Music Ministry

Dunham Carillon

High in the steeple of Storrs Congregational Church, the Austin Cornelius Dunham Memorial Carillon stands as the only carillon in North America owned by a public institution — the University of Connecticut — but housed on private property. It is also the largest carillon anywhere that is completely American-made.

The instrument was originally conceived in the 1920’s  as a set of chimes for the Connecticut Agricultural College (now the University). The chosen site was the steeple of the “new Storrs Community Church Meeting House,” now the Storrs Congregational Church, that was constructed in 1927. This was a natural choice, since the Church served as College Chapel at the time.

Funding for the project came from the sale of farm land that had been donated to the College in 1917 by Willimantic industrialist Austin Cornelius Dunham. After it was determined that shipping an English-made carillon would be too expensive, the College’s Board of Trustees contracted with the Meneely Bell Foundry of Watervliet, New York, for construction and purchase of a 31-bell carillon.

No one knows whether the Board of Trustees recognized the historical significance of its action.  The Meneely company’s origins go back to 1785, to a spot only two miles from Storrs Church!  Colonel Benjamin Hanks, the first founder of church bells in the United States, operated his foundry on Hanks Hill Road in Mansfield.  Later he moved to upstate New York, where a Meneely married into the family and took over the business.

In November, 1930, the Board of Trustees agreed to purchase a Meneely carillon at a cost of $7,500.  At a special meeting in December, 1930, the congregation of the Church voted to allow installation of bells in its tower per a covenantal agreement with the College.  On April 13, 1931, the Board of Trustees voted that the carillon should be known as the Austin Cornelius Dunham Carillon.  The instrument was dedicated June 7, 1931, on the occasion of the College’s Golden Anniversary.  Melvin C. Corbett played the inaugural recital.

Botany professor G. Stafford Torrey, a member of the Church, served as the first “College Carillonneur” in an unofficial capacity.  Torrey played the carillon for College and University commencement exercises, at weddings and funerals, and frequently after church services.  On Easter Sunday he played before the sunrise service, as well as at midnight each Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.  In 1951 he began tutoring Jack Lamb, a member of the University faculty and the Church, and in 1964, when Torrey’s health began to declne, Lamb took over more and more of the playing.  Jack Hall Lamb served as the University’s second unofficial Carillonneur from 1964 until his death in 1987.  An endowment in his name provides funds to the Church to offer special carillon concerts in the summer months.  

David Maker, an Associate Professor of Music, assumed stewardship of the Carillon from 1994 through 2007, playing brief mini-recitals on weekdays, playing for many Church and University functions, teaching classes as well as private lessons, and undertaking public relations initiatives.  Now retired from the University, he serves as the Church’s Carillonneur-in-Residence.

In April 2009 the Building and Grounds Committee of the University approved expenditure of source funds for the restoration/renovation of the Dunham Carillon.  Church approval of the project followed soon after.   Restoration/renovation was entrusted to Meeks, Watson and Company of Georgetown, Ohio. 

The work, completed in April 2011, included the casting of five new treble bells, extending the instrument’s range to three octaves.   New iron clappers were installed.  New mechanical linkages using radial transmission were installed for all but the lowest bells.  The original wooden clavier was completely refinished.  The bell frame was refinished also, and bolts holding the bells were replaced as needed. 

The Dunham Carillon now has 36 bells.  The largest bell, or “Bourdon,” weighs 2800 pounds, while the entire instrument weighs about 16,500 pounds.  The Carillon transposes a major third upward:  striking a C key produces a sounding E four semitones higher.

Administration of the Carillon was assigned to the School of Fine Arts of the University.  The Austin Cornelius Dunham Memorial Carillon was rededicated April 30, 2011, by the Church’s Senior Pastor, Rev. Matthew C. Emery, following a recital by Richard Watson and David Maker, in celebration of the Carillon’s 80th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the School of Fine Arts.

 

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