Alan Bowman Plays Dayton’s Historic Deeds Carillon

If you’ve never heard of a carillonneur, you’re not alone. There are only about 180 carillons in North America, and carillonneurs are the skilled musicians who bring them to life. The tradition of playing these bell instruments, which must have at least 23 bells to be considered a carillon, dates to 15th-century Europe. 

In Ohio, nowhere is this tradition more evident than at Dayton’s Carillon Historical Park, a 65-acre open-air history museum, the centerpiece of which is the 150-foot-tall Deeds Carillon. In 2023, Alan Bowman became the carillonneur at Carillon Historical Park after first taking carillon lessons in Dayton prior to enrolling in the Royal Carillon School in Belgium, the oldest and largest school of its kind in the world.

“Only by living there and breathing it morning, noon and night was I able to master it in a two-year period,” Bowman says of his time in Belgium.

Born and raised in the Dayton area, Bowman began playing piano at age 3 and organ at 6, later performing in bands and studying piano in college. After a brief stint as a systems analyst — his undergraduate major at Miami University — he returned to music, earning a master’s degree in organ performance in 2005.

We talked with Bowman about the importance of music in his life, the significance of his role with Carillon Historical Park and his favorite part about being a carillonneur.

What role has music played in your life? 
I was always wanting some sort of work in music, even though I was in a computer field to begin with. When I went to Miami University, my minor program was in piano performance, even though my major was systems analysis. … I decided I wanted to go back to school and get my master’s in music and organ performance so that I could be serious about making a career of music.

How do you see your role as carillonneur fitting Carillon Historical Park’s mission? 
Being the namesake of the park itself is certainly a primary importance. … I think it’s really important that people hear [the bells] throughout the day, but also to have [the carillon] played in a formal way for a concert … I’m very grateful that they want to keep a carillonneur in a position there to make the instrument used and make the public aware of it.

What is your favorite part about being a carillonneur?
I think if you ask any carillonneur, they would maybe speak to how it feels to play the bells. It’s the organic vibrations of the bells that just speak to you in a certain way when you’re playing them. I think it’s a real physical thing, as well as maybe the spiritual, ethereal nature of it. It just makes it a really fun and satisfying instrument to play.

For more information, visit daytonhistory.org.

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