Ronald Barnes

University Carillonneur, 1951-1963

Ronald Barnes (1927-1997) served as University Carillonist at The University of Kansas, Washington National Cathedral, and the University of California at Berkeley. While at Berkeley he was a member of the faculty of the Department of Music and at Kansas he taught music history and literature.

Barnes began his long association with the carillon in 1946 at First-Plymouth Congregational Church in his native Lincoln, Nebraska, where he was also assistant organist to Myron Roberts, his organ teacher from 1941 to 1950. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree in organ from the University of Nebraska in 1950 and went to Stanford University in California for his Master of Arts degree in music history. While at Stanford he also played the carillon in the University's Hoover Tower.

In 1948, Barnes studied carillon with the late Robert Donnell at the Canadian houses of Parliament. That same year he became a member of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America and subsequently served that organization in various capacities as Vice-President, President, and editor of music publications and the Guild's Bulletin. He also served on the Committee for Professional Concerns of the World Carillon Federation.

For many years Barnes advocated and was a major force in establishing an American approach to carillon performance, composing, and arranging. His numerous compositions and arrangements for the instrument have become a staple of the modern carillon repertory, not only in North America, but also overseas, and many of today's outstanding carillonists began their association with the carillon as his students.