Twice every school day, student musicians climb 194 stairs to perform mini-concerts 157 feet above the University of Florida campus.
Their instrument, the carillon, originated in 16th century Belgium and the Netherlands. Townspeople would gather at markets while the bells’ sweet tones echoed overhead from the tower and served as a soundtrack to their lives.
A carillon is a set of bells in a tower controlled and played similarly to a keyboard but with batons to pull instead of keys to press. UF’s carillon tops the iconic Century Tower and has 61 bells. The tower is celebrating an anniversary this month, as it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 20, 1989.
With less than 200 carillons in the United States and only four in Florida, UF musicians are offered the rare opportunity to train and perform in the sky with the College of the Arts’ Carillon Studio.
And for at least the last two semesters, students of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering made up a substantial chunk of those carillonneurs. Last fall, four engineering students were among the 10 carillonneurs. This semester, three of the nine performers are engineering students.
“I think that just sort of goes to show the importance of music and the arts for a well-rounded life,” said professor Laura Ellis, Ph.D., who leads UF’s Carillon Studio.
Ellis works as UF School of Music’s associate director, teaching graduate organ, harpsichord, and carillon classes. She previously served two terms as the president of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.
For the engineering students, playing the carillon is a nice right-brain diversion from intense left-brain studies.
Here are the engineering students for the Carillon Studio’s Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters.
Noah Bolin
An aerospace engineering freshman from Gainesville, Bolin said playing the carillon enables him to express himself “better than math” can.
“It’s something that I really enjoy,” he said.
He grew up listening to the Gator Marching Band and joined as a trombone player. But when he saw auditions for the Carillon Studio, he said, “I’m gonna play the biggest instrument on campus.”
Bolin couldn’t wait to climb the few hundred stairs to play his first concert. He just needed to get his footing right.
“My foot has to be in the right place,” he said of playing the carillon. “That I don’t get, because I like to leave them in a line, like in marching band.”
Be it on Steve Spurrier Field or in Century Tower, playing music allows Bolin to decompress during a busy semester.
Carlos Colón-Ortiz
Puerto Rico native Carlos Colón-Ortiz has been playing piano at church since he was 11. During his freshman year, he wanted to find a way to bolster his music studies at UF.
“I realized the carillon is a venue that I could go into,” said the third-year biomedical engineering master’s student.
Participating in the carillon studio helped him learn how to balance his time between school and leisure. While the studio is technically a class.
“It’s something I can use to develop myself, a hobby on the side,” he said.
Outside of the Carillon Studio, Colón-Ortiz has competed in arrangement competitions and has earned the title of associate carillonneur from the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America. To become an associate carillonneur, he had to work on a research project about the carillon and its history.
He then had to pass an exam in which he recorded three songs. Colón-Ortiz also arranges music for the UF carillon, many being songs from Puerto Rico. His arrangement “Amor Real” was published as licensed sheet music in January.
Victoria LaRose
While walking through campus last spring, biomedical engineering student Victoria LaRose stumbled upon a carillon concert. She stopped to listen and watched the nearby screen projecting a video of the carillonneur in the tower.
“I found it really interesting and thought I might as well,” she said.
LaRose has been playing the piano for 14 years. And like the other engineer carillonneurs, learning to play using foot pedals was challenging, but after a semester she became more confident.
“Going back to the piano now, it takes me a minute to get used to it again,” she said.
During the holiday concert in December, LaRose played “God Rest You Merry Gentlemen.”
Anna Huber
Anna Huber’s musical roots trace back 18 years to her days as a preschooler. She played the piano before her feet could reach the pedals.
Now a materials and science master’s student, she is embarking on her fourth year playing the carillon. Her tenure started after touring the university with her sister and learning about the carillon’s history; she knew she needed to experience playing the instrument 11 and a half stories above her peers.
“It was kind of like a bucket list thing for me,” Huber said.
The lighter bells in the tower weigh around 20 pounds, while the heaviest bell is a couple tons. The instrument is primarily played with the feet, which was a learning curve for Huber.
“This has always been something of an outlet,” she said. “It’s something I can do, and it’s just for fun.”
Huber performed in the December holiday concert (she appeared in the holiday campus video widely circulated on social media and YouTube) and continued to grow her carillon skills as a member of the Spring 2025 Carillon Studio.
Ashlyn DellaVecchia
Second-year environmental engineering student Ashlyn DellaVecchia’s career in music began in second grade when she followed her family’s tradition of playing piano. She played all the way through high school.
At UF, she joined the Gator Marching Band as a clarinet player. Her love for music influenced her to audition for a spot in the Carillon Studio.
While she feels like her piano skills translate to the carillon, she believes the bells require more coordination between her hands and feet. As well, there is timing to consider with the carillon.
“You have to prepare the note before you play it in order to be able to play it at the right volume at the right time, just because the batons have different weights to them,” DellaVecchia said.
The biggest workout, she contends, is not the weighty batons but the climb up the tower.
