Woodstock Chimes

Woodstock Chimes design and sell the world-famous Woodstock Chimes. Garry Kvistad and his wife, Diane, started Woodstock Percussion, Inc. in 1979 and it continues to be a family-owned business located in New York’s Hudson Valley. Garry is also a professional musician.

In the early 1970s, Garry began what would become Woodstock Chimes in an Illinois landfill. Garry had enrolled in a course that taught how to make instruments. Lacking financial resources, he visited his local landfill, hoping to find scrap metal that he could use. At the time, scouring landfills for usable materials was not an uncommon practice, says Garry. I was looking for any type of metal with a quality sound to it. I spotted a pile of discarded lawn chairs.

Using tubes from the chairs, Garry made a xylophone out of metal instead of wood.

Soon afterwards, Garry made a set of chimes and the rest is history.

Garry and Diane continued making windchimes in the kitchen of their new home. After an appearance on NPR’s All Things Considered in early 1980 and on the Today Show in 1983 Garry was devoting all of his energy to making and selling his windchimes. In the late 1980s, Woodstock Chimes were being sold in all 50 states and distributed internationally.

Two custom sets of Woodstock Chimes were commissioned for a special performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra commemorating the 100th anniversary of Carnegie Hall in 1990

Woodstock Chimes are world renowned for their quality, durability, resonant tones and the beauty of their designs, whether it be made in wood or metal, and hung indoors by a window or outside under a favorite tree or spot in the garden.

The Woodstock Chimes Fund was established in 1986 to support the local community Arts, Food and Shelter programs. Woodstock Chimes products which are tied to important causes through a sharing of profits. For example, proceeds from sales of the Tibetan Prayer Chime™ benefit the Tibet House New York™, which is dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture and is associated with the Dalai Lama. Sales of the Chimes of Hope™ sends donations to organizations dedicated to the battle against breast cancer.