For Samford University’s blind carillonneur Stephen Knight, the ascension from the library’s fourth-floor elevator to the iconic bell tower flows with a memorized cadence: Seventy-one steps leading up to two narrow spiral staircases.

It’s a path comfortable and familiar for him, having served as the school’s resident carillonneur since 1974. Now that the internationally trained musician is retiring—capping a 50-year career of majestic performances chimed out across campus—Knight reflects upon the improvisation skills necessary to bring to life the carillon’s 60 bronzed bells.

“I'm very grateful to the Lord in heaven for letting me have that joyous ability,” he said.

Knight, now 80, recalls growing up in Birmingham and embracing piano lessons at age 7, studying under a teacher at the local conservatory. He became a prized pupil and was selected to appear on local television programs. He pursued that passion for music through high school at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass., also learning to play the organ. That fusion proved beneficial when Knight became tantalized by the unique sound of the carillon and desired to learn its mechanics.

“The piano taught me how to play with expression, but the organ helped me coordinate the manual keyboards that you play using hands with the pedal keyboards that you play with the feet on the carillon,” he said. “So I had that background going for me, and it paid off, because the carillon would have been a lot more difficult without both my piano and organ instruction.”

“I'm very grateful to the Lord in heaven for letting me have that joyous ability.” — Stephen Knight

After earning undergraduate degrees in piano and music at the University of Alabama, Knight heard about the installation of the carillon at Samford and came to study. He gave his first public recital in April 1969, when the carillon—then featuring 49 bells—was situated atop Reid Chapel, across the quad from its current location.

What followed was a four-year whirlwind: Earning a Master of Music from the University of Michigan, studying in Paris, and then being accepted at the Royal Carillon School in Belgium, where lessons required climbing 400 steps in a cathedral tower.

“I had plenty of exercise,” he said.

Through this phase he increasingly churned out compositions, and by the time Knight returned to Birmingham and became Samford’s carillonneur, he would perform his own music at special events. Such as 1979, when the Samford carillon was relocated to the Davis Library tower with 11 bells added.

Across decades, students heard Knight’s weekly interpretations of classical pieces, Christmas carols, hymns and armed forces marches.

"Stephen Knight's musical brilliance provided the soundtrack for Samford's campus across the last 50 years," said Michael Morgan, chief of staff and assistant to the university president. "To generations of students, faculty and staff, those gorgeous performances represent evergreen memories of the Samford experience."

Two images from 1979, when the Samford carillon was relocated from Reid Chapel to the Davis Library tower with 11 bells added.