Posts Tagged: Woodstock Chimes

My Swan Song Chime

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One of my last product designs before retiring was the Singin’ in the Rain Chime. Diane and I enjoy watching older movies and the Gene Kelly / Debbie Reynolds movie, Singin’ in the Rain, is a favorite. That song is quite familiar to people of my generation and hopefully this chime will inspire other generations to… Read more »

What Is Music?

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One of two large sets of Woodstock Chimes suspended over the audience in Disney Hall for the Takemitsu Concerto with NEXUS and the Los Angeles Philharmonic

On the first day of music history class at the Oberlin Conservatory in 1967, our professor asked, “What is music?”. It was like a Zen kōan, and everybody contemplated it for the rest of the semester. We continued to learn music of the classical European repertoire, but I don’t remember if there was an answer to… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: PART 21: 2002

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WHEN KRONOS MET NEXUS   The Globe & Mail: “Thirty years ago, 2 ensembles were born – one American, one Canadian – as avant-garde music moved its locus of operation from Europe to North American. The Kronos Quartet from San Francisco soon became one of the leading new-music ensembles in the world…At almost exactly the same… Read more »

NEXUS at 50: Part 12: 1989-1990

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#NEXUSat50   1988-1989    EVERYBODY’S WRITING!   In the midst of the heavy 1988 travel schedule we somehow found time to compose!  Toronto concerts and a Stamford CT concert in 1988 saw premieres of new works, as did Merkin Concert Hall in New York City in 1989: “Lali-Pops” by Wyre (not related to the movie that was just… Read more »

Garry Kvistad in the Percussion Hall of Fame

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We are delighted to announce that NEXUS member Garry Kvistad will be inducted into the Percussion Hall of Fame this autumn, along with Ndugu Chancler and Neil Peart. Garry joined Nexus Percussion in the Fall of 2002 and is one of 18 musicians to win a Grammy award for the 1998 recording of Steve Reich’s… Read more »

Happy Old Year, Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year to you all! The last few months of 2019 treated us very well – and featured spectacular collaborations, too.   In Eastman’s Kilbourn Hall – where this whole “NEXUS thing” began in 1971 – we were part of this year’s Rochester Fringe Festival.

From Trampolines to Timpani

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Q: What’s the difference between trampolines and timpani?A: You don’t have to take your shoes off when you jump on timpani. Trampolines and timpani have a few things in common. They both have membranes, are fun to play on, and you can impress people of the opposite sex if you are good at either one…. Read more »

Entering the Fifth Decade

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The beautiful art glass award – Inscription: Congratulations on 40 Years of Industry Leadership, Passion and Commitment to Excellence

John Keiser presenting the award to Garry Woodstock Chimes was recently honored for its 40 years of success in the gift industry by the leading sales organization OneCoast. During their annual sales meeting in Atlanta, John Keiser, CEO of OneCoast, presented a beautiful glass sculpture / trophy to us. For our acceptance speech, we showed… Read more »

Confession of a Percussionist

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NEXUS Playing Cage’s Dance Music for Elfrid Credit: Donald Dietz, courtesy of The John Cage Trust Long ago I knew that music would be my future. I knew then that percussion specifically would be my passion. This all started in the fourth grade when I joined the school band. Through the years I’ve come to… Read more »

Concerts, Sessions and Grandchildren

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It’s been a busy month in Lake Wobegon – I mean Woodstock. Our group NEXUS performed several times and recorded three pieces of Steve Reich’s music with the members of So Percussion and other amazing musicians. One of the sessions was a four-camera video recording at Princeton University of Reich’s Drumming, which is over an… Read more »

POPS

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That’s what our 2-year-old grandson, Lucca, calls me. Lucca now has a baby sister, our second grandchild, Siena, who just came into the world. When our daughters were born back in the 1980s, everyone said, “Enjoy it while you can because they grow up so fast.” It is so true and I understand this fully… Read more »

Peanut Butterfly Interlochen Boom

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Those were the words given to us by our “high school” orchestra conductor, Thor Johnson, when we were playing a difficult new work by a Japanese composer in the mid-1960s. If you say each word on four beats, fitting the syllables equally in each beat, it helps create a rhythm of 2 + 3 +… Read more »

A Very Special Christmas Concert

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Soloists in Haydn's Toy Symphony (Garry is the “Little” Drummer Boy) with Maestra Kathleen Beckmann - Photo by Guy Peifer

My day job is making Woodstock Chimes but at night I come out to play. I recently had the privilege once again to play timpani with the Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra and the local Mendelssohn Club Men’s Chorus. We were joined by student guest performers from the Anderson Center for Autism. The Anderson Center students… Read more »

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