‘Cast In Bronze’ to Perform at Renaissance Festival
Thirty-five years ago, 35 bronze bells were placed on a mobile carillon frame by a Dutch bell foundry and sent to America. For the first time in history, the rarely-seen European art of carillon playing could be brought to audiences. Eventually, this carillon was given new life by Frank DellaPenna, master-carillonneur graduate of the French Carillon School in Tourcoing, France. The carillon is played by a silent and masked “spirit of the bells” that appears only to breathe life into the instrument for the performance.
Cast in Bronze has been invited to perform for Pope John Paul II, at the U.S. Presidential Inauguration, and at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center in Orlando. The music of Cast in Bronze has also been heard on the radio, at music and Renaissance Festivals, on a special Christmas Eve performance on the “Today” Show, and at Alice Cooper’s 2004 “Christmas Pudding” benefit concert.
The carillon of Cast in Bronze consists of 35 bells with a total weight of four tons. It is the only musical act of its kind in the world, and the only carillon in history solely supported by listeners.
Carillon History
In 1480, a musical instrument of cast bronze bells was created and became known as the carillon. It is played from a modified keyboard with the fists and feet.
The carillon was created in Flanders (an area of northern Europe) about five centuries ago to provide a musical voice to bell towers to raise the spirits of the residents. Carillon playing requires musical dexterity, strength and endurance. Cast in Bronze is the first transportable carillon in the U.S. and the only full-time musical act in the world that features the carillon.
Cast in Bronze will perform five times daily in the Tournament Arena of the Renaissance Festival, one of 16 stages filled with professional entertainers throughout the Castle grounds.
Festival Hours: 10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and Memorial Day April 28 – May 28. www.okcastle.com, 800-439-0658.
Updated 04-23-2012
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