Drum Boogie Festival

08/07/2020

Look who’s on the cover of the August issue of Percussive Notes! Please join us in congratulating the founder and owner of Woodstock Chimes, Garry Kvistad, for his induction into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame 2020. This prestigious organization has a membership of 5,000 international professional musicians, educators and manufacturers. As many of you know, Garry is a GRAMMY Award winner and has been the musical force behind the development and exquisite tuning of Woodstock Chimes since 1979. Read the inspiring article profiling Garry and his career in the current issue here:https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0366/4239/0147/files/Garry-Kvistad-PAS-HOF-July-2020.pdf

Garry is the distinguished looking gent holding two mallets in the middle of the cover. He joins musical luminaries such as Ringo Starr, Jack DeJohnette, Mickey Hart, Evelyn Glennie, Nexus Percussion, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich and Tito Puente in the PAS Hall of Fame, as well as his co-inductees this year, Neil Peart and Ndugu Chancler. Congratulations, Garry! 👏

07/28/2020

Check out this podcast featuring Garry Kvistad, Executive Director of the Drum Boogie Festival, his recorded music and his incredible collection of antique instruments. If you love percussion, you'll love this!

Last fummer we visited Garry Kvistad at the Woodstock Chimes headquarters in the Hudson Valley. Listen to selections from his 1990 cassette tape and hear sounds from his incredible collection of musical instruments.

07/28/2020

Here's a nice treat from Nexus Percussion, including our own Garry Kvistad! This is a John Cage piece that was discovered in the early 2000s, over 60 years after it was written. It's the first movement of “Dance Music for Elfride Ide” from the NEXUS CD "The City Wears a Slouch Hat." https://youtu.be/m-0sqPUC8NY

Click here for more information and to purchase the CD: https://www.nexuspercussion.com/2016/07/our-new-john-cage-album-is-here/

Dance Music for Elfrid Ide, Mvt 1, performed by NEXUS - Bob Becker, Bill Cahn, Russell Hartenberger, and Garry Kvistad. Images are added over the music.

06/18/2020

Mark your calendars (June 20th, 4:30 a.m. EDT) for this live streamed Summer Solstice Celebration with the one and only Paul Winter. He'll be accompanied by large chime tubes tuned by our own Garry Kvistad and an assortment of Woodstock Chimes. Paul's Summer and Winter Solstice Celebrations are usually held at Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC but will be held in his cathedral-like barn this time around. Not to be missed! ☀️

05/29/2020

Voting ends Sunday the 31st! We made it to the top 5 -- now help Woodstock Chimes and Drum Boogie Festival get to #1 in the 2020 Chronogrammies.😊 You'll find Woodstock Chimes in the Fashion/Design - Housewares/Furnishings category, and Drum Boogie Festival in the Arts & Entertainment - Music Festival category. Please vote this weekend and send us to the top! Click here to vote: https://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/Chronogrammies/Page #/
🙏
Chronogram

05/20/2020

Thank you, Pearl/Adams Concert Percussion!

Pearl/Adams Artist Garry Kvistad joins Ndugu Chancler and Neil Peart in the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame Class of 2020. 👏
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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 Music for 18 Musicians.

Garry attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts where he studied with Jack McKenzie and Michael Ranta. He earned his BM from the Oberlin Conservatory where he studied with Cloyd Duff and Richard Weiner, and his MM from Northern Illinois University, where he studied music, art and physics in the pursuit of musical instrument building. In 1993 Northern Illinois University honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award.

In the 1970s, Garry worked with composer/conductor Lucas Foss as a Creative Associate in Buffalo, New York, after which he joined the faculties of Northern Illinois University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music - CCM. During that time he co-founded the Blackearth Percussion Group which recorded and toured in the US, Canada, and Europe.

He has been featured in performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic - התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, as well as many others in North America and Europe. Garry is the founder and CEO of Woodstock Percussion, Inc., makers of Woodstock Chimes and musical instruments for children.

05/19/2020

We’re proud to announce that our own Garry Kvistad is being inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame this year along with Ndugu Chancler and Neil Peart! Garry is not only the founder and owner of Woodstock Chimes and Executive Director of the Drum Boogie Festival – he is a Grammy Award-winning musician and a member of the world-renowned percussion ensemble Nexus Percussion. Garry will be in good company; other members include Ringo Starr, Jack DeJohnette, Mickey Hart, Evelyn Glennie, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich and Tito Puente. Please join us in congratulating Garry for this great honor! Read more here: https://www.pas.org/About/pas-news/2020/05/18/hall-of-fame-class-of-2020

05/15/2020

Thanks to you, we made it to the top 5 in The Chronogrammies! 👍You can take us to #1 by voting for Woodstock Chimes in the Fashion/Design - Housewares/Furnishings category and Drum Boogie Festival in the Arts & Entertainment/Music Festival category.
Vote here by 5/31/20: www.chronogram.com/chronogrammies
Many thanks! 🙏

Chronogram

02/24/2020

Just a reminder...voting ends February 29th! Please cast your vote for the Drum Boogie Festival and Woodstock Chimes if you haven't already and help get us through to the next round in the Chronogrammies.Go to https://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/Chronogrammies/Page # and follow the instructions below. Thank you! 😊

We need your vote! You can help the Drum Boogie Festival and Woodstock Chimes get nominated for Chronogram's first annual Chronogrammies. Deadline for voting is February 29th. Here's how-

1. Click here: http://bit.ly/2sPRn3J
2. Click "Fashion/Design" category.
3. Click "Housewares & Furnishings."
4. Scroll down to "Woodstock Chimes" and click "Nominate."
5. Scroll back up and click on the "Arts & Entertainment" category.
6. Click on "Music Festival."
7. Scroll down to "Drum Boogie Festival" and click "Nominate."
8. That's it!

THANK YOU from the staff at Woodstock Chimes and Drum Boogie Festival!

VOTE here: http://bit.ly/2sPRn3J

02/21/2020

Heads up, percussionists and music lovers -- Nexus Percussion, including our own Garry Kvistad, is having a workshop and performance March 6, 2020, at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Get details and tickets here: http://bit.ly/2PdrWAW
McMaster University Alumni Association

02/20/2020

Excellent review of new recording by Russell Hartenberger and Nexus Percussion: http://bit.ly/3bPw9oh

Purchase the CD here: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/nexus113