About Garry Jones

The Harmonic Forge developed out of the musical imagination of Garry Jones, a musician and composer from Queensland, Australia now living in Cork City Ireland.  Since 1994, Garry has been making musical sculptures and musical instruments and installations for  private commissions, schools, children’s museums, public parks, private homes, and disability resource centers in Australia, Ireland and the US. He has also, since 1975, been a musician and composer for solo, small ensemble and orchestral performances and influenced by an eclectic range of sources, including Irish, jazz, and classical.  He has  performed his work in three continents.  A major motivation of Garry’s life has been to facilitate music-making for people who don’t normally have access to it, such as those with physical and intellectual disabilities, are economically disadvantaged, in eldercare homes, and prisons, or those who believe they have no musical ability.  He is passionate about bringing music-making installations into public parks and schools and other places of everyday life, where people can interact with others musically and communicate through a different language.  In the US, Garry has regularly collaborated with Erik Newquist, an artist/blacksmith based in Washington State, on outdoor art installations.  More information about Erik can be found at http://www.newquistmetals.com.
Garry has also designed musical playground equipment for Landscape Structures Inc. – a major global playground manufacturer based in Minnesota, USA. His musical playground designs are now in schools, playgrounds and parks all around the world.