions and prizes from Canada, the United States and France.

What is a Carillon?

A carillon is a set of at least 23 bells arranged in chromatic sequence and tuned to produce concordant harmony when many bells are sounded together. The bells are cast in bronze and traditionally set in a tower and can be played on a keyboard with each key attached mechanically to a clapper inside a bell.
While the earliest metal bells date back almost four thousand years, the modern carillon, also referred to as a ‘singing tower’ dates back to 16th century Belgium and the Netherlands. North America’s first carillon was installed in Toronto in 1922 at The Metropolitan Methodist (now United) Church on Queen St. There are now more than 170 carillons in North America and more than 700 worldwide.

About the Bells

2008 cast by Petit & Fritsen (The Netherlands) 4 bells for automatic Westminster Chime installed by the Verdin Bell Company of Cincinnati.

2014 Petit & Fritsen (The Netherlands) ten additional bells installed the Verdin Bell Company of Cincinnati.

2023 cast by Royal Eijsbouts (The Netherlands formerly Petit & Fritsen) 23 additional bells installed by the Verdin Bell Company of Cincinnati.

2023 Carillon Keyboard constructed by Royal Eijsbouts (The Netherlands) and installed
by the Verdin Bell Company of Cincinnati.

Some Technical Data

• Heaviest Bell (Bourdon): 1990 lbs
• Manuals C C
• Pitch of heaviest bell: F
• Pedals C
• Keyboard range: (a full chromatic three octaves)

Watch the Installation Video

Video: David King  |  Photography: Rob Mee