Dr. Wharton memorial carillon recital 11-20-2024 Beamont Tower

In memory and celebration of the life of Dr. Clifton Wharton Jr., MSU President from 1970-1978

We begin and end this week's carillon recital with Lift Every Voice and Sing, recognizing both Dr. Wharton's generous support for the arts on campus and the numerous racial barriers he broke as the first Black person to serve in some of the highest leadership positions across foreign economic development, philanthropy, and business, higher education.
We choose to use two different arrangements of the piece as a tribute to two different facets of his legacy: At the start, we hear an elaborate scoring from one of the major carillon composers of the 20th century, in recognition of Dr. Wharton's towering personal career and contributions. At the end, we hear a much simpler arrangement from a young rising star and newly minted University instructor, one who made his arrangement more accessible to carillon students; this in recognition of Dr. Wharton's support for higher education and it's greater accessibility, and that his gifts still blossom in the work of today's students and scholars. May his memory inspire and enrich our days.

Program:

Lift Every Voice and Sing                  J. Rosamond Johnson arr. J. Courter
Our Meeting is Over                          trad. arr. R. Barnes
Tranquility                                          trad. arr. R. Barnes
Pavane op. 50                                   Gabriel Fauré
MSU Shadows                                  Bernard “Barney” Traynor arr. W. Westcott
Autumn Leaves                                 Joseph Kozma arr. R. Giszczak
Hallelujah                                           Leonard Cohen arr. J. Brink

Lift Every Voice and Sing                  J. Rosamond Johnson arr. Carson Landry

Filmed live in the playing cabin in MSU's Beaumont Tower
Played by Jon Lehrer, MSU University Carillonist
Nov 20th, 2024, 12pm