The
Lvsitanvs Duo, consisting of sisters Ana and Sara Elias from Lisbon,
Portugal, will play duets on the Berea College carillon in a concert
Monday, July 18. Their program ranges from Purcell and Grieg to
a medley of Walt Disney tunes. The concert on the Draper Quadrangle
at Berea is the second in a summer carillon series, and will begin
at 8 p.m.
The concert will be about one hour long. A video monitor at
ground level will allow listeners to view the performers in action.
Seating is on the lawn in front of the Draper Building or concertgoers
can bring lawn chairs or a blanket. Admission is free.
The Duo's Berea program will open with a Portuguese song from
the Rrenaissance, followed by a selection from Purcell's opera "Dido
and Aeneas," and a short piece originally written for harpsichord, "The
Cuckoo," by the French composer Daquin. The Duo will also
perform "A Carillon Concerto for Two to Play," which
is one of the few original carillon duets, composed by Ronald
Barnes. Barnes also arranged three Slovakian folksongs by Bela
Bartok to be performed. Romantic composers Grief and Faure are
represented by "Norwegian Dance" and "Pavane." Arrangements
by carillonneur Eddy Marien for carillon duet are a medley of
songs from Disney movies "Snow White," "Mary Poppins," "The
Little Mermaid," and "The Jungle Book." The concert
will close with the popular song "My Way," made famous
by Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.
The Elias sisters share an appointment as carillonneur to the
newest carillon in the world (May, 2005), the 74-bell instrument
in Alverca, Portugal. Both sisters have expertise by training
in music and mining engineering. Ana Elias, a graduate of the "Jef
Denym" Royal Carillon School in Mechelen, Belgium, has won
several prizes in carillon competitions. At present, she teaches
music to children and is also finishing her mining engineering
studies. Sara Elias, the younger of the sisters, is also a graduate
of the "Jef Denym" carillon school and is currently
pursuing a masters degree in carillon at Southwest Missouri State
University.
Both Ana and Sara have played numerous carillon recitals in
their native Portugal, as well as in other European countries
and in the United States. The sisters also regularly perform
for international carillon congresses and festivals.
The bells of Berea’s carillon range in weight from 15
lbs. to 2750 lbs. Mounted on steel beams, the bells do not move.
The clappers are connected by carbon fiber rods to a keyboard
played with fists and feet, giving a full range of dynamics.
The design of Berea’s keyboard, combining the best features
of the European and American types, is being considered as the
prototype for a new world-standard keyboard.
The final concert of Berea's summer carillon series will be
Monday, August 29 at 8 p.m. Malgosia Fiebig of Gdansk, Poland,
will play music than includes pieces by Vivaldi, Chopin and Polish
folktunes.
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