This free concert is coming to Belmont on the Fourth of July
A unique duo will perform a free concert on Independence Day.
Mary McFarland, an internationally ranked carillonneur, will perform with her great-granddaughter, Kailey Lawing.
The two have performed together for years with the July performance slated to be their last.
A carillon is a musical instrument composed of at least 23 carillon bells tuned to produce harmony when they are sounded together.
Rooted in music
McFarland is the beloved carillonneur at First Presbyterian Church of Belmont, a role she has filled for years, and she also one she has served several other churches over the years, including the First Presbyterian Church in Gastonia.
McFarland is certified in the Carillonneur Guild of North America and nationally renowned.
She earned her B.A. in music at Madison College, now James Madison University, and her master's degree in voice performance at East Carolina University.
Throughout her husband’s military career, she was a soprano soloist and choral director in many locations in the U.S. and Guam. Her first exposure to the carillon was in 1984 when the William James Pharr Carillon was installed at the First Presbyterian Church in Belmont. She passed her exam to become a carillonneur member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1993.
Since then, she has played recitals at the annual Guild Congresses, and locations in eastern and mid-western States, conducted workshops and taught privately. Currently, Mary is interim music director at First Presbyterian Church.
Following in melodic footsteps
Lawing has performed often and throughout the land with her great-grandmother, most recently at the Luray Singing Tower carillon located at Luray Caverns, Virginia.
She learned the carillon from her great-grandmother while she was a student at South Point High School and is now a graduating senior of East Carolina University with a major in sociology and a minor in flute.
In June of 2019, she studied chamber music and Chinese language and culture in Taiwan, where she played in the University of Taipei’s flute choir and took private lessons with Anders Norell, principal flautist of the Taiwan Philharmonic.
Want to go?
The concert will be at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4, at Belmont Presbyterian Church, 102 S. Central Ave. It will be held on the church lawn under the shade of an heirloom oak tree, rain or shine. Attendees are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blanket.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: This free concert is coming to Belmont on the Fourth of July
