Ireland  |  April 10, 2025

Memories of Adrian P. Gebruers, former WCF President

My first awareness of the WCF came through the late Geoffrey Armitage (1943-2016) who at that time was the main liaison between the British Carillon Society (now The Carillon Society of Britain and Ireland) and the WCF. Those who knew Geoff will remember him as a walking encyclopaedia of all things campanological, a gifted linguist and an aficionado of Trabant and Wartburg cars!

I attended my first World Congress in 1982 at Løgumkloster (Danmark) and subsequent congresses at Zutphen (Netherlands, 1990), Chambéry (France, 1994) and Aschaffenburg (Germany, 1996). As I prepared to travel to Belgium in 1998 for the Congress in Mechelen (Flanders), little did I realise that events would ensue there which were to direct my life for the next eight years.

I suspect that my election as WCF President was perceived as an acceptable compromise between the traditional home of the carillon in Europe and North America / Australasia where interest in the instrument was growing apace. My term of office (1998-2006) represented years of intensive work and travel to the congress venues of Springfield Illinois (USA), Cobh (Ireland), Oslo (Norway) and Gdańsk (Poland) but also to South Africa, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

I would have been gratified if a genuine keyboard world standard could have been decided but that was not to be and I'm now of the opinion that such an achievement is perhaps more aspirational than feasible. My one regret is that a World Congress has never been held in the southern hemisphere, an omission which still persists.

I became acquainted with so many exceptional people who did so much to further the cause of our beloved instrument through the work of the WCF. Two in particular stand out for their years of dedicated service, Andreas Friedrich (Switzerland) as Vice-President and Hylke Banning (Netherlands) as General Secretary.

Adrian P. Gebruers

York  |  England  |  March 8, 2024

Visit to York Minster

The CSBI held an all-day event on 20 May 2023. This well-attended event was hosted at York Minster, and included a recital by host Jonathan Galloway, a masterclass led by Tiffany Ng (University of Michigan), as well as a chance to look at the bells in the belfry. The carillon keyboard is unique in that it is housed in the same room as the ropes hung from change ringing - the room has a small window in which you are treated to a fantastic view of the Minster's famous stained glass.

The event was the largest held since the pandemic and was attended by well-established players as well as some who had only become familiar with the carillon a few weeks before. There was a festive atmosphere throughout and the day concluded with a visit to a rather sunny pub terrace to listen to the carillon played before Evensong. One of our members, Bill Hibberts, attended and recorded each of the carillon bells, and has updated the tuning figures here on Dove's Guide.