Venice Carillon Foundation

Venice Carillon Foundation The VCF supports the Andrew W. Crawford Memorial Carillon, a 4-ton 48-bell musical instrument by regular performances and instruction.

04/24/2026

Last Saturday morning carillon recital.

The last regularly-scheduled Saturday morning carillon recital at VPAC in Venice will take place on Saturday, May 2 at 10am. These recitals will resume some time in November.

04/03/2026

Dennis Curry is guest carillonneur on April 9

We are happy to announce that our friend and colleague Dennis Curry will be closing out this season's Florida Carillon Festival at 4pm on Thursday, April 9. The recital will be performed on the Andrew W. Crawford Memorial Carillon in front of the Venice Performing Arts Center.

As always, admission is free and you are encouraged to bring your own chair or to enjoy the music from the comfort of your car. Recitals take place rain or shine, but no in the presence of thunderstorms.

Here is some information about Dennis:

Dennis Curry recently retired as Kirk in the Hills’ (MI) Carillonneur after 33 years and continues as Oakland University’s first Carillonneur since 2015. A past President of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America for 6 years, Dennis has also served on the Board of Directors for over 10 years and as juror on the Guild’s Student Examination Committee. He is a retired member of the Executive Committee of the World Carillon Federation, having served as Treasurer, Secretary, and Vice-President. In 2001, Dennis hosted the GCNA Congress at the Kirk, which honored the centennials of Percival Price and Frederick Marriott. He supervised the formation of the Marriott Memorial Library and the complete renovation of the Kirk carillon. In 2011, he hosted the joint GCNA and WCF World Congress in Michigan, celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the GCNA.

Florida Carillon Festival recital on Thursday, March 19 at 4pmDear friends of the Venice Carillon -I am pleased to welco...
03/15/2026

Florida Carillon Festival recital on Thursday, March 19 at 4pm

Dear friends of the Venice Carillon -

I am pleased to welcome a former student of mine, Julia Littleton, as the next recitalist in our Florida Carillon Festival. She will perform this coming Thursday, March 19 at 4pm at the Venice Performing Arts Center. Admission is free, as always, and you may bring your own folding chair or listen from your car.

Julia Littleton is a 2024 graduate of the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen, Belgium, where she studied performance with Eddy Mariën. Since then, she has continued her education at the school with a specialized project tracing connections between the historical carillon culture of the Low Countries and newer developments in North America. Alongside that research, she has worked on arranging music for the carillon by women and other less-represented composers, in addition to well-known tunes.

Julia began her carillon studies at the University of Chicago with then-University Carillonneur Wylie Crawford. She passed the carillonneur exam for the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America in 2000 and was a frequent performer in the Chicago area before moving to the eastern U.S., where she became a professional journalist in Washington, D.C. Her other musical interests include piano playing and operatic singing, with a special focus on art songs. The melodic lines of singing are a source of inspiration for her carillon playing and composition.

03/11/2026

Guest performer this Saturday

Mr. Lee Leach, from Norwood, MA will perform the 10am carillon recital at the Venice Performing Arts Center on Saturday, March 14. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara in music composition. He also has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University.

Mr. Leach became interested in performing on the Norwood carillon in 1995 and has since performed at the House of Hope in St. Paul, Minnesota, and NorwichUniversity in Northfield, Vermont. He has played in recitals series at Trinity College, Hartford, at St. James Episcopal Church, Danbury, at West Hartford and New Britain CT and regularly in the Summer Recital Series in both St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Cohasset and at Norwood.

The next Florida Carillon Festival program - Thursday, Feb 12 at 4pmDear carillon friends -Our next featured guest is Wa...
02/05/2026

The next Florida Carillon Festival program - Thursday, Feb 12 at 4pm

Dear carillon friends -

Our next featured guest is Wade FitzGerald, who appeared last year as a Saturday morning guest, and was heartily applauded after his performance. He will be performing next Thursday, 2/12 at 4pm at the Venice Performing Arts Center. Lots of free parking, and you bring your own chair, or listen from your car. Rain or shine (but not in thunderstorms).

Wade will play music by Chopin and Shostakovich, plus a suite of Valentine's-themed songs, including "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," finishing the recital with "What a Wonderful World."

Here is more information about Wade FitzGerald:

Wade FitzGerald began studying carillon with Dr. Laura Ellis as an undergraduate at the University of Florida. After graduating in 2019 with bachelor's degrees in music and biology, FitzGerald served as Blanchard Carillon Fellow at Bok Tower, studying with Geert D’hollander. In 2022, FitzGerald was appointed as Associate Instructor of Carillon and University Carillonneur at Indiana University (Go Hoosiers!) while he worked toward his M. M. in Organ Performance with Dr. Christopher Young. After graduating in 2024, he returned to his hometown of Tampa, Florida, where he now works as the assistant organist at Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church. Outside of his musical activities, FitzGerald enjoys hiking, catching snakes, reading, and making art out of glass bottles and bottle caps.

ANNOUNCING - the opening of the 2026 Florida Carillon FestivalThe opening will take this place this Thursday, January 15...
01/10/2026

ANNOUNCING - the opening of the 2026 Florida Carillon Festival

The opening will take this place this Thursday, January 15 at 4:00pm at the Venice Performing Arts Center. The featured performer is Wesley Arai. FREE admission. Bring your own chair, or listen from your car.

Wesley Arai serves as University Carillonist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he performs regularly on the 61-bell Storke Tower carillon and maintains an active carillon studio. He studied carillon with Jeff Davis at the University of California, Berkeley and has passed the advancement examination of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.

