17th Annual MAKE MUSIC NEW YORK Returns On June 21

Make Music New York has announced its lineup of free outdoor musical events on Wednesday, June 21, the 17th consecutive year New York has played a key part in Make Music Day, the world's largest annual music event.

“We're thrilled to set the city alight with the sounds and voices of Make Music Day in New York,” said James Burke, Executive Director of Make Music New York. “New York City in the summer is one long, exuberant block party, and we're happy to get the party started with free musical celebrations citywide.”

Make Music Day began in France in 1982 as the Fête de la Musique, and today is celebrated in over 1,000 cities across 120 countries. Distinct from a traditional music festival, Make Music Day celebrates and promotes the natural music maker in all of us, regardless of age, ethnicity, background or skill level. Make Music Day is a free and open invitation for everyone to make, enjoy, perform, teach, learn, and experience the joy of making music in public spaces on the longest day of the year.

In the leadup to June 21, Make Music New York will kick off with special festivals across three different boroughs. On Saturday, June 17, Governors Island will host the tenth annual Porch Stomp, NYC's Americana and folk music extravaganza with over 100 musicians performing on 20 stages from 11am - 6pm. That same day in Queens, the Southeast Queens Gospelfest, headlined by uplifting singer Rich Tolbert Jr at Baisley Pond Park from 3pm - 8pm, will be presented in partnership with NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation. On Sunday June 18, Make Music New York's annual DIY punk festival, Punk Island, will take over Bay Ridge, Brooklyn with 38 bands at the American Veterans Memorial Pier in Shore Road Park from 12pm - 6pm.

Following this music-filled weekend, Make Music New York will bring the whole city together in song on Wednesday, June 21, with hundreds of free outdoor events in all five boroughs. A chronological list of highlights follows.

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MMNY 2023: Highlights Across the City, June 21

12:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Pueblo Harlem

Johnny Hartman Plaza, Hamilton Heights

The Afro Latin Jazz Alliance's annual celebration of Hispanic heritage and culture returns with performances by the multi-Grammy Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, ALJA's pre-professional youth ensemble The Fat Afro Latin Jazz Cats, salsa dance lessons, and special guests. Presented in partnership with the NYC Department of Transportation and The Brotherhood Sister Sol. 

12 pm - 4 pm: Street Studios

JBL Store, 19 E. Houston St., SoHo

From a small mobile recording studio set up on the shop's sidewalk, The Beatbox House, a NYC-based collective of world champion beatboxers, will invite the public and passersby to contribute original audio (by either singing, rapping or playing an instrument) which they then record, mix, loop and play back to create spontaneous, collaborative productions. Presented in partnership with Harman Inspired.

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm: Sousapalooza

Boston Properties Plaza, 599 Lexington Avenue

Bringing back a highlight of Make Music New York 2022, large groups of brass, wind, and percussion players will assemble to play the music of The March King, John Philip Sousa. Everyone is invited to download the music, bring their horn, and join the band.

3 pm - 7 pm: Paul's Pianopalooza

Madison Square Park

Happy 90th birthday to beloved NYC composer and educator Paul Sheftel! The New York State Music Teachers Association (District 1 Manhattan-Bronx) hosts a piano marathon and celebration in Sheftel's honor, with a visit from the maestro himself. Pianists of all ages and levels will perform Paul's works, followed by “Made in New York,” a program of piano music by NYC composers of all stripes. Presented in partnership with The Madison Square Park Conservancy.

4 pm - 5 pm: Roomful of Pianos

PianoPiano Theater, 37 W 65th St, 4th Floor

Piano students and teachers from the Upper West Side's Special Music School at the Kaufman Music Center will unite to perform multi-piano works for 4 hands, 8 hands, and more at the PianoPiano store's new location, as part of the national Roomful of Pianos series for Make Music Day. 

