{"id":10365,"date":"2026-04-20T16:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/windham-hill-50th-anniversary\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T16:01:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T16:01:00","slug":"windham-hill-50th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/windham-hill-50th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Windham Hill Celebrating 50th With Film, LP, Events"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spinmagazine.com\/files\/2026\/04\/Will-Ackerman.jpg\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" alt=\"\"><figcaption>Windham Hill Records founder William Ackerman (photo: Liz Linder).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As Windham Hill Records turns 50 this year, the label\u2019s epilogue is coming into focus with a long\u2013in-the-works documentary that\u2019s nearing completion, a newly announced Bay Area concert and celebration and a crowd-funded project saluting the 40th anniversary of the popular <em>Winter Solstice<\/em> compilation series.<\/p>\n<p>Founded by guitarist Will Ackerman, whose first recording was financed with a $300 loan from friends, Windham Hill quickly established a signature instrumental sound through clean, melodic, acoustic-forward compositions that were both intimate and transportive (it was also perpetually maligned by the descriptor\u201dnew age music,\u201d which its artists came to detest).<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spinmagazine.com\/2023\/11\/liz-story-solid-colors-40th-anniversary\/\">Liz Story On Her Return To The Stage And 40 Years Of \u2018Solid Colors\u2019<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spinmagazine.com\/2023\/06\/george-winston-obit\/\">George Winston, Solo Pianist Synonymous With New Age Music, Dies At 73<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spinmagazine.com\/2019\/07\/new-age-1985-feature-new-sounds-michael-stearns-steve-roach-george-winston\/\">New Sounds: Our 1985 Feature on New-Age Music<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As part of the anniversary, Windham Hill artists, staff and fans will converge Nov. 1 on Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, Ca., for a <a href=\"https:\/\/windhamhillrecords.com\/2026\/04\/windham-hill-50th-anniversary-concert-conversations\/\" target=\"_blank\">full day of panels, conversations and live performances<\/a>. The daytime programming will dig into the label\u2019s history, aesthetic and cultural impact, before giving way to an evening concert featuring to-be-announced artists spanning the Windham Hill catalog. The event will also double as a live shoot for director Tal Skloot\u2019s in-progress <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aquietrevolutionfilm.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A Quiet Revolution<\/a><\/em>, which is loaded with new interviews, archival footage and performance segments that chart how the label became a defining force in late-20th-century instrumental music.<\/p>\n<p>Artists including Ackerman, Philip Aaberg, Alex De Grassi, Barbara Higbie, Michael Manring, Darol Anger and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spinmagazine.com\/2023\/11\/liz-story-solid-colors-40th-anniversary\/\">Liz Story<\/a> appear in the film, alongside archival interviews with mainstays such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spinmagazine.com\/2023\/06\/george-winston-obit\/\">the late George Winston<\/a> and Michael Hedges. Their presence underscores what made Windham Hill resonate so deeply: a roster of virtuoso players who prioritized feeling over flash at a time when pop and rock were growing increasingly maximalist.<\/p>\n<p>Running parallel to the documentary and Berkeley event plans is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/1043382748\/a-winters-solstice-celebration\/faqs\" target=\"_blank\">crowd-funded<\/a> compilation project tied to another Windham Hill milestone \u2014 the 40th anniversary of its <em>Winter\u2019s Solstice<\/em> series. Rather than simply reissuing past material, the label is taking a participatory approach, inviting submissions from across its extended network of artists and collaborators to shape an entirely new collection.<\/p>\n<p>The project reunites key figures from the original series, including producer Dawn Atkinson and Bob Duskis, with Ackerman serving as executive producer. \u201cI always love hearing from people that the\u00a0<em>Winter\u2019s Solstice<\/em>\u00a0albums are still part of their holiday celebrations,\u201d says Atkinson. \u201cThose recordings have meant so much to so many listeners over the years. This album will be more than a reunion \u2014 it will be a bridge between past and present, resulting in something beautiful that carries the story forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adds Ackerman, \u201cI\u2019m thrilled with the idea of a new album created in the spirit of these compilations that are so loved by so many. There couldn\u2019t be a better team to capture the essence of what we created years ago. Dawn Atkinson and Bob Duskis worked closely with me for many years during the heyday of Windham Hill. They were instrumental in signing new artists and overseeing the production of many of those recordings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/spinmagazine.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Windham Hill Records founder William Ackerman (photo: Liz Linder). As Windham Hill Records turns 50 this year, the label\u2019s epilogue is coming into focus with a long\u2013in-the-works documentary that\u2019s nearing&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5912,5913,5914,6,5915,5916],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-george-winston","category-liz-story","category-michael-hedges","category-news","category-william-ackerman","category-windham-hill-records"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10365\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}