MAKE MUSIC NEW YORK CELEBRATES 1200+ FREE OUTDOOR CONCERTS
Sunday, June 21
The Ninth Annual Make Music Day celebrates the First Day of Summer (and Father’s Day!) with a mix of free, outdoor, public concerts all around the city
Make Music New York, the largest annual music festival in the city, returns for its ninth year with a wild and wonderful mix of free, outdoor, public concerts all around the city on Sunday, June 21, the first day of summer (and Father’s Day this year!) More than 1,200 exciting free concerts are set to take place all over NYC in public, outdoor spaces throughout all five boroughs of the city, including parks, plazas, playgrounds, cemeteries, closed-off street blocks, piers, the porches of Governors Island, and even the back of a pick-up truck.
Make Music New York is the flagship event of Make Music Day, celebrated in more than 20 cities around the US, and a highlight of the international Fête de la Musique, taking place on June 21 in 700 cities across 120 countries.
Completely different from a typical music festival, Make Music Day is open to anyone who wants to take part; it can be enjoyed by everyone who wants to attend. There is something for everyone ranging from classical to folk, hip-hop to opera, and Latin jazz to punk rock.
Exquisite Corpses
http://makemusicny.org/summer-schedule/2015/features/exquisite-corpses/
This year MMNY inaugurates Exquisite Corpses, a new series that will bring life to six of New York’s burial grounds with chains of improvised musical conversations. As originated by the Surrealists, Exquisite Corpses were poems or drawings in which each participant only saw a fragment of the previous one’s work, leading to collaborative pieces rich in unexpected twists and turns. For MMNY’s Exquisite Corpses, six respected New York artists – including percussionist Cyro Batista, cellist Andrew Livingston, and artists curated by Jazzmobile – will host a gathering at each cemetery, directing participants in a series of improvised duets.
Locations include Grant’s Tomb, NYC Marble Cemetery, St Mark’s Church-In-The-Bowery, Trinity Church Cemetery (at Broadway and Wall St), and Madison Square Park (formerly a potter’s field).
Pop-Up Musicals
http://makemusicny.org/summer-schedule/2015/features/pop-up-musicals/
The Great American Songbook gets a nod with another new event, Pop Up Musicals. In conjunction with Soundfly, a music education and media company, numbers or medleys from NYC-centric musicals will be performed all around Manhattan. A roving U-Haul will unload singers and musicians clown-car style, hit the audience with a flash musical theater performance, and take off for the next location. Each set will include familiar numbers that encourage audience participation. A grand finale with all participants will take place at Union Square, on the steps of the Daryl Roth Theatre.
Street Studios
http://makemusicny.org/summer-schedule/2015/features/street-studios/
In collaboration with Found Sound Nation, twelve “Street Studios” will be deployed on sidewalks throughout the city from 11a.m. – 2 p.m., engaging passersby and MMNY musicians in the spontaneous, collaborative production of original music. A team of two DJ-engineers will run each Street Studio, recording, quick-mixing, looping, and playing back the live sounds, while interacting with the public who stop by to sing, play an instrument, or record sounds that become part of the musical track. The producers will then have roughly 6 hours to mix down one five-minute track to present that evening at the “Street Studio Smackdown” party at the DUMBO Loft in Brooklyn (155 Water Street, 8pm – midnight). Everyone who records material throughout the city in the morning will be invited to this free evening event.
Participating Street Studio venues include the Bronx Music Heritage Center, Lower East Side Girls Club, Cameo Gallery Block Party Trans-Pecos, and Corona Plaza among many others. For a full list of locations and producers, please visit http://makemusicny.org/
Clavinova Piano Bar Celebrating 100th Birthday of Frank Sinatra
http://makemusicny.org/summer-schedule/2015/features/clavinova-piano-bar/
Partnering with Yamaha, the Clavinova Piano Bar hits the streets of Manhattan, featuring the songbook of The Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra, to celebrate his 100th birthday year. From the back of a pick-up truck, pianist Nate Buccieri will play live Sinatra classics including My Way, Come Fly With Me, and It Was A Very Good Year on a Clavinova keyboard to accompany singers on the sidewalk.
