Carnegie Hall Citywide Reveals Summer 2023 Concert Lineup

Carnegie Hall has announced the lineup for the summer 2023 season of Carnegie Hall Citywide, the Hall's free concert series that brings live music to neighborhoods across New York City. Presented in partnership with community organizations throughout the city, the series-celebrating its 50th anniversary this season-offers dynamic performances highlighting renowned local artists from a variety of musical genres-including classical, jazz, folk, Latin music, and more.

Kicking the summer season off, Carnegie Hall Citywide partners with the Times Square Alliance as part of their dynamic concert series TSQ LIVE presenting performances with Colombian singer and accordionist Gregorio Uribe (June 9) and chamber ensemble Trio Fadolín (June 16). Next up, the Citywide series partners with the Denny Ferrell Riverbank State Park for their 30th anniversary celebration featuring a performance by Kiki Valera y su Son Cubano (June 17).

The Citywide series continues its exciting partnership with Bryant Park Picnic Performances presenting five free concerts in the park on Fridays this July and August. The eclectic lineup features Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (July 7); violinist-fiddler Tessa Lark and composer-bassist Michael Thurber (July 14); Mexican jazz singer Magos Herrera featuring The Knights (July 21); Afro-Colombian ensemble Champe-Soukous Collective (July 28); and South African vocal ensemble Ndlovu Youth Choir (August 4).

Carnegie Hall Citywide partners with Madison Square Park for a third consecutive year curating a series featuring the award-winning string quartet Aizuri Quartet on July 12 and 26; and the Aeolus Quartet on July 19. The programs for The Madison Square Park performances are inspired by My Neighbor's Garden, a temporary public art project by Sheila Pepe whose crocheted materials will commingle with climbing vines to bring color, unexpected materials, and optimism to the site.

Carnegie Hall Citywide welcomes three new partnerships this summer with concerts at Wave Hill in the Bronx featuring the Attacca Quartet (June 22); Jackie Robinson Park Bandshell in upper Manhattan with George Gee Swing Orchestra (July 6), and O'Donohue Park at Beach 17th Street in Far Rockaway with Tabou Combo (July 15).

All Carnegie Hall Citywide performances are free, and no tickets are required.

Please see below for a complete schedule of Carnegie Hall Citywide summer 2023 events:

GREGORIO URIBE

Gregorio Uribe, Vocals and Accordion
Andres Garcia, Bass Guitar
Jonathan Gomez, Percussion

Friday, June 9 at 5:00 PM
Times Square
Broadway Pedestrian Plaza between 43rd and 44th Streets | Manhattan

Whether he is leading his irresistible big band or a vibrant small group-like in this free, Friday-evening concert in Times Square-Gregorio Uribe can get any crowd dancing with an "intoxicating variety" of musical ingredients (The Boston Globe). Born in Bogotá, Colombia and based in New York City, Uribe is a high-spirited accordionist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader who has worked with greats like Rubén Blades, Carlos Vives, and Arturo O'Farrill, and he is a natural leader of musicians and audiences alike.

TRIO FADOLÍN

Friday, June 16 at 5:00 PM
Times Square
Broadway Pedestrian Plaza between 43rd and 44th Streets | Manhattan

The newly formed Trio Fadolín boasts a unique sonority, bringing together violin, cello, and the recently unveiled fadolín: a six-string violin with low C and F strings. No other ensemble has ever given the fadolín an integral role in an acoustic chambermusic setting, and this free performance in Times Square is a wonderful opportunity for audiences to experience the new musical possibilities it presents.

KIKI VALERA Y SU SON CUBANO

Saturday, June 17 at 5:00 PM
Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park
679 Riverside Drive | Manhattan

Kiki Valera is one of Cuba's foremost cuatro-guitar virtuosos and a fourth-generation member of La Familia Valera Miranda, the pioneers renowned for more than a century as creators of Eastern Cuba's son tradition. Now based in the United States, Valera's outstanding ensemble features many of Latin America's best expatriate musicians.

