Steven Ball

When did you get started with music?

Before I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are being able to play keyboard and that's age two perhaps. But really before I can remember it was just sort of built in. I played by ear for quite a bit and started actual lessons when I was six.

Did you not get started on the carillon until you came to the university?

I have always been interested in both bells and organs. It was very deeply "programmed" from an early age. My first chance to actually [play some] serious bells, other than the usual church bells you hear, was at age fifteen, when I began studying carillon at Grand Valley State University... I then came here and did a degree in organ.

What is your favorite part about playing the carillon or the organ?

There is a common thread between the carillon and my work with the organ. I'm also the staff organist at the Michigan Theater and the interesting common thread is that they are both public musical instruments. I sometimes joke that between the two I'm the most ignored musician of the city. They're both acoustical instruments, they are both sort of timeless in their own way... why do I do this? I think it's for the magic of it. There is something, to me, so magical about just being on the street and just being buried in daily life and just hearing a few snatches from the bells, there is just some magic in that which is really remarkable. And that is why I do it.

Do you remember why you started playing? Did your family encourage it?

That's funny actually because almost no one in my family is musical. I have an uncle who was a violin maker and my great-great-uncle is Pieter Tchaikovsky. Or so I'm told by my family. I did see the birth certificates and they did trace the lineage back so I think I believe them -- but other than those two people, there's really nobody in my family that's at all musical. I do know that my grandmother loved [music] as does my father.

What is your educational background?

I started out at Grand Valley State University; I finished high school early and started college in the same year. Then I came to the University of Michigan, did a bachelor's degree here. I then moved to France, studied at the Institut de Touraine for while. I then got a Fulbright Scholarship to the Netherlands where I studied campanology and during that time, I studied at the Royal Carillon School in Amersfort, which is part of the University of Utrecht. I also studied at the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen, Belgium, which is the first modern carillon school, so historically, it's very important. I then came back here to the University of Michigan, completed a Master's degree in performance, in organ, and I'm now just finishing a doctoral degree.

Since you're the official carillonneur of the University of Michigan, what kind of practice time do you have to put into it?

I never have enough! If you look up to the ninth floor [of Burton tower] some evening and you see the lights burning at all hours of the morning... one can never have enough practice. As much time as I could possibly devote, even more would be required. So much music and scholarship must still be done in the world of campanology. [The University] is essentially the center of the carillon world in America and I'm very devoted to seeing not only this historic place valued and recognized in history, but I'm just as devoted to seeing that we remain at the cutting edge. There are many chances for research and study which are possible because of the unique environment at the University here. I really always am looking for ways to access those and more than anything else, I feel that the thing that would characterize all my work here is to provide the greatest public exposure for the instrument [as] possible and in doing so, educate as many people as possible. The more people we can have studying the carillon, the more people we can have coming to the summer recital series. This summer recital series is going to be quite something. We're working with the Ann Arbor Summer Festival so at the end of their festival will be the beginning of ours. The traveling carillon of the city of Prague will be here so we'll be playing duets between two carillons. The Summer Carillon Series this year is going to be quite unlike anything Ann Arbor has ever seen. The City Carillonneur of Amsterdam is coming, so really exciting things are happening. This all plugs into the whole idea that it's not just an instrument for a few people and it's not just for the University, it's the city's instrument -- and I really want to see as many people as possible exposed to it, educated about it, aware of what a remarkable thing this is.

When does the Summer Festival take place?

It begins on Monday, the tenth of July... the first concert will probably be a silent film. For the Summer Festival, it's set up in Ingalls mall, they'll be projecting a silent film which will be accompanied by a carillon. That will be the first concert... and any time we do a concert here, there will always be a tour of the tower.

I noticed that you have a keyboard at your computer. Do you compose?

I do compose and I also do a lot of arranging but that's actually one of the unfortunate things about my job this year. My first year here has been so busy. When I arrived, two students were studying carillon. There has been a lot of rebuilding around here. A lot of fundraising... composing and arranging is something I'd like to get back to, actually.

How can other people get involved in the carillon?

The easiest way is to send an email to carillon@umich.edu and say, "Hey, I'd like to see the carillon!" or "Hey, I'd like to study the carillon!" You can also try contacting me directly via telephone at (734) 764-4414. Private lessons for the carillon are for between one and four credits. Study of campanology is independent study and that has to be arranged through the department [of organ].