Steven Halpern

Steven Halpern is an American new-age musician. He is a Grammy-award nominee and considered to be one of the founding fathers of new-age music.

Halpern played trumpet and guitar in the New York City jazz scene of the 1960s, but became disenchanted with it and moved to California. There he began exploring the idea of creating music entirely for the purpose of relaxation, which he called "anti-frantic alternative" music. He began creating music which did not adhere to traditional Western tonality, but which instead consisted of static, minimalist pieces for electric piano inspired by Eastern music. He is a proponent of theories which emphasize the healing properties of music. He has been named by MTV as "the original new age artist", beginning his new age performance career in 1969.

His first album was Spectrum Suite, released in 1975 and which is considered to be one of the first true new-age music albums. He began an alternative marketing campaign in order to raise awareness about his music as the genre was not yet widely known. He focused at venues like health food stores, yoga conferences, and alternative retailers. In Billboard Magazine, John Diliberto stated that this album and Halpern's independent marketing techniques "pioneered the market". The inspiration for the album came partially from an experience Halpern had in the California Redwoods, as well as trance or altered states he felt were inspired by his moments there.

In the following ten years Halpern sold more than one million albums, which he released through his independent label Halpern Sounds. In 1985 he signed with Gramavision, and began releasing music through more mainstream labels. Gramavision also licensed Halpern's prior albums for sale in more traditional retail sectors, as well as alternative ones. Halpern has recorded more than 50 albums. The most commercially successful of these was 2000's Deja-Blues, which reached #18 on the U.S. Billboard Top New Age Albums chart. He is also the author of two books, Tuning the Human Instrument and Sound Health. Halpern has provided readings from his books and lectures in accompaniment to his performances. Halpern was also an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists.

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