As part of the 2023 UCSB Summer Carillon Recital Series, Julia Ong (UCSB Student Carillonist) and Wesley Arai (UCSB University Carillonist) will present a recital from the carillon in UCSB’s Storke Tower on Sunday, August 27th at 2:00 pm. Selections will include solo works and duets, covering a wide range of original works for carillon and arrangements of well-known classical and popular tunes. Listeners are encouraged to bring a blanket or lawn chair to sit on the grass outside the tower during the recital.

To view the event program visit this link: https://music.ucsb.edu/ucsb-carillon-recital-program

Julia Ong is a rising fourth-year chemistry major in the College of Creative Studies and she is from the San Francisco Bay Area. Her main instrument is piano, which she has been playing for more than ten years and performed for recitals and charity concerts. Julia is studying carillon because she wants to explore instruments besides piano to continue her music studies. She is also interested in the history and repertoire of the carillon because it is a unique combination of bells and keyboard. Other musical instruments Julia plays include the recorder and the ukulele. She also enjoys tap dancing, reading fantasy fiction, and playing board games. Julia has studied the carillon for two years.

Wesley Arai was appointed Lecturer and University Carillonist at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2018. He plays the 61-bell Storke Tower carillon regularly and teaches carillon to UCSB students. Arai studied carillon with Jeff Davis at the University of California, Berkeley and passed the Carillonneur examination of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America. An active recitalist, Arai has performed extensively across the United States and abroad. He completed a recital tour of Europe in Summer 2022, performing in England, Ireland, France, and Spain, including the 20th Perpignan International Carillon Festival and the 29th Barcelona International Carillon Festival. Arai is also an annual recitalist at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, Washington and is a frequent recitalist at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.