ATTACCA QUARTET

Amy Schroeder, Violin
Domenic Salerni, Violin
Nathan Schram, Viola
Andrew Yee, Cello

Thursday, June 22 at 7:00 PM
Wave Hill
4900 Independence Avenue (at West 239th Street) | Bronx

The Grammy Award-winning Attacca Quartet has been described as "close to epitomizing the string quartet ideal: four strikingly individual players with the ability to speak eloquently in one voice" by (The Washington Post) and as "one of the most versatile and outstanding ensembles of the moment-a quartet for modern times" (The Nation). Following a standout series of Citywide concerts last summer, the ensemble now brings its gifts to the Bronx's beautiful Wave Hill.

George Gee SWING ORCHESTRA

Thursday, July 6 at 6:00 PM
Jackie Robinson Park Bandshell
116 Bradhurst Ave | Manhattan

In this performance at the Jackie Robinson Park Bandshell, hear Stuyvesant High School's own George Gee lead his long-running George Gee Swing Orchestra. Adored by listeners and Lindy Hoppers alike, this band is a New York mainstay with residencies at Swing46, Smalls Jazz Club, and more.

ARTURO O'FARRILL AND THE AFRO LATIN JAZZ ORCHESTRA

Friday July 7 at 7:00 PM
Bryant Park
Between 40th and 42nd streets and Fifth and Sixth avenues | Manhattan

The multi-Grammy-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) is an 18-piece big band of jazz and Latin-jazz virtuosos led by the inimitable Arturo O'Farrill. With roots in Latin jazz traditions trailblazed by greats like Tito Puente and Mario Bauzá, and with an equally keen ear for the music's future, the ALJO has spent the past two decades thrilling audiences with its impeccable ensemble playing, showstopping soloists, and expansive repertoire-including works by Arturo and Chico O'Farrill.

AIZURI QUARTET

Emma Frucht, Violin
Miho Saegusa, Violin
Ayane Kozasa, Viola
Karen Ouzounian, Cello

Wednesday, July 12 at 6:00 PM
Wednesday, July 26 at 6:00 PM
Madison Square Park
Between 23rd and 26th Streets and Fifth and Madison avenues | Manhattan

Known for passionate performances and innovative programming, the Grammy- and internationally award-winning Aizuri Quartet recently dazzled audiences during Carnegie Hall's 2022-2023 concert season. Enjoy their gifts in this casual and intimate performance in Madison Square Park before members of the ensemble return to Carnegie Hall in November as part of the Kronos Quartet's all-star 50th Anniversary Celebration.

TESSA LARK AND Michael Thurber

Tessa Lark, Violin
Michael Thurber, Bass

with Special Guest
Louis Cato, Guitar and Vocals

Friday July 14 at 7:00 PM
Bryant Park
Between 40th and 42nd streets and Fifth and Sixth avenues | Manhattan

American folk and European classical styles come together with virtuosity, playfulness, and a contagious sense of curiosity in the hands of violinist-fiddler Tessa Lark and composer-bassist Michael Thurber. In music that ranges from works by J. S. Bach to a variety of bluegrass, jazz, Appalachian music, folk songs, and improvised works, their seamless musical partnership has delighted audiences at Caramoor, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, and beyond. For this special performance in Bryant Park, they are joined by special guest Louis Cato, the Grammy-nominated guitarist and vocalist widely recognized as the bandleader for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

TABOU COMBO

Saturday, July 15 at 3:00 PM
O'Donohue Park at Beach 17th Street
16-27 Seagirt Boulevard | Queens

Experience the legendary Tabou Combo at this free, Saturday-afternoon concert in Far Rockaway, Queens. Founded in Haiti in 1968 and based in New York City for more than 50 years, this rhythmically charged supergroup is renowned worldwide for its irresistible blend of Haitian, Dominican, West African, and French dance influences, as well as funk from the American soul era.

