Close your eyes and absorb the sounds around you at Yale. YourYale spent time on Central Campus capturing the sights — and sounds — of five of Yale’s most iconic and familiar refrains of university life.
Newberry Memorial Organ, Woolsey Hall
The Newberry Memorial Organ is as powerful and versatile as it is physically impressive, looming majestically behind the Woolsey Hall stage. With its 12,641 pipes, 142 stops, and 30,000 pneumatic valves, its booming sound can make the hall’s floor vibrate during a practice or performance. This massive instrument, cared for by a dedicated team of curators, was built in 1903, renovated in 1915, and expanded in 1928. All the sounds the organ makes are produced by air pressure supplied by two 20-horsepower turbines; there are no electronically or digitally enhanced sounds. To experience the delicate and thunderous music this organ produces, consider attending one of the many free performances featuring student recitals, visiting guest organists, the Yale Camerata, or the Yale Schola Cantorum Choir.
Getting there: Woolsey Hall, 500 College Street
Recommend: Yale Institute of Sacred Music (ISM) offers concerts throughout the year. Can’t make it? View them on ISM’s YouTube channel.
Lunchtime chamber music; Morse Recital Hall
The vibrant and dynamic energy of the free lunchtime chamber music concerts performed by Yale School of Music students will brighten the spirit and inspire the soul. Audience members experience a variety of musical performances, from a violin sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven, Concertino for flute, viola, and double bass by Erwin Schulhoff, to a piano trio performing a piece by Johannes Brahms. Spend an hour enveloped by the warm, rich sounds of the viola and the light and airy tones of the flute while enjoying the delicate to resonant piano accompaniment. Stop by for a rousing musical sampler — different each time. The students will appreciate the support.
Getting there: Morse Recital Hall, 470 College Street
Need to know: Ten to twelve performances are featured throughout the academic year
Recommend: If you can’t make it there in person, watch the performance online.
Yale Memorial Carillon, Harkness Tower
Every day during the school year, at lunchtime and in the early evening, the campus is serenaded by the resonant and melodic chimes and clangs of the Yale Memorial Carillon. The Carillon’s 54 bronze bells, ranging in size from 23 pounds to seven tons, are housed inside the top of Harkness Tower and rung by members of the Yale University Guild of Carillonneurs. Daily performances can feature a variety of musical arrangements, from classical to contemporary. The deep, rich notes combined with the more delicate tones are captivating, echoing through central campus and buoyantly bouncing off surrounding buildings. During a lunch break, grab a colleague and trek on over; it’s worth a listen.
Getting there: Harkness Tower, 74 High Street
Performance times: Daily during the academic year at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Recommend: You can request a song.
Yale Bulldogs Basketball game; John J. Lee Amphitheater, Payne Whitney Gymnasium
From the loud squeaks of players’ sneakers, the roar of the crowd, or the piercing tweet of a referee’s whistle echoing inside the John J. Lee Amphitheater, a Yale basketball game offers a plethora of sounds and sights. With a 2,800-seat capacity and located inside Payne Whitney Gymnasium, the amphitheater is the home of Yale men’s and women’s basketball. Spectators have a great view of the game and the frenetic moves of the players and the on-court action. However, the sounds of the bouncing ball, shouts from the sidelines, and loud buzzer add even more excitement to the thrilling atmosphere. It’s a fun way to spend an afternoon. Go Bulldogs!
Getting there: John J. Lee Amphitheater, Payne Whitney Gymnasium, 70 Tower Pkwy
Game times: Yale Men’s Basketball schedule, Yale Women’s Basketball schedule
Central Power Plant
While its conch-shell-like swooshing tune is not as majestic as the Carillon nor as exciting as a basketball game, the Central Power Plant (CPP) has been keeping campus buildings warm, cool, and bright since 1918. The CPP generates and distributes steam for heating, chilled water for air conditioning, and electric power to many central campus and science buildings. Yale community members walking by the plant will notice its reddish, tower-like smokestacks and hear its unmistakable hum and other sounds. In fact, thermal energy for most buildings in the Central and Science areas of the campus is produced in the CPP and provided to buildings through underground distribution systems. It is, without a doubt, a distinctive campus sound.
Getting there: 120 Tower Parkway
Fun fact: The CPP Operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
