Chapel Music

Chapel Organs

There are three organs built by Andover Organ Company in the Chapel building. The Cochran Chapel organ was installed and dedicated in 1981, replacing a 1927 Casavant organ that had been moved to the chapel in 1932 from George Washington Hall. The Andover organ has two manuals, 27 stops and 35 ranks and is mechanical, or tracker, action. The Kemper Chapel organ was installed and dedicated in 1979 and has two manuals and nine stops, also with mechanical action. On the main floor of Cochran Chapel is a small one-manual chamber organ with three stops. It is used with orchestra in large choral performances, in small chamber groups or for services in the front of Cochran Chapel.

Cochran Chapel Organ Specifications

Kemper Chapel Organ Specifications

Chamber Organ Specifications

The Memorial Bell Tower

Approaching the Phillips Academy campus, the first image most people notice is the Memorial Bell Tower, looming in the distance. Originally known as the Fuller Tower (after alumnus Samuel Fuller, Class of 1891, who donated $75,000 for its construction), the bell tower stands as a memorial to the eighty five Andover men who died in military service to the United States during World War I.

Architect Guy Lowell designed the bell tower in 1919, based on the steeple of Boston’s Old South Meeting House. The original idea had been to place it on the west side of Main Street, where the main Academy buildings were located. When Trustees decided (in 1921) to design the tower for the east side of campus, where Andover Theological Seminary once stood, the tower location was moved to its present spot. This is notable as the site of the Old Training Field where the young men of Andover prepared for some of the nation’s early battles, including the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.

Built in 1923 of steel encased in brick, water easily penetrated the porous brick, and the steel began to rust and crack. In spite of its physical beauty, the engineering flaws of the original tower forced a full restoration in 2005. As a result, a 5.15 million dollar campaign was launched to fund the reconstruction and restoration.

Part of this effort turned its attention to the tower’s beloved carillon. Originally the tower was to hold a set of bells to chime the hours, not a carillon. But during construction, school officials traveled to Gloucester, England and were so taken with their carillon the decision was made to add one to Andover’s tower as well. Andover’s 37-bell carillon, completed in 1926 and one of the largest in the country, was produced by John Taylor Bellfoundry of Loughborough, England.

The restoration portion of the project involved the cleaning and tuning of the English carillon bells, the addition of another series of bells from the Netherlands, and the installation of an electronic carillon system with remote keyboard. Today’s carillon combines nineteen Taylor bells and thirty bells cast by the Royal Eijsbouts foundry in Asten, The Netherlands.

At noon on May 3, 2006, the bell tower sang out to the campus after being silent for over a decade. In addition to the newly renovated and expanded carillon, the old clock mechanism and chimes had been replaced by an electronic system. From the time of its construction in 1923 until shortly after 1967, the original bell tower rang the familiar Westminster chimes on the quarter hours, at which time the mechanism fell into disrepair. In spite of its questionable reliability, the mechanism for the carillon remained functional and was played regularly until its final concert on August 11, 1992.

In the months preceding the dedication of the refurbished carillon and bell tower, a committee of faculty and staff decided the Parsifal chime would act as the tower’s signature ring. This decision was made to recognize the “new” tower for our new century, and because the Parsifal chime outlines the opening melody of the Andover Hymn, composed by former music chair and Andover carillonneur, Carl F. Pfatteicher.

Bell Tower References

The Bell Tower was rebuilt in 2005 and rededicated in the summer of 2006. For more information on the tower's history and the restoration process, see the links below.

• Bell Tower Rededication Program Guide and Historical Overview (PDF)

• An Overview of the Restoration Project

• Memorial Bell Tower Rededicated