Claire Janezic (USA), Annie Gao (USA), Anne Lu (CAN), Oleksandra Makarova (UA) and Joseph Min (USA) competed for the honor of winning a prize—ideally the first prize, the audience prize, the improvisation prize, and/or the best performance award for the required work during the 9th International Carillon Competition Queen Fabiola, which has just concluded in Mechelen.

For a week, Mechelen, the carillon capital of the world, was immersed in countless hours of carillon music emanating from the mighty Sint-Rombouts Tower. Fifteen candidates from all corners of the globe gathered to give their best in what is undoubtedly the most important carillon competition in the world. It was Jo Haazen, former director of the Royal Carillon School and city carillonneur, who took the initiative for this competition, whose first edition took place in 1987. The goal was not only to confirm Mechelen's status as a carillon center, but also and especially to raise the level of carillon playing and further internationalize it. In every respect, this has succeeded. The level rose to that of soloists of international caliber, more and more students came to the institute, especially from the United States of America, and a genuine carillon school emerged in Russia. It is now up to the current, younger generation of carillonneurs to have more instruments built and to restore, renovate, or replace aging or outdated instruments. Those who heard the young top artists at work can rest assured that they will ensure the future of the carillon—rightly recognized as UNESCO intangible world heritage—at an unprecedented level of excellence.

After the preliminary rounds, the five aforementioned candidates remained and performed on Saturday, July 13 on the Sint-Rombouts carillon, where they performed, among other things, the required work by Joey Brink alongside pieces from the standard repertoire. On Sunday, July 14, they had to transform from solitary carillonneurs high in a tower with no view of the audience into concert musicians who performed together with other instruments right in front of the public. In the former monastery church of the Minorites, now one of Mechelen's cultural venues, a chamber carillon was set up alongside percussion and the grand piano of Chris Maene. This was played by composer-pianist Jeroen Malaise, and the percussion was handled by percussionist Daan Willems. How a carillon sounds in Mechelen is well known, but how would a chamber carillon sound with percussion and piano, and would that even fit within a competition? In the past, this could have been debated. The instrument wasn't quite ready, the choice of ensemble—orchestra, brass band, or something else—wasn't obvious. Until now…

Jeroen Malaise made this his own—not that he necessarily wanted to become a carillonneur—but he was determined to understand how a carillonneur behaves at the keyboard. He studied the movements, let his ears get accustomed to the bell tones, and with useful information from experienced carillonneurs, he set to work writing a piece, a 'Nocturne' that—short though it is—immediately deserves to be called a repertoire work. This can certainly resound in any concert hall. It begins with a soft, fragile shimmer followed by a playful bounce, only to glide back to the opening phrases and fade away very gently and dreamily. The instruments flow into one another in a way that astonishes you. How can you possibly doubt whether it's the percussion, the piano, or the chamber carillon you're hearing? And yet it's so. The ensemble sound, the singing lines, the rhythm, the freedom the carillonneur has to interpret freely… Yes, it's a competition piece, certainly, but equally certainly a repertoire piece.

Having to listen to this nocturne five times was not at all tiresome; quite the opposite. It was challenging and, more than with many other assigned works, allowed the solist to express themselves musically and prove their worth. And they certainly did. Five different versions, five times thoroughly enjoyed.

Besides Malaise's Nocturne, each candidate performed a work of their choice. Notably, four of the five chose a Baroque piece. Likely because the chamber carillon is very light and highly suited to Baroque music, which is not immediately the case with the heavy carillon in the Sint-Rombouts Tower. Time flew by, as it always does when great talents deliver performances of the highest caliber. It created an excited atmosphere among the audience, who gave prolonged applause to the five laureates, the jury members, and the composers. Mark Janssens (Klara) wove this competition together with eloquent words, thus helping to create an atmosphere reminiscent of a family gathering. As it should be. Keep an eye out with Klassiek Centraal for the next edition in July 2029…

The five laureates and six prize winners

First Prize, Prize for Required Work: Joseph Min (USA)

Second Prize: Annie Gao (USA)

Third Prize: Anne Lu (CAN)

Fourth Prize: Claire Janezic (USA)

Fifth Prize and Audience Prize: Oleksandra Makarova (UA)

Improvisation Prize: Cao Linh Pham (USA)