Wichita ? Dean Roush plays Christmas music with nobody watching and thousands listening.

“It’s a public performance, but I’m all by myself,” said Roush, an associate music professor at Wichita State University. “I’m kind of shy anyway, so it’s kind of nice just to be alone like this.”

Roush plays the carillon — sort of like a piano with bells — located in the Wichita-Sedgwick County Museum’s clock tower.

The keyboard is in a cramped, windowless space filled with dusty magazines from the 1940s and history books. But outside the limestone building at 204 S. Main, the air echoes with music from the carillon at Roush’s command.

“O Holy Night.” “Jingle Bells.” “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

He has been doing this for about 14 years. The instrument is played five times a year.

The museum’s carillon is electronic, and the bell sounds are digitally created. But as Roush notes, they sound real. Speakers in the tower project the music around town.

There is no quick, flashy performance, as with a piano. Simplicity is key. It’s patient playing.

“Make sure you go slow so it doesn’t get muddled,” Roush said. “If you’re outside and it’s bouncing off those buildings, it’s likely to become too complex.”

Sometimes the audience, curious about the mystery performer, creeps up the stairs. Employee Barbara Hammond, working at the front desk Friday, said they were often surprised the space was so bare.

That was fine with Eloise Brown, who climbed the stairs to watch for a few moments.

“I don’t live downtown, so I really miss having it,” she said. “I just think every city needs that touch of music. Something uncommon that we don’t always get to hear.”

Friends Judy Young and Jeanne Kitchen came downtown to listen, sitting side by side at the base of the stairs.

“We came out especially to hear the music,” Young said. “So we kept wandering over here as the music got louder.”

The carillon ties Roush back to his childhood, in a way. He was raised near a college with a carillon, so he grew up with the sound.

“It’s part of my Christmas,” he said.