Make Music Day, the worldwide festival of making music held annually on the summer solstice, today announced the return of its vast program with over 5,000 live, free music-making events across the United States and the world over on Friday, June 21.
Launched in France in 1982 as the Fête de la Musique, Make Music Day has become a global phenomenon, celebrated by millions of people in more than 2,000 cities around the world, including 154 cities in the U.S., where it has spread widely after debuting in New York in 2007. Held on the longest day of the year, the world’s largest annual music event celebrates and promotes the natural music maker in everyone, regardless of age or skill level.
Last year, 117 U.S. cities organized 4,791 free Make Music events on June 21, with more than 100 concerts each in Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York, Madison, Wisconsin and Salem, Oregon. In 2024, another 50 U.S. communities will join Make Music Day for the first time. New Jersey is launching new Make Music Day initiatives in Englewood, Newark, Ocean City, and Paterson, sponsored by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority; Wisconsin has grown to encompass 24 Make Music chapters throughout the state; Connecticut oversees 14 citywide celebrations supported by the CT Office of the Arts; North Carolina, through the North Carolina Arts Council, has initiated new chapters in 13 counties; and Texas, through its Music Friendly Texas initiative, will feature 14 celebrations, from Laredo to Dallas. Other cities like Orlando, Tallahassee, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City are also beginning this year, bringing the total to more than 150 Make Music celebrations across the country, and over 2,000 around the world.
Completely different from a traditional music festival, Make Music Day activities are free and open to anyone wanting to participate. Reimagining their cities and towns as stages, every kind of musician — young and old, amateur, and professional, of every musical persuasion — fills streets, parks, plazas, porches, rooftops, gardens, and other public spaces to celebrate, create and share their music with friends, neighbors, and strangers.
Among the many thousands of grassroots music events on June 21, opportunities for everyone to participate will abound.
Other national highlights of Make Music Day 2024 will include:
Flowerpot Music — For the fifth year, participants around the country will be invited to perform a composition by celebrated composer Elliot Cole and directed by percussionist Peter Ferry using an unlikely but beautiful percussion instrument: the flowerpot. Appropriate for musicians and non-musicians alike, participants can join a group and create outdoor soundscapes through easy-to-learn games.
Mass Appeal — People of all ages and skill levels will band together to make music in large, single-instrument groups. This year, leading music brands such as Hohner, Rhythm Band Instruments, and Vic Firth are donating thousands of free instruments so that any member of the public can stop by these events and join the band.
#MySongIsYourSong — Songwriters and composers of all styles and walks of life will join in a global song swap where they will learn a song by another artist and hear theirs covered in return.
Roomful of Pianos — Roomful of Pianos was originally featured at The NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, bringing spectacular performances of music arranged for 10 pianos, 20 pianos, or even 40 pianos to the show’s music industry attendees. Inspired by the NAMM Show experience, more than a dozen piano dealers and music schools are now bringing Roomfuls of Pianos across the country for Make Music Day, creating personalized colossal piano events for each local piano community.
Sousapalooza — In multiple cities, large groups of brass and wind musicians will assemble in parks and plazas to play the music of “March King” John Philip Sousa. Anyone is invited to download the music, bring their horn, and join the band.
Stridulations — For the second year, Make Music Day will feature “Stridulations for the Good Luck Feast,” a set of interlocking rhythmic pieces by Billy Martin (of Medeski Martin & Wood) that anyone can join, whether or not they read music. Following an ingenious system of Xs and dots, participants can sing rhythmic patterns or play them on any instrument, locking together like a samba band, or stretching out to sound like crickets calling to each other across a field. (The word “stridulations” refers to the sound that crickets make. The project will be especially relevant in the U.S. this year, when another singing insect, the periodic cicada, will emerge from Brood XIII and Brood XIX simultaneously for the first time in 221 years.)
String Together — One of the best and easiest ways to improve the sound of your guitar is putting on a fresh set of strings. For Make Music Day, dozens of music retailers are hosting a free string-changing session that comes with a free set of acoustic guitar strings from Elixir Strings (for the first 12 registrants at each store). All are welcome, from complete newbies who have never changed their strings, to more experienced players looking for a few tips from a pro guitar tech.
All Make Music Day events are free and open to the public. Participants who wish to perform, or host musical events, may register at www.makemusicday.org. A full schedule of events will be posted on the website in early June.
