Meet Garry Kvistad, founder of Woodstock Chimes and a professional musician. Garry Kvistad earned a Bachelor of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a Masters of Music from Northern Illinois University, where he studied music, art and physics in the pursuit of building musical instruments. In 2020 Garry was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame. He joins celebrates such as Ringo Starr, Jack DeJohnette, Mickey Hart, Buddy Rich, and Gene Krupa to name a few.
JUNE 2021 Exciting news for music fans and Woodstock Chimes fans alike! A new Nexus Percussion – So Percussion album has been released and is available here: https://bit.ly/3q36HmN
Featuring our own Garry Kvistad, founder, and Stacey Bowers, president, of Woodstock Chimes, it celebrates the music of Steve Reich with all-new recordings of some of his seminal works, including Garry’s arrangement of “Mallet Phase,” (a version of “Piano Phase”) on instruments designed by Garry and tuned to just intonation. Two tracks were recorded in Garry’s studio here at Woodstock Chimes headquarters.
Performers are: Russell Hartenberger, Bob Becker, Bill Cahn, Garry Kvistad, Eric Cha-Beach, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting, Stacey Bowers, Martha Cluver, David Degge, Luz Carimé Santa-Coloma, Beth Meyers, John Stapleton, Yumi Tamashiro, Daisy Press, Midori Koga and Gregory Oh.
Treat yourself to some amazing music today, available as a digital album and limited edition CD!
NEXUS 50th Birthday Bash with special guest Paul Winter
Saturday, July 2nd, 2022 at 6pm
Maverick Concert Hall
120 Maverick Road
Woodstock, NY 12498
Performing:
NEXUS Percussion (Garry Kvistad, Bob Becker, Bill Cahn, Russell Hartenberger)
Paul Winter, soprano saxophone
Henrique Eisenmann, piano
NEXUS are internationally revered, not just for their virtuosity both as individual and group performers and their innovation and creativity, but for their ability to create extraordinary music out of just about anything: Swiss cowbells, Chinese drums, Tibetan prayer bowls, Middle Eastern hand drums, and Southeast Asian water buffalo bells, to name just a few. They create a staggering array of sounds and tones out of the broadest array of percussion instruments imaginable. With a repertoire ranging from military music to the novelty ragtime of the 1920s, from the haunting rhythms of Africa to the groundbreaking compositions of John Cage and Steve Reich, NEXUS delivers a stunningly virtuosic spectacle of sound, rhythm, and movement.
Seven-time Grammy® winner Paul Winter has a body of work that chronicles his wide-ranging experiences in the musical traditions and natural environments of the Earth. The saxophonist, composer and bandleader founded Living Music as the recording context for his ensemble, the Paul Winter Consort, and his community of colleagues, which includes some of the world’s finest jazz, world, and classical musicians, along with notable voices from the great symphony of wildlife.
Henrique Eisenmann is a pianist and composer with Brazilian heritage in his blood and New York City in his heart.
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JULY 2020 During this time of a global pandemic, racial unrest, and economic uncertainty, there is a peaceful serenity from
the soothing sounds (the natural harmonic overtone series) of the “Healing
Chime,” made by Woodstock Percussion. The man behind those musical chimes is Garry Kvistad, not only a master tuner and instrument builder, but a longtime performing percussionist and champion of the arts. “I’ve known from a young age that good sounds are healing,” he explains,
“and I’ve made the study of music and sounds my life’s work.”
In addition to founding Woodstock Chimes, Kvistad—a self-described “old hippie” who has spent the past four decades in New York’s Hudson Valley—has been a member of three historic ensembles:
the Blackearth Percussion Group, Steve Reich and Musicians, and Nexus.
JUNE 23, 2020
In the summer of 2020 the folks from the West Coast Fog podcast visited Garry Kvistad at the Woodstock Chimes headquarters in the Hudson Valley. A great time was had by all! Listen to selections from Garry's 1990 cassette tape and hear sounds from his incredible collection of antique and current musical instruments.
Listen to the podcast.
Many of our customers ask which Woodstock Chime they should add to their collection. To help, Garry put together this list of chime combinations that have connections musically, culturally or historically. Check out “Sounds Good With” tab on individual product pages!
Check Out all Sonic Mixes!