AEOLUS QUARTET

Nicholas Tavani, Violin
Rachel Shapiro, Violin
Caitlin Lynch, Viola
Jia Kim, Cello

Wednesday, July 19 at 6:00 PM
Madison Square Park
Between 23rd and 26th Streets and Fifth and Madison avenues | Manhattan

The Aeolus Quartet's mission is to share a vast and eternally powerful string-quartet repertoire with wide-ranging audiences. Based in New York City, the award-winning ensemble places new and lesser-known works side by side with the time-honored masterworks of the medium. The quartet performs at a bold range of venues around the city, in addition to its extensive touring, and this free performance in Madison Square Park is an enticing chance to enjoy their artistry in a casual outdoor setting.

MAGOS HERERRA FEATURING THE KNIGHTS

Magos Herrera, Vocals
Ingrid Jensen, Trumpet
Vinicius Gomes, Guitar
Matt Penman, Bass
Alex Kautz, Drums
Gonzalo Grau, Percussion

The Knights
Colin Jacobsen, Artistic Director and Violin
Eric Jacobsen, Artistic Director and Conductor

Aire

Friday July 21 at 7:00 PM
Bryant Park
Between 40th and 42nd streets and Fifth and Sixth avenues | Manhattan

Celebrating the release of her latest album Aire, Mexican jazz singer Magos Herrera performs with her phenomenal sextet and chamber orchestra The Knights. Herrerais "one of the great modern singers of our time" (Latin Jazz Network), who "stretch[es] the very notion of jazz singing ... into a sound that's bold, thrilling, and effortlessly global" (NPR). Her latest recording features original compositions (commissioned by Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works) as well as selections from the Great Latin American Songbook. Written largely during pandemic isolation and now performed live for audiences in Bryant Park, Aire has become "a way to reach out ... to heal each other by coming together and celebrating our humanity with compassion and gratitude."  

CHAMPE-SOUKOUS COLLECTIVE

Tribu Baharu
Wawali Bonane Bungu
Huit Kilos Nseka
Ricardo Lemvo
Mis Blandine
Oscar El Kike Banquez

Friday, July 28, 2023 at 7:00 PM
Bryant Park
Between 40th and 42nd streets and Fifth and Sixth avenues | Manhattan

Enjoy the Afro-Colombian dance-music fusions of a newly formed all-star group-Champe-Soukous Collective-in this free Bryant Park performance. Forging a transatlantic connection between Colombian champeta and its source music-Central Africa's belle-epoque era Congolese soukous-rumba-the ensemble includes the core of Colombia's "Champeta champions," Tribu Baharu; soukous guitar legend Huit Kilos Nseka; exceptional vocalists from both Colombia and Central Africa; Oscar El Kike Banquez on horns; and more.

EMPIRE WILD

Ken Kubota, Cello
Holly Bean, Vocals and Keyboards
Mitch Lyon, Cello

Saturday, July 29 at 5:00 PM
Historic Richmond Town
44 Clark Avenue | Staten Island

Empire Wild joyfully disregards the expected confines of genre and cello technique in its exciting blend of pop, folk, jazz, and classical music. The trio's newest member, vocalist and keyboardist Holly Bean, adds a soulful new dimension to the captivating dual-cello foundation laid by Ken Kubota and Mitch Lyon. With original music and compositions by Gershwin, Stevie Wonder, Debussy, J. S. Bach, Chick Corea, and many more, Empire Wild has surprises in store for any audience.

NDLOVU YOUTH CHOIR

Ralf Schmitt, Conductor

Friday August 4 at 7:00 PM
Bryant Park
Between 40th and 42nd streets and Fifth and Sixth avenues | Manhattan

Hailing from South Africa with powerhouse vocals, dazzling choreography, and irresistible pop-music sensibilities, the Ndlovu Youth Choir has brought hope and joy to countless fans around the world. It recently became the first choir ever to reach the finals of America's Got Talent, and the group continues to enchant global audiences with pulsating rhythms and electrifying energy.

To learn more about Carnegie Hall Citywide, please visit: carnegiehall.org/Citywide