Carillon composition contest results

The Leuven (Belgium) Bell and Carillon Society Campanae Lovanienses organized an international contest for carillon composition and arrangement marking the 300th anniversary of the birth of organist, carillonneur, and composer Matthias Vanden Gheyn (Tienen, 1721–Leuven, 1785). There were two categories: carillon compositions inspired by the concept of cosmology and carillon arrangements of a work of the Baroque period. (See the January 2021 issue of The Diapason, pages 6–7.)

In the first category, 32 submissions were received from twelve countries; in the second category, thirty submissions were received from eight countries. The submissions in category 1 were judged by an international jury of four composers/pianists and four carillonneurs. The submissions in category 2 were evaluated by the four carillonneurs in the jury. The results were announced on June 12 during the online congress of the World Carillon Federation.

For carillon compositions, first prize (€2,000) was awarded to Geert D’hollander, carillonneur at Bok Tower, Lake Wales, Florida, for his work Halos; second prize (€1,000) to Jeroen Malaise, musician in Antwerp, for his work The Vermilion Bird of the South; third prize (€500) to Thomas Laue, carillonneur in Canberra, Australia, for his work Boomerang Nebula. These compositions will be performed on October 2 on several carillons in Leuven during the cultural city festival “Knal!,” the Leuven Big Bang Festival. This festival honors the Leuven priest and professor Georges Lemaître (1894–1966), who first developed the theories of the expansion of the universe (1927) and of the big bang (1931).

For carillon arrangements, first prize (€1,500) was awarded to Thomas Laue for an arrangement of Sonate for Violin, op. 16, no. 12, by Isabella Leonarda (1620–1704); second prize (€750) to Geert D’hollander for an arrangement of Suite No. 1 for Harpsichord by Joseph-Hector Fiocco (1703–1741); third prize (€ 500) to Roy Kroezen (carillonneur in Centralia, Illinois), for an arrangement of French Suite No. 2 by Johann Sebastian Bach. The three winning arrangements will be performed in autumn 2021 and in summer 2022 on the Peace Carillon in Park Abbey (replica after 1730) and the city carillon of Tienen (1723).

Campanae Lovanienses will make the scores of the five highest-ranked entries in both categories available free of charge to the international carillon community. The jury consisted of Michael Finnissy (UK), Anthony Romaniuk (Australia), Leo Samama (the Netherlands), Annelies Van Parys (Belgium), Stefano Colletti (France), Koen Cosaert (Belgium), Monika Kazmierczak (Poland), and Tiffany Ng (United States).

The National Association for Olmsted Parks announces results of its “Inspired by Olmsted,” a carillon composition competition designed to celebrate the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted. The competition is part of the association’s “Olmsted 200” celebration of the 200th birthday of Olmsted in 2022. First prize is awarded to Geert D’hollander, Winter Haven, Florida, for Four Miniatures (“Spring Flowers at the U.S. Capitol Grounds,” “The Reflection Pond at Bok Tower,” “A Court Dance at the Biltmore Gardens,” and “Central Park in the Fall”). Second prize is presented to ​​Peter Paul Olejar, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Four Olmsted Landscapes (“Introduction: Homage–Frederick Law Olmsted,” “Niagara Falls State Park,” “U.S. Capitol Grounds,” “Biltmore,” and “Central Park, NYC”). Third prize is a tie between Joey Brink, Chicago, Illinois (a member of The Diapason’s 20 Under 30 Class of 2015), for beneath a canopy of trees and Ellen Dickinson, Wilton, Connecticut, for Oasis in the City: Change Rings Through. Honorable mention goes to Tom Gurin, Raleigh, North Carolina, for his Concealed Design.

The works were and are scheduled to be performed publicly as follows: March 16–20 at the International Carillon Festival, Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wales, Florida; April 26, The Riverside Church, New York, New York; May 6–7, Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.; June 18, Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; and September 24–25, Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The scores to the works are available as a free download. For information: olmsted200.org.