MUSIC | Sweet carillon

There’s never been a better time to visit Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon in Washington Park. Enjoy free 30-minute weekly concerts four days a week with two performances on Sundays. The park district’s carillonneur, Robin Austin, will play a variety of classical, folk and popular songs. Also, carillon tours resumed the first of May. Offered every 30 minutes on weekends and Wednesday nights, tours now include a live carillon performance. You need to ascend this 12-story tower at least once in your lifetime. The views of Springfield are amazing from the city’s highest elevation. Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon is the gift of Senator Thomas Rees, publisher of Illinois State Register from 1881 to 1933. Cast by a 300-year-old bell foundry Petit & Fritsen in The Netherlands, 67 cast-bronze bells range in weight from 22 pounds to seven tons. All of the bells are played manually using a keyboard located in the carillonneur’s cabin.