The pick-up truck will stop for 45-minute sets at five Sinatra-themed locations throughout the day, ending up at Lincoln Center where the NYPL for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center is hosting a free after-party with a view of their current exhibition Sinatra: An American Icon.
Sousapalooza
http://makemusicny.org/summer-schedule/2015/features/sousapalooza/
In a sequel to last year’s “Berlioz in Bryant Park,” Make Music New York’s Sousapalooza will feature over 200 wind musicians from around the tri-state area, performing classic marches in Manhattan’s Bryant Park in the afternoon. The performance will be led by Jeff W. Ball, conductor of the Brooklyn Wind Symphony. The day will start at 2 pm with a new Guerrilla Fanfare by composer Kevin James, performed by members of TILT Brass and Mobius Percussion, who will walk into the park from different directions and converge while playing. HONK NYC will present a series of street brass bands before Sousapalooza kicks off at 4 pm.
Concerto for Buildings
http://makemusicny.org/summer-schedule/2015/features/concerto-for-buildings/
The block of Greene Street between Grand and Broome, with eight buildings that have hollow, cast-iron facades that resonate when struck, will be shut down as Mantra Percussion invites noted composers – including Paula Matthussen, Scott Wollschleger, and Daniel Goode – to write short pieces for buildings and ensemble, which together will constitute a new “Concerto for Buildings.” The gifted young musicians of Face the Music will form an orchestra in the middle of the street, along with members of Mantra Youth Percussion. This is an expansion of Daniel Goode’s popular Soho Gamelan Walk, a hit of Make Music Winter.
Porch Stomp
http://makemusicny.org/summer-schedule/2015/features/porch-stomp/
With over 40 performances, MMNY’s celebration of bluegrass, old-time, traditional folk and roots music will take place on the historic porches of Governors Island’s historic Nolan Park from 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Punk Island
http://makemusicny.org/summer-schedule/2015/features/punk-island/
Returning for its eighth year with over 100 punk bands from the Philippines to the East Village, bands including RVIVR, Disaster Strikes, Rum Rebellion, and InCircles will play just steps away from the Ferry Terminal from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Mass Appeal
http://makemusicny.org/summer-schedule/2015/features/mass-appeal/
Mass Appeal gatherings are a unique opportunity for players to meet up and play together. Instruments with mass appeal include cellos, guitars, harmonicas, synthesizers, ukuleles, theremins and even Klezmer violins.
Make Music New York is proud to partner with some of the city’s leading cultural organizations and venues as co-presenters including the Americas Society, Carnegie Hall, CityParks Summerstage, Cornelia Street Cafe, Haiti Cultural Exchange, Harlem Arts Alliance, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazzmobile, Joe’s Pub, KulturfestNYC, NYPL For the Performing Arts, Socrates Sculpture Park, and Trinity Wall Street, plus the park conservancies for Bryant Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Madison Square Park, and Prospect Park.
Make Music New York is free to the public, no tickets required. Further information on Make Music New York is available at www.makemusicny.org.
Make Music New York
Returning for its ninth year, Make Music New York will celebrate music on a grand scale with a mix of over 1,200 free, outdoor concerts throughout all five boroughs on Sunday, June 21, the first day of summer. MMNY will coincide with Make Music Day, the world’s largest annual music event celebrated in more than 20 cities around the U.S., and a highlight of the international Fête de la Musique, taking place in 700 cities across 120 countries.
The all-day musical celebration is open to musicians of all ages, genres and skill-levels. From classical to folk, hip hop to opera, Latin jazz to punk rock, music of all kinds is performed on streets, sidewalks, porches, plazas, parks, and gardens on the longest day of the year. Visit http://makemusicny.org/ for more details. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @MakeMusicNY
