Bell Plains
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Sunday, 3 May 2026
12:30 pm
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National Carillon
Queen Elizabeth II Island, Lake Burley Griffin
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In Association with
Bell Plains transforms the National Carillon into the beating heart of a rich musical landscape, bringing Australia’s largest instrument into conversation with guitar, saxophone, marimba, the Federation Handbells and evocative ambient soundscapes. This special anniversary program celebrates Canberra as place, spirit and community through music that is deeply rooted in the contours, histories and textures of the land.
Sally Whitwell’s Snaking maps the sinuous path of the Murrumbidgee River, its currents flowing beneath Lake Burley Griffin in shimmering waves of colour. Dulcie Holland’s impressionist jewel The Lake glows anew in a radiant transcription for carillon, marimba and alto saxophone, amplifying the work’s luminous climaxes with striking clarity. Peggy Polias’s Montage evokes the ‘rising hills encircling the town, lush and green,’ its melodic fragments drifting between instruments before dissolving in a peaceful, wave-like coda.
Chris Sainsbury brings both wit and heart: As wild ‘as all get out’ reimagines the folk tune Wild Colonial Boy with chant-like mystery and exuberant flair, while his new work Blue Plains for carillon and electric guitar receives its world premiere. Nat Bartsch’s Together pays tribute to Canberra’s public servants, and Ronan Apcar’s ingenious Bikeway, complete with sampled bicycle chains, pedals and bells, celebrates the city’s cycling culture.
The program also features Thomas Laue’s virtuosic Frolicking from Afar, honouring the enduring global connections between carillons in Australia, Belgium and beyond.
Led by acclaimed Senior Carillonist Dr Thomas Laue, Bell Plains is a major sonic event, a powerful, open-air resonance of Canberra’s identity, its landscape and its evolving musical future.
Artists
Thomas Laue, carillon
Dylan Slater, electric guitar
Program
Chris Sainsbury As wild ‘as all get out’
Chris Sainsbury Blue Plains
Eugene Ughetti Bell Curve fragment — Interlude
Dulcie Holland The Lake
Sally Whitwell Snaking
Eugene Ughetti Bell Curve fragment — Interlude 2
Nat Bartsch Together
Ronan Apcar Bikeway
Ian Blake Matins
Eugene Ughetti Bell Curve fragment — Interlude 3
Thomas Laue Frolicking from Afar
Peggy Polias Montage
Eugene Ughetti Bell Curve fragment — Postlude
Duration: 1 hour, no interval
ARTIST Learn more about the artist
Artist Thomas Laue
Dr Thomas Peter Laue is a music performer, conductor, educator, composer, and researcher. Born in Hong Kong with Australian citizenship, he holds positions as Lecturer in Music at the ANU School of Music, Senior Carillonist at the National Carillon, Canberra, and Director of the ANU Handbell Ensemble.
As a performer, Thomas began studying piano at age three and gave his début public performance at his primary school assembly in 1992. About 20 years later, after much singing and playing on various traditional instruments, he became a Canberra Carillonist in January 2013, following six months of study on the Australia’s heaviest concert under Lead Carillonist Lyn Fuller. Three months later, he was promoted to the position of Senior Carillonist following assessment by esteemed American carilloneur Karel Keldermans. He has since presented hundreds of concerts and commemorative recitals, with repertoire ranging from ‘classical’ transcriptions, through improvisatory jazz and pop arrangements, to technically and artistically demanding contemporary music written specifically for the instrument. His approach to performance on the carillon is indebted to his training on modern piano and fortepiano under the expert tutelage of Professor Geoffrey Lancaster and Emeritus Professor Larry Sitsky.