4/29/2016
Woodstock Reaches $2 Million in Donations
Jennifer Polanz
Over the past 25 years, Woodstock Chimes has donated a portion from the sale of chimes in the Charitable Chimes line to a variety of causes and recently it passed the $2 million mark for donations. In the past, those donations have gone to such worthy causes as breast cancer research, cleaning up the Hudson River, the September 11 2001 Children’s Fund and more.
The two chimes that are part of the Charitable Chimes line today are focused on autism and preserving Tibetan culture. With the Chimes for Autism product, 100% of all after-tax profits are donated to research and educational organizations focused on autism. Launched in early 2014, the chime features cherry finish ash wood, five silver aluminum tubes and a bright nickel-plated faux cloisonné windcatcher, which boasts the iconic autism-related puzzle piece(s). Designed with a purpose, the chime includes a specially sized clapper, making its soothing tones— tuned to the notes of Mozart’s Piano Concert No. 21—play more gently in the wind, since one aspect of autism is hypersensitivity to sound.
Pictured: Autism chime, left. Tibetan chime, right.
The Tibetan Prayer Chime is one of the company’s longest-running Charitable Chimes and supports the Tibet House in New York City with the goal of preserving Tibetan culture. In honor of the Tibet House’s mission, the chime is tuned to five tones that make up the principal motif of “From me flows what you call Time” by the great Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. Takemitsu wrote the piece for the 100th anniversary of the famed Carnegie Hall in New York City and he specifically commissioned Woodstock Chimes as an instrument in the piece. The chime launched in January 2000.
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