Guest Carillon Recital: Ekaterina Porizko

Special guest Ekaterina Porizko from Germany will present a recital on the Storke Tower Carillon.

This is a live, in-person event. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, grab some snacks, and enjoy the recital from the lawn outside the tower!

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ekaterina Porizko is a conductor, organist, pianist, carillonist, and musicologist. She currently serves as State Church Music Director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. She also teaches Church Studies at the University of Protestant Church Music in Bayreuth and Carillon and Glockenspiel at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart. There, she established Germany’s first university-level carillon program, creating an academic framework for the study of both traditional carillon and Glockenspiel.

A central focus of her work is bringing culture into public spaces and fostering tolerance and international understanding through cross-cultural projects. In 2022, together with Ekaterina Belowa, she founded the nonprofit organization EP Klassik aber frisch to support and promote young musicians.

Since 2010, Porizko’s international artistic activities have taken her to Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, France, Italy, and the United States, where she has performed as an organist, carillonist, pianist, harpsichordist, and conductor.

In 2017, she was appointed Cantor of the Protestant Parish in Meerbusch. In 2022, she became Advisor for Church Music of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, before moving to Bavaria in 2026 to take up her current position as State Church Music Director.

ABOUT THE STORKE TOWER CARILLON
UC Santa Barbara's Storke Tower and its carillon were a gift from Thomas Storke, former publisher of the Santa Barbara News-Press. The instrument consists of 61 bells cast by Petit & Fritsen of the Netherlands, with the bells weighing from 18 pounds to 2.5 tons, and spanning five octaves. The UCSB carillon is a much larger modern copy of historical instruments that were invented approximately 500 years ago in the Low Countries of Europe. Tower bells had previously been used for signaling time and for additional signals such as "Close the City Gates", "Go to church", and "An enemy is coming." Eventually, the number of bells was increased and were hooked up to a keyboard to facilitate the performance of music. A melody was often played to attract the attention of the townspeople before the hour bell tolled the time throughout the day. A carillon is played with the fists and feet, and the action is completely mechanical. To vary the dynamics of the music, the performer must strike the key harder or use a lighter touch, much like a piano. The UC Santa Barbara carillon celebrated its 50th birthday in 2019.