New York Times, “Summer Stages,” by Vivian Schweitzer, May 4, 2010
The New Yorker Blog: Unquiet Thoughts, “Xenakis in the Park,” by Alex Ross, May 4, 2010
Time Out New York, “Summer Arts Preview,” May 6–12, 2010
Art on Air, “Make Music New York: Radio Profile,” May 7, 2010
Make Music New York has reached an important milestone — we now have over 1,000 free outdoor concerts lined up for this year’s festival!
Of the hundreds of cities around the world that celebrate their own “Make Music” events, New York stands alone. Only France, where the Fête de la Musique began, enjoys such a huge celebration.
This growth is made possible by our phenomenal volunteer organizers, who have put many neighborhoods on the MMNY map for the first time.
Special thanks to Ena Escallier and Sammy Feliciano (Harlem), Daniella Fairbairn, Ellen Fishman, Sandy Hussain, Phillip Kellogg, and Jennifer Stokes (Northwestern Brooklyn), Peter McDowell (DUMBO), Amy Merrill (Williamsburg/Greenpoint), Dan Sheehan and Christopher Deignan (Astoria), Kelly Yim (NYPL), and too many more to list.
The complete concert schedule will be announced on Friday, May 28th at www.makemusicny.org. Stay tuned!
New this year for Make Music New York!
Play Hard: The MMNY Corporate Challenge pits VP against manager, assistant against CFO as guitar-slinging office workers from midtown’s mightiest companies rock for glory in a battle of the corporate bands.
Five groups from the city’s biggest corporations will face off in Bryant Park from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Fountain Terrace, on Monday, June 21st.
Each band will have twenty-five minutes to rip, shred, rock and “play hard” in the ultimate effort to wow our judges (including Summerstage Artistic Director Erika Elliott), win a gig that evening at ARENA, take home a handmade designer guitar from Philip Jarrell, and stake their claim as the city’s best corporate band.
Sign up your band, support Make Music New York, and bring glory to your company!
Two spaces are still open; email Pablo Schuhmacher at pablo.schuhmacher@gmail.com for full details.
New this year for Make Music New York!
With June 21st falling on a school day this year, MMNY is launching a new music education program, Take Your Musician To School Day, for parents and students to perform with each other outside public school buildings.
So far, 48 schools have registered to participate, with musical activities led by parents, teachers, administrators, or all three. Concerts are in a range of genres, celebrating music education and cultural diversity.
If you want to bring music to your school for June 21st, sign up at makemusicny.org/schools!
Questions? Email Danielle Grace, danielle@makemusicny.org.
Only two days remain to sign up for Make Music New York!
To be part of this year’s festival, take five minutes and register at timeoutnewyork.com/makemusic.
Then, either match up with a location or artist on the website, or (even better) make your own arrangements offline and then register them on the site.
This article and this article explain how to do it. If you still need help, email makemusicny@gmail.com.
But first — if you haven’t already, please sign up at www.timeoutnewyork.com/makemusic.
Shortly after April 21st, the Time Out NY matchmaking website will close down.
For the next week, we will be available every day in person, on the phone, and via email to troubleshoot any remaining problems, make updates to the schedule, and connect registered musicians with an additional 40 pianos locations that couldn’t make it on to the website in time.
MMNY Office Hours
Mon. April 26th - Fri. April 30th
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
In Person: 305 7th Ave, 15th Fl.
On the Phone: 917-779-9709
Via Email: makemusicny@gmail.com
Manhattan’s Meatpacking District joins Make Music New York for the first time this year with InterActive Music New York (IAMNY!), a unique all-day program of interactive and electronic performances in the new pedestrian plazas by 14th St and 9th Ave.
IAMNY! features original compositions in which the music and artists interact with the audience, the immediate environment, or with various forms of technology to deliver a dynamic and spontaneous musical experience.
Highlights include the Manhattan New Music Project’s presentation of Paul Nash’s Still Sounds Run Deep, a Mass Appeal Circuit Bending workshop, and a new iPhone app that allows the audience to perform Terry Riley’s In C together.
To join IAMNY! with your own interactive projects, send a proposal to Ken Umezaki at kumezaki@nyc.rr.com.
(And if you want to join a massive acoustic performance of In C, on the street outside the Cornelia Street Cafe, sign up here!)
Last year, MMNY introduced Mass Appeal, a series of June 21st concerts bringing together hundreds of musicians to play pieces written for a single type of instrument.
24 huge ensembles of trombones, cellos, guitars, accordions, megaphones, and more performed outdoors throughout the city, garnering praise from the NY Times, New Yorker, NY Post, NY Daily News, and more. And hundreds of musicians without groups of their own got a chance to take part in the festival, just by showing up to the right place with the right instrument.
Mass Appeal is back for 2010! 17 groups are now confirmed to participate, including:
** Bagpipes (Herald Square, 6:30pm - 8:30pm)
Pipe Major Patrick Duffy leads a massed group of pipers with many common tunes.
** Clarinets (Battery Park, 5pm - 7pm)
Paul Steinfeld’s clarinet choir performs a mix of pop and classical music for the first hour. Then anyone is invited to bring a clarinet and join in for a few easier pieces.
** Guitars (Union Square, 5pm - 8pm)
Bands from the NYC Guitar School, with massive guitar performances of 7-8 popular songs for everyone to join.
Some Mass Appeal groups plan & rehearse together in the weeks leading up to June 21st; for others, musicians should just show up!
To find out how to join, please email your instrument’s Mass Appeal director for details:
Accordions: Bob Goldberg, banorchestra@earthlink.net
Bagpipes: Pat Duffy, phdnyc@yahoo.com
Cellos: James Jacobs, jdj83061@gmail.com
Circuit benders: Phil Stearns, poppedbubblewrap@gmail.com
Clarinets: Paul Steinfeld, paul.steinfeld@verizon.net
Flutes: Maryann Tu, maryann.tu@gmail.com
French Horns: Mark Taylor, mark@marktaylormusic.net
Gongs: Thomas Kozumplik, tamikaze@gmail.com
Guitars: Genifer Owen, genifer@nycguitarschool.com
Harmonicas: Jia-Yi He, hejiayi@yahoo.com
Megaphones: Avi Wisnia, avi.wisnia@gmail.com
Saxophones: Joel Gombiner, joelhg@gmail.com
Trombones: Kevin McKormack, slidemack@gmail.com
Trumpets: Nick Mauro, nhmjazz@gmail.com
Ukuleles: Rick Bruner, rickbruner@gmail.com
Veenas: Nivedita ShivRaj, niveditashivraj@gmail.com
Violins: Marin Fanjoy-Labrenz, jmf2173@columbia.edu
Punk Island, on Governors Island, is one of MMNY’s annual signature events: “a one-day experiment that turns the stately island into a punk rockers’ paradise” (NY Times). No one lives on the island, so the regular sound limits don’t apply — bands can play as loud as they want!
This year, Make Music New York falls on Monday, June 21st, a day that Governors Island is closed to the public.
So we’ve decided to hold Punk Island on Sunday, June 20th, starting at 10am and going until 2am on June 21st at the new Water Taxi Beach stage, where punk headliners will kick off the rest of Make Music New York in hardcore style!
As always, Punk Island shows are free — but to stay for the headlining acts after 6pm, you’ll need a $15 ferry ticket to get back in the evening. Tickets may be purchased from Slug at slug1369@yahoo.com.