Guild of Carillonneurs
The Wellesley College Guild of Carillonneurs carries on the 90-year tradition of bell-ringing in Galen Stone Tower, which began when the carillon was installed in 1931.
As a student organization we:
Offer open tower events for the college and local community
Go on road trips to other carillons for wider performance opportunities
Enjoy each other’s company with carillon dinners (“Carillinners”) and other social events
Elect officers and choose new members from the entire college community
As a Music Department Ensemble we:
Have lessons on the practice instruments
Perform concerts and masterclasses on the “big bells”
Offer music for special services and events on campus
Invite guest teachers to stretch our skills
May take Carillon as an ensemble credit, or even lessons for credit
The Guild is busy.
We are a very busy group. If you are lucky enough to be chosen from our large pool of applicants, you will receive a weekly half-hour lesson with Margaret Angelini and must practice at least 1/2-1 hour per week to prepare for your very first recital - the Junior Advancement Recital. Once you can play, you must keep playing! At least two solo concerts per month, one masterclass per month, two open tower events, and one road trip per semester are required to keep you an active member of the Guild.
With this activity comes a growth in musical and technical skills - the more you play the better you get! You can opt to further your study with Margaret by working on a Senior Advancement recital; you’ll learn to arrange for the carillon and prepare longer recitals. This will permit you to take carillon for credit; ensemble credit and private lessons for credit are only available to senior members.
Most students who come to Wellesley haven't played or even seen a carillon before, but all the members become accomplished performers in a short amount of time. The more musical experience you have on another instrument the less time it will take you to learn to play the bells.
The Guild is important.
We are an important group. Our concerts create the rhythm of the passing of classes, and mark the big moments of the college year - from Convocation to Commencement. Our music helps you celebrate when you are happy and consoles you when you are sad. We are the lucky few who share the carillon with the entire college community, and the music we offer on the bells connects us all across campus and the ages.
Margaret Angelini, Director
Margaret Angelini began her organ studies as a first-year at Wellesley College with Frank Taylor and completed a Masters Degree in Organ at New England Conservatory with William Porter. Since then she has given numerous performances around New England on organ, harpsichord, and carillon. Having taught piano and music theory at Stonehill College for 9 years, she now teaches carillon at Wellesley College, where she acts as an advisor to the 25-member student Guild of Carillonneurs. She also serves as the organist at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Sharon.
Ms. Angelini is a founding member of the early music group Ensemble Soleil, a group that has appeared in several early music festivals, including repeated appearances in the Boston Early Music Festival. She performed and taught with this chamber ensemble in a two-year artist-in-residence program at Colby-Sawyer College in NH, and has also performed in two symposia at the Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. She is also a founding member and occasional accompanist of the Seraphim Singers, a chamber chorus dedicated to sacred choral music of the last five centuries. She has worked with other period ensembles in the Boston area, including frequent summer performances with La Donna Musicale.
Ms. Angelini is a member of the Boston chapter of the American Guild of Organists, where she has served on numerous committees, and has served as both Sub-Dean and Dean. She has also served on the board of the Old West Organ Society, where after holding many roles is now the Executive Director. When she is not bringing carillon students on field trips around New England, she enjoys cooking, sewing, and crocheting afghans for her nieces and nephews.
