Live carillon music comes from UC Riverside’s bell tower every Monday, and this week was no exception, but with a special performance.
Every Monday at noon, David Christensen or occasionally one of his students from UC Riverside’s music department, play the carillon in the campus tower. A carillon is a set of bells in a tower, played using a keyboard or other automatic mechanism similar to a piano.
RELATED: UCR’s bell tower will soon be 60 years old
On Dec. 1, the campus heard a special winter performance by guest carillonneur Yuko Tajima, a Japanese artist who typically plays in Germany. Tajima, who now lives in Pasadena, visits Riverside a few times a year to perform on the historic instrument.
Her program featured 15 Christmas songs from around the world.
Robin Souder, a longtime friend and admirer of Tajima, attended with her son Joshua. “Yuko has been there for me during some very somber moments,” Souder said. “I enjoy being there for her, and I always try to catch one of her performances.”
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UC Riverside’s David Christensen demonstrates the carillon in his practice room on Dec. 1, 2025, showing how the music heard from the campus bell tower is played. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
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UC Riverside’s David Christensen demonstrates the carillon in his practice room on Dec. 1, 2025, showing how the music heard from the campus bell tower is played. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
Christensen, who has directed UCR’s carillon program for 39 years, is the steward behind the instrument that has become a signature sound on campus.
“I took over from my teachers here at UCR and have now been here the longest,” he said. “My students sometimes perform with me up there, but it’s mostly myself.”
Visitors aren’t allowed to climb the tower for security reasons, however Christensen offered a demonstration in his practice room, where a training carillon mirrors the layout of the real one on campus. He showed how the instrument is played using both fists and feet to strike wooden batons and pedals — a mechanism constructed like an organ but performed with the feel of a piano. Unlike the tower’s instrument, the practice console isn’t connected to bells.
This week’s special performance, concludes the Monday performances for the quarter. They will resume in January.
The concerts are always free — and can be a welcome break following the rush of a Monday morning.
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