Mayo Clinic

Plummer Building at Mayo Clinic

Links to Carillon Inventories
GCNA	Tower Bells	Bok Tower Gardens


Largest Bell	Mayo Clinic Carillon

The Rochester Carillon at the Mayo Clinic was the gift of Drs. William J. and Charles H. Mayo. The 23 bells were cast by Gillett & Johnston of Croydon, England, and consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury before shipment to the United States. The carillon was dedicated on September 16, 1928 by Percival Price. The bells were installed in a dedicated tower atop the new Plummer Building.

Thirty-three additional bells were installed in 1977, bringing the total to 56. The new bells, a new clavier, practice console and glass-enclosed performer’s cabin were made possible with gifts from Mrs. Frances G. Sheets and Mrs. Isabella Gooding Sanders. .

The instrument was almost completely rebuilt in 2018-2019, providing a much simpler mechanism that offers a direct connection between the keys of the clavier and the clappers of the bells. This connection made the action of the instrument smoother, allowing performers greater control over nuances in playing technique and volume than was possible with the old action.

References
1928 "Carillon of 23 Bells Installed in Mayo Clinic," The La Crosse Tribune, March 27, 1928, Page 16.
New building at Rochester to have first carillon west of Chicago.

1928 "New Mayor Clinic Building Nears Completion," The Minneapolis Journal, April 5, 1928, Page 4.

1928 "Throng Sees Dedication of Mayo Clinic," Minneapolis Morning Tribune, September 17, 1928, Page 5.
Carillon Tower at Rochester Built to Honor Men Who Served in War.

1985 "The Rochester Carillon at the Mayo Clinic," by Clark W. Nelson, Bulletin of the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America 34:16 (1985)

2015 "The Mayo Clinic Carillon," by Margaret R. Wentz, Art at Mayo Clinic 90(5):E53 (May 1, 2015)

2021 "Mayo Clinic's 93-year carillon steps into 21st century," by Matthew Stolle, Post-Bulletin, May 12, 2021
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