Hopeman Carillon Summer Concert: Julie Zhu — August 3

Julie Zhu takes the tower for the third concert of the 2026 series. A composer and assistant professor at the University of Michigan, she leans into spectral minimalism and jazz standards, and plays a pair of her own compositions written specifically for the high bells.

The Hopeman Memorial Carillon is fifty bells weighing more than three tons, played live from a cabin roughly 186 feet up inside the Rush Rhees tower. Nothing about it is automated. Everything you hear on the quad below travels from one person's hands and feet through bronze. Bring a blanket, bring a picnic, and let the whole campus turn into a concert hall with no walls.

Date: August 3, 2026 Time: 6:30 PM Location: Eastman Quadrangle, in front of Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester River Campus Cost: Free — no tickets, no reservations Parking: Free in the library lot at 755 Library Road after 4:00 PM

Just show up. Spread out on the lawn any time before 6:30 and settle in. Full programs for the 2026 series are published by the University of Rochester's Memorial Art Gallery carillon program.