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By Melissa Newcomb

When Andrew Arena ’28 toured campus as a high schooler, he listened in awe to the sounds of Bach being played on the Cornell Chimes. Then, in spring 2025, he climbed up McGraw Tower to take the first step toward making that music himself: an info session where nearly two dozen Cornellians learned about the audition process to become a chimesmaster.

Over the course of the next 10 weeks, Arena would make the trek up the tower stairs almost daily—often so excited, he’d run rather than walk.

Then, in late April, he and three others got the news they’d dreamed of: they’d been chosen to become chimesmasters.

“It’s a lot of work, focus, and nerves—but I really love the instrument and the community,” says Arena, a computer science major in Arts & Sciences who’d previously played the piano and violin. “Getting to be part of something with this much history is pretty crazy. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

Getting to be part of something with this much history is pretty crazy. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.

New chimesmaster Andrew Arena ’28

In auditioning to become a chimesmaster, Arena took part in a Big Red tradition that stretches back nearly 125 years.

It all started in 1902, when archaeology professor Eugene Andrews dropped by President Jacob Gould Schurman’s office to enthuse that the Chimes were being played “beautifully”—a situation that was, apparently, distressingly uncommon.

Why? In the decades since the instrument had debuted on campus in 1868—first on a temporary playing stand, then atop the Arts Quad's McGraw Hall, and finally in the tower upon its completion in 1891—the chimesmasters hadn’t been appointed on the basis of musicianship. Rather, the positions were passed down from friend to friend.

That led to regular complaints about the uneven quality of the tunes emanating from the tower—and as Andrews later recalled in the book Bells of Cornell, Schurman was getting tired of it.

“As a personal favor to me,” the president told him, “I ask you to take charge from now on, and try to evolve some system for selecting players who will give us music worthy of this splendid chime.”

The audition process that Andrews put in place—including devising a practice playing stand from old boxes and a toy instrument—set the foundation for a system that, though it has evolved over the years, more or less endures today.

As a personal favor to me, I ask you to take charge from now on, and try to evolve some system for selecting players who will give us music worthy of this splendid chime.

President Jacob Gould Schurman to Prof. Eugene Andrews

The quest to become a chimesmaster is open to all members of the University community—staff and faculty included—who have at least two years left on campus, and have not competed twice previously.

To try out, hopefuls—known as “compets”—must be able to read sheet music (or learn to do so), navigate the nine flights of stairs, and be physically capable of pushing the levers and pedals that control the tower’s 21 bells.

“There’s no other instrument that prepares you to stand on one foot, shimmy around, and make music on bells,” observes Chimes advisor Jennifer Courtley Lory-Moran ’96, MAT ’97, who became a chimesmaster her freshman spring and has been the program’s advisor since 2000. “So there’s this leveling of the playing field, because nobody has done it before.”

There’s no other instrument that prepares you to stand on one foot, shimmy around, and make music on bells.

Jennifer Courtley Lory-Moran ’96, MAT ’97

Compets can rehearse on the practice stand—a more sophisticated version of one Andrews created in the early 1900s, it allows them to hear their playing, but the sounds aren’t shared with the rest of campus—with many opting to practice daily.

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Over the first four weeks, compets prepare for the “silent audition,” in which they perform the “Alma Mater,” the “Evening Song,” and the “Jenny McGraw Rag” by hovering over the levers at the correct tempo (but not actually striking them).

“Even though it’s silent, it’s surprisingly not hard for us to determine how they’re doing—because we’ve played it so much,” notes chimesmaster Gianna Weidman ’25, who oversaw the 2025 audition process.

For the half-dozen or so hopefuls who typically pass the silent audition, the second phase is the concert-playing period. Chimesmasters coach the compets as they learn the material for one morning and one evening performance each week.

Compets are responsible for putting together a program from the database of more than 3,000 pieces; each concert comprises four to six songs and, per Chimes guidelines, a selection can’t be repeated within a two-week period.

Over the first four weeks, compets prepare for the “silent audition,” in which they perform by hovering over the levers at the correct tempo (but not actually striking them).

“They want to slowly add songs of greater difficulty to their repertoire,” says Weidman, who majored in environmental engineering. “They can still play easy songs—but it will be less impressive, and what they play helps us decide whether they should be a chimesmaster.”

The final evaluation comes over the course of the last two weeks—when Lory-Moran, the student running that year’s audition process, and as many other chimesmasters as possible meet beneath the tower to listen to every compet concert at 7:45 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily.

Says Lory-Moran: “What people can accomplish in just 10 weeks is phenomenal.”

After deliberating for a couple of days, they announce the results.

On a Sunday night in late April 2025, ILR student Serena Wu ’28 nervously awaited the call. Around 10 p.m., she picked up the phone; it was Weidman.

They want to slowly add songs of greater difficulty to their repertoire. They can still play easy songs—but it will be less impressive, and what they play helps us decide whether they should be a chimesmaster.

Gianna Weidman ’25, who oversaw the 2025 audition process

“I thought if I did make it, it would just be some basic pleasantries—but all of a sudden, I heard everyone cheering for me,” recalls Wu, who’d previously played piano and studied music theory. “All the chimesmasters were very supportive. I was so happy.”

And for Wu, Arena, and the two others chosen in 2025—Wenlong Fang ’27 and Alex Gardocki ’27—their time as chimesmasters won’t end with Commencement.

Once a compet successfully completes the audition process, they’re considered a chimesmaster for life—welcome to perform during trips back to the Hill, even decades after graduation.

Top: New chimesmaster Andrew Arena ’28 (center) performs a duet during the welcome concert for 2025's successful "compets." (Sreang Hok / Cornell University)

Published June 5, 2025

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