Those of you in New York City this weekend should have no trouble finding a bit of music to enjoy. In fact, it might prove difficult to avoid. You may even find yourself dancing—wildly, uncontrollably—as you stroll along one of the city's many great stretches of sidewalk. The sidewalks themselves will vibrate like drum heads, bend like strings.
The Make Music New York celebration takes place tomorrow and will decorate every inch of the city—streets, playgrounds, parks, and porches—with free live music. It is our very own version of France's Fete de la Musique, which, in its 25 year course, has come to be held on the same day across more than 300 cities in 108 countries, including wonderful places as far off and foreign as Egypt, Syria, Vietnam, Congo, Togo, and Mongolia. It's nice to think of all that music being made at once. Isn't it? Imagine all of the beats and strums traveling throughout the air, across oceans and over mountains. Imagine the sound of such a global song.
The event is simply about making music. Any sort of music. There will be hip-hop and death metal, classical and jazz, folk and R&B and swing, gamelan and mbira and bata, and on and on and on. There will be an entire island of punk rock. There will be music made on GameBoys. There will be high school bands and classical ensembles and impromptu jams.
The event boasts an impressive list of artistic advisors including Don Byron, Lee Ranaldo, Meredith Monk, Paquito D'Rivera, John Corigliano, and Steve Reich, and is set to become an annual and ever-growing affair. The
MMNY website offers a great deal of interesting information on the origins of Fete de la Musique and its presence in other cities across the world, as well as everything you'll need to know in order to take advantage of it here.
