Make music at winter stops in Ossining as part of the 20-city event – River Journal Online

Make music in winterthe free outdoor celebration with exuberant musical events in 20 U.S. cities, today announced the lineup for its Winter Solstice programs Saturday December 21st. These festivals on the shortest day of the year bring people of all musical abilities and styles together to play, sing, march and dance together through streets, squares, parks and other public spaces.

First launched in 2011 as a complement to the annual Make Music Day on June 21, Make Music Winter focuses on musical parades that anyone can participate in, from a procession of strolling ukulele players to a Puerto Rican parranda. Every Make Music Winter city has at least one mobile event that turns audiences into music makers and is free for everyone to attend.

Participating communities this year include: Ossining (NY), Fairfield (CT), Atlanta And Macon (GA), Boston (MA), Brunswick County, Kinston, And Surry County (NC), Montclair (NJ), Muskogee (OK), Salem (OR), Chattanooga And Germantown (TN), Saledo (TX), Land O’Lakes, Middleton And Milwaukee (WI), And Aberdeen And Gig Harbor (WA).

New York CityThe Make Music Winter flagship will present several projects this season, including Street Motets for New York City by British composer Pete M. Wyer, commissioned by Make Music New York for the occasion. Fifty choristers form pairs and embark on separate, hour-long routes through the streets of Greenwich Village, all synchronized through the use of keynote music played through earbuds. Each couple will meet with others at different points in their journey to delight viewers with unexpected bursts of harmony before all singers come together for the program’s dramatic finale at the Fountain Plaza in Washington Square Park.

Nearby, Astor Place Plaza will host Christmas songs on the ukulele by local singer/songwriter and ukulele expert Gwendolyn Fitz, followed by Kevin Nathaniel’s new Kalimba Unity Groove Experiencewith jam-friendly tools for public participation. Recurring Make Music Winter programs include: Flatfoot Flatbush with dancers, fiddlers and pickers parading down Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, playing old tunes while doing flatfooting, a form of percussive dance from the Appalachians; Tilted Axes: Music for mobile electric guitarsa guitarist orchestra led by Patrick Grant performing original, freewheeling music downtown; Gaits: A high-line sound walk with immersive, site-specific music by Lainie Fefferman, Jascha Narveson and Cameron Britt that transforms participants’ movements into musical improvisations on The High Line; Mobile Hallelujah Meet at seven downtown locations to sing the uplifting “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s work Messiah; A Harmonica holiday jam under the direction of soloist and teacher Jia-Yi He at Hudson Yards; and two Parrandasin East Harlem and the Bronx to celebrate Puerto Rican’s rich musical culture. For the full schedule of the NYC celebration, including times, meeting locations and details on how to attend, visit MakeMusicNY.org.

Other cities are planning their own extensive winter programs. Montclair NJThe 8th annual Make Music Winter celebrates the season with six musical events, including Phil Kline’s Boombox Parade silent NightAnd The world was upside downa participatory jam featuring Appalachian, bluegrass and zydeco protest songs. Salem ORThe 7th annual Yule Make Music features a bell parade through downtown, winter treats and live bands Chattanooga TNThe first Make Music Winter brings six music events to an outdoor market, soup kitchen and local retailers.

At national level Rhythm band instruments (RBI) Make Music Winter is celebrating its fifth year, providing twelve cities with over 400 instruments from handbells to boomwhackers for percussion parades and jam sessions Atlanta (GA), Germantown (TN), Gig Harbor (WA), Kinston And Surry County (NC), Middleton And Milwaukee (WI), Montclair (NJ), Muskogee (OK), new York And Ossining (NY), And Salado (TX).

And Slovenia Flight ukulele is also participating in Make Music Winter with a national program this year and is donating 110 all-weather travel ukuleles for winter parades in Aberdeen And Gig Harbor (WA), Atlanta (GA), Germantown (TN), Milwaukee (WI), Montclair (NJ), And Surry County (NC).

All information about events and participating cities can be found at MakeMusicDay.org/Winter.

Make Music Winter is presented by the NAMM Foundation (NAMMFoundation.org) and coordinated by the nonprofit Make Music Alliance (MakeMusicDay.org).