At the heart of UW–Madison’s campus sits an unlikely musical marvel — the Carillon Tower and its impressive 56-bell carillon. This isn’t your ordinary set of chimes or organ pipes. No, these gentle tones have been ringing out across campus from the skilled hands (and feet!) of the university’s carillonneur, Lyle Anderson ’68, since the mid-1980s. As an organ student, Anderson was fascinated by his teacher’s weekly carillon performances and eventually became a carillon virtuoso himself. He officially retired in 2016, but he’s still occasionally at the helm of these heavenly bells. The idea for campus chimes was started by members of the Class of 1917, who donated funds intended for the installation of bells in Bascom Hall’s replacement dome. Succeeding classes, through 1926, also donated to the project. When the plan for Bascom’s new dome was abandoned, the donated funds instead went toward constructing the grand Carillon Tower. Many of the bells — cast in England and the Netherlands, with some weighing as much as 3.5 tons — include written dedications to the donors who made them possible. Up the tower’s winding staircase, you’ll find Anderson at the unusual keyboard — a wooden panel of rounded batons that allow him to ring each bell by hand and foot. His repertoire includes everything from classical pieces to “On, Wisconsin” to the Game of Thrones theme song.