Mass Appeal Guitars

4:30 pm - 7 pm: Downtown at Union Square, South Plaza

4 pm - 6 pm: Uptown at Montefiore Square, Broadway and W 138th St

This year, Make Music New York includes not one, but two Mass Appeal Guitar meetups! This special event gathers guitarists of all backgrounds and levels for a massive play-along concert. In Union Square, twenty guitar teachers from the NYC Guitar School will give free lessons starting at 4:30pm, then will join hundreds of guitarists at 6:30pm to strum along to beginner-friendly songs like “Seven Bridges Road,” “Redemption Song,” and “Rolling in the Deep.” Meanwhile, at Montefiore Square in Hamilton Heights, the Bloomingdale School of Music and Brooklyn Music School will partner to bring the fun uptown, in a guitar-packed afternoon with educational sessions and a group guitar jam.

5 pm - 6 pm: Stridulations for the Good Luck Feast

Play Ground in Little Island, Hudson River Park at W 13th St

Composer and percussionist Billy Martin (Medeski Martin & Wood) will conduct his suite of interlocking rhythmic pieces that anyone can join, whether or not they read music. By following an ingenious system of Xs and dots, participants play rhythmic cycles on any instrument or voice, locking together like a Samba band, or stretching out to sound like crickets calling to each other across a field.

7 pm - 8:15 pm: Mozart's Requiem

Oculus North Plaza, Financial District

Back by popular demand, singers and instrumentalists conducted by Douglas Anderson will come together to celebrate the Summer Solstice and remember lost loved ones through a shared performance of Mozart's solemn Requiem at the Oculus North Plaza of the World Trade Center campus. Presented in partnership with The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey..  

Plaza by Plaza

Citywide

In partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation, pedestrian plazas citywide will host special Make Music New York programs (some already listed above). In the Bronx, Lou Gehrig Plaza in Melrose will feature a lineup of local Latin and jazz musicians. In Queens, traditional Bangladeshi artists, a Nepali singer-songwriter, live drum & bass, and experimental classical group Percussia will share a stage at Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights. In Brooklyn, Jitu Weusi Plaza (Clinton Hill), Osborn Plaza (Brownsville), and Kensington Plaza (Kensington) will all bring local talents to the fore, with hip hop, piano jazz, and electronic acts. And in Manhattan, Uptown Grand Central 125th St Plaza will present Jazzmobile's Winard Harper & Jeli Posse, Forsyth Plaza will host five hours of punk rock, Astor Place will feature acclaimed singers Cassandra Kubinski and Julia Keefe, and Cooper Square will bring out Tilted Axes: Music for Mobile Electric Guitars to perform their latest spectacle, Sunburn.

Any musician, amateur or professional, young or old, is invited to visit makemusicny.org to sign up to participate. Likewise, businesses, buildings, schools, churches, and other institutions can visit the website to offer their outdoor spaces as concert locations.

And audiences are invited to visit makemusicny.org to browse through a searchable map listing hundreds of additional Make Music New York events.

Make Music New York is a not-for-profit dedicated to bring out the musician in all of us, to connect New Yorkers to their communities and with each other, and to bring bold new artistic creations to life. Its mission is ambitious, inclusive, adventurous and fun, and it is accomplished through two annual citywide celebrations: the flagship festival Make Music New York, held each summer solstice on June 21st — the longest day of the year — and Make Music Winter, a series of participatory musical parades held each winter solstice on December 21st — the longest night of the year. For more information, please visit www.makemusicny.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

 

Make Music New York is made possible by: the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with City Council; Citibank; Spectrum; Lily Auchincloss Foundation; Investors Foundation; and NYC & Company Foundation.

 

Held annually on June 21 to coincide with the summer solstice, Make Music Day is part of the international Fête de la Musique taking place in more than 1,000 cities across 120 countries. The daylong, musical free-for-all celebrates music in all its forms, encouraging people to band together and play in free public concerts. This year, over 115 U.S. cities and the entire states of Connecticut, Hawaii, Vermont and Wisconsin are organizing Make Music celebrations, encompassing thousands of music making opportunities nationwide. Make Music Day is presented by The NAMM Foundation and coordinated by the nonprofit Make Music Alliance. For more information, please visit makemusicday.org.

The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 10,300 members around the world. The NAMM Foundation works to advance active participating in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, please visit www.nammfoundation.org.