An active recitalist, Wesley has performed extensively across the United States and abroad and is an annual recitalist at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, Washington and is a frequent recitalist at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Wesley’s day job is as an actuary.

His program will include music by Richard Rodgers, George Harrison, Claude Debussy, Henry Mancini, Gabriel Faure, and Dmitri Shostakovich.

12/28/2025

2026 Florida Carillon Festival - save the dates

The 2026 Florida Carillon Festival will take place on Thursday afternoons, once a month, in January through April. Here is the roster of performers:

January 15 at 4pm - Wesley Arai, Carillonneur at U. of California, Santa Barbara
February 12 at 4pm - Wade FitzGerald, freelance carillonneur from Tampa
March 19 at 4pm - Julia Littleton, recent graduate of the carillon school in Mechelen, Belgium
April 9 at 4pm - Marc Van Bets - Carillonneur at St. Rumbolds Cathedral, Mechelen, Belgium

All recitals are free to the public and take place at the entrance to the Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Avenue in Venice. Lots of free parking and you can listen from your car or bring a folding chair for better viewing.

Lyrics for the Caroling event are here - https://veniceperformingartscenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Caroling-at-t...
12/11/2025

Lyrics for the Caroling event are here -https://veniceperformingartscenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Caroling-at-the-Carillon-2024-lyrics.pdf

SPECIAL GUEST CARILLON RECITAL THIS SATURDAYDr. Andrea McCrady, the Dominion Carillonneur from Ottawa, Canada will play ...
11/25/2025

SPECIAL GUEST CARILLON RECITAL THIS SATURDAY

Dr. Andrea McCrady, the Dominion Carillonneur from Ottawa, Canada will play a special guest recital this Saturday morning 11/29 at 10AM at the Venice Performing Arts Center.

Since Thanksgiving will have just past, this will be our official start of our festive holiday carillon celebration, which will continue on Wednesday, 12/17 at 7PM with our traditional Caroling at the Carillon event with singing led by members of Venice's own Silver Foxes.

Here is more detail about this Saturday's program:

Old World
England
Joy to the World arr. W. Westcott
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen arr. R. Barnes
Yorkshire Wassail arr. W. De Turk
Ireland
Christmas in Killarney arr. S. Slade Warner
France
Les anges dans nos campagnes (Angels We Have Heard on High) arr. M. Myhre
Noël nouvelet (Sing We Now of Christmas) arr. T. Fair
Belgium
Een kindekijn is ons geboren (A Child is Born)arr. E. Uten
Germany
Still, Still, Still arr. J. Knox
O Tannenbaum (O Christmas Tree) arr. R. Barnes
Sweden
Nu år det Jul igen (It’s Yuletide Again) arr. M. Myhre
Romania
Domnulet si Domn din cer (Little Lord and Lord from Heaven) arr. N. Thornock
Ukraine
Shcho to za predyvo (What a Wonder!) arr. A. McCrady
Shchedryk (Carol of the Bells) arr. R. Barnes

New World
Mexico
Este ramito de flores (Bouquet of Flowers) Skinner Chávez-Melo, arr. C. A. Taylor
Jamaica
Calypso Carol arr. J. Knox
Canada
Jesous Ahatonhia (Huron Carol) arr. M. Myhre
Noël, c’est l’amour (Christmas is Love) Norbert Glanzberg, arr. A. McCrady
USA
I Wonder as I Wander arr. L. Whipple
Go Tell It on the Mountain arr. D. Hunsberger

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

ANDREA McCRADY BIO

Following 18 years as the carillonneur at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, WA, Andrea McCrady was appointed to the position of Dominion Carillonneur in Ottawa in 2008. She has been an active member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America since 1976, serving as president, 1987–88, co-chair of the Ronald Barnes Grant Fund, 1998–2019, and co-chair of the Music Heritage Committee, 2010–present. She holds a B. A. (History) from Trinity College, Hartford, where she first encountered the carillon; a medical doctorate from McGill University in Montreal, and a B. Mus. (Carillon) from the University of Denver. She serves as an Adjunct Professor in carillon studies at Carleton University in Ottawa and is also responsible for the maintenance of the Dominion Carillon Library archives. She was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025 for her service to Canada.

11/20/2025

TWO carillon events this weekend!

Dear carillon friends -

As usual, I will be performing at VPAC on Saturday morning 10:00-10:30. Come on out and bring your friends!

BUT in addition, this is the LAST WEEKEND that you can hear the only actively traveling carillon in the western hemisphere - within an hour's drive. It's called "Cast in Bronze" and there are three shows a day on Saturdays and Sundays at the Sarasota Medieval Fair - 29847 FL-70, Myakka City, FL 34251

The Fair opens at 10am and the first show is 11am. It's a VERY dynamic performance, complete with drum solo and recorded accompaniment for the carillon. Popular selections include excerpts from Phantom of the Opera, Carmina Burana, and Carol of the Bells. Not to be missed!

11/06/2025

Saturday morning carillon recitals will resume in two days!

Dear carillon friends -

I am pleased to announce that the Saturday morning 10am recitals at the Venice Performing Arts Center will resume this Saturday, 11/8 and will continue for the rest of the season.

Please join us and bring some newcomers. As always, the recitals are free and can be enjoyed from the comfort of your car (in case of inclement weather) or bring your own lawn chairs.

We look forward to seeing you again this year!!

Address

1 Indian Avenue
Venice, FL
34285

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