Arts & culture, Performing arts

Campanile's 100th: The party starts tonight

By Gretchen Kell

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Let’s get this party started!

The Campanile at night. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)

The Campanile at night (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)

A yearlong celebration of the Campanile’s 100th anniversary kicks off this evening (Tuesday, Feb. 3) with three 10-minute performances at the tower. At 6:30, 7 and 7:30 p.m., a light show on the Campanile’s west-facing exterior wall and the sounds of synthetic bells playing alongside live carillon music will be activated by live data from a seismometer inside the nearby Hayward Fault.

One of the best places to view “Natural Frequencies” will be on the brick promenade at the top of Campanile Way, between the Bancroft Library and South Hall. Hot cocoa and cookies will be provided.

University Carillonist Jeff Davis, along with carillonist Tiffany Ng, will be playing the bells in the tower as the show unfolds. The free launch event is a joint effort between the UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, the Department of Music and the Berkeley Center for New Media. Meyer Sound is handling audio and lighting for the event.

The concept was the work of professors Ken Goldberg, Ed Campion and Greg Niemeyer, along with Perrin Meyer of Meyer Sound in West Berkeley.

For more information, visit a website about the Campanile’s centennial and read a story about the tower’s history and more anniversary events taking place in 2015.