Middlebury Chapel sits on a hill overlooking the idyllic campus. Every afternoon, the carillon rings out over the surrounding hillside from the chapel's tower. What does it take to make those bells sing? A long climb up some very steep, very narrow stairs.
George Matthew Jr. lives in Brandon and has been carillonneur at Middlebury College for 39 years. He's 89 years old and has two great-grandsons.
"I've been around for a while," Matthew said. "And I intend to keep playing until, I always say, I either I can't play decently anymore, or Gabriel blows that horn, whichever comes first."
It’s a small room, but perfect for one carillonneur. A carillon is played with wooden batons attached to 48 bells above, sort of like a piano's funny cousin. On the wall are posters and flyers from events Matthew has played around the world.
Matthew comes from a musical family. When he was 7, he got hooked on the miniature French horn. From there, he taught himself all the brass instruments. He learned the piano at his parents' insistence before becoming a church organist at age 13. He still plays an organ at St. Thomas & Grace Church in Brandon.
Matthew’s current project? Playing the national anthems of every country represented in the Middlebury student body — 70 countries in all. He plays seven different national anthems a day.
"Today, I've got Pakistan, Portugal, Palestine, Tibet," he said. "What have I got here? Norway, Irish Republic and Canada."
Matthew said the project grew out of two moments that percolated in his mind. One was an encounter on Christmas Eve with a student from Ecuador. The student was very sad because they were not able to return home for the holidays, so Matthew played Ecuadorian carols to cheer them up. The other inspiration pertained to his own national anthem.
"Many years ago, I had done a bunch of concerts in France, and I took the boat over to Ireland," he said. "The ship goes through Cobh Harbor and then docks at Cork. The Cobh Cathedral towers over the harbor there, and the deep water brings the ships very close to the shore."
Matthew said the carillonneur in Cork is a good friend and has a deal with the captain of the ship. The captain calls the carillonneur on the radio telephone with the nationalities of everyone on board, and the carillonneur plays their national anthems.
"He played The Star-Spangled Banner for me," Matthew said.
When Matthew played the Tibetan national anthem, several students from Tibet were able to watch. Tenzin Dhonden and Tenzin Youtso shared their thoughts when Matthew was done playing.
Dhonden said it's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day on campus, and it's nice to be reminded of home.
"It's nice to hear it when you're walking through campus, when you don't expect it, because it reminds you of where you come from," Dhonden said.
Youtso agreed, and called it "a historic moment for me."
"I feel a great sense of pride," Youtso said, noting that the Ukrainian anthem meant a great deal to the Middlebury students from Ukraine.
"Playing the Tibetan national anthem is the first step towards letting people know about Tibet and the struggles we've been through," Youtso said.
Matthew shared with the students that his family is from Ireland.
"I'll say to all of you, céad míle fáilte," he said. "That's Gaelic for 100,000 welcomes."
Matthew ends each hour with the Middlebury alma mater. It’s his way, he said, of telling the campus that the bells are done for the day.
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