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Naperville
Thursday, October 10, 2024

Sing along now… ‘It might as well be spring!’

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Moser Tower is home to a 72-bell carillon, a pitched percussion instrument played on a keyboard high in the cabin of the tower. All 72 bells, all different sizes up to “Big Joe” at six tons, are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order to be sounded harmoniously together by a carillonneur.

During the recent rehabilitation project at the 160-ft. tower, the carillon bells have been silent. The green light to ring again is expected soon. Colored lights also are expected to return, illuminating the tower at night in support of special observances throughout the year such as blue for Autism Acceptance, green for Earth Day, purple for pancreatic research; and red, white and blue for all-American holidays.

“All the Carillonneurs and I that play the carillon in Moser Tower are anxiously looking forward to the reopening of the tower,” said City Carillonneur Tim Sleep. “We’ve been working on the practice keyboard so that we have songs ready to play as soon as we’re let back in the tower. There has been a lot of interest from people on our Facebook page. I think our audience is as anxious as we are.”

The iconic Moser Tower is located at the base of Rotary Hill along the Riverwalk where audiences attending summer concerts have grown year after year since 2000.

Photographer Jim Hoch caught this lightning clap over Moser Tower on August 30, 2013, while waiting for the storm to pass at The Last Fling.
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PN Ombudsman
PN Ombudsman
An ombudsman is Scandinavian in origin dating back to Viking times; and refers to a community representative; usually acting independently on behalf of an organization, body of elected officials, or civic group. Thanks Scandinavia for inventing ombudsman.
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