When Nick Rissman and music composition students at Lamar University decided to form a contemporary music ensemble three years ago, they didn’t have to look too far for a name.
“We took our inspiration from the area we live in,” says Rissman, associate professor of music at Lamar. “Traditionally, a carillon is a bell tower; something that makes music. We create music right here in Southeast Texas. This is an industrial area, and we celebrate that background. The Industrial Carillon grew out of and reflects back to Southeast Texas.”
The multi-media/multi-disciplinary performances of the Industrial Carillon, whose next concert is Tuesday, Oct. 28, have been thrilling audiences in this area ever since.
The often standing-room-only concerts feature a diverse range of music, including cutting-edge new compositions, experimental works, jazzy trios with a new-age flavor, brass quintets and neo-classical pieces.
“The Industrial Carillon is a dynamic group whose enthusiastic audience is growing,” says Harry Bulow, chair of the Department of Music, Theatre & Dance at Lamar. “Their concerts provide a more open forum for music making that is more informal than other experiences.”
The hour-long concert on Oct. 28 will feature five composers who have degrees in composition from Lamar University.
Carl Richardson of Vidor graduated from Lamar in 2005 and has prepared an entire musical piece consisting of one single sound: the striking of a crowbar on metal. After recording the effect, he sampled it into a vibrant, elegant composition.
Other composers/performers include Jack Benson of Orange, who is currently working on a doctoral degree at the University of Houston; George Gidley of Houston, a freelance musician who writes film scores; Kelli Hall, a digital music specialist who works in the information technology department at Lamar; and Joel Love of Houston, a keyboardist and composer who graduated from Hamshire-Fannett High School.
Each composer has put together a short film that will introduce his or her piece and give the audience a window into the creative process.
“The goal is for people to become acquainted with alternative music in an alternative listening environment,” Rissman says.
Concerts are held at the Mobil Oil Federal Credit Union, 1810 N. Major Drive at Delaware in Beaumont. The architecturally striking modern design of the credit union’s atrium provides a perfect setting for the avant-garde music.
The free performance on Tuesday, Oct. 28, will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by a reception for attendees. In keeping with the non-traditional theme of the evening, the reception will not feature the ubiquitous wine and cheese, but instead will offer “Industrial Carillon Fudge,” a chocolate culinary explosion whipped up by Debra Greschner, LU coordinator of vocal studies and Rissman’s wife.
