‘Make Music Day’ Plots 4,500 Free Events, Concerts Nationwide

The annual Make Music Day festival will return June 21st with over 4,500 free events, music lessons, jam sessions and concerts planned in over 70 cities across the United States. Make Music Day strives to bring together “musicians of all ages, backgrounds and genres, amateur and professional alike, to make and enjoy music.”

Make Music Day will revive several staple events for 2018, including over 200 Mass Appeals. The festival’s signature gathering boasts massive groups of musicians delivering impromptu performances while playing the same instruments. Elsewhere, hundreds of marching band enthusiasts will be able to celebrate the work of John Philip Sousa at various Sousapaloozas, while “Street Studios” will be set-up in more than 10 cities. These pop-up recording stations allow DJs and producers to make music with anyone who wanders by (one will even be placed in a cow pasture in Reedsburg, Wisconsin).

Individual cities are also hosting their own special events, such as Chattanooga, Tennessee, which will honor hometown hero Usher with a special car karaoke station. At the Nashville airport, local legend Lucius “Spoon Man” Talley will lead travelers in a mass spoon play-along, while the Chicago Philharmonic will invite students and community musicians to join them in rehearsing and performing a free mixed program at Humboldt Park Boathouse.

In New York City, a special Broadway revue will be held at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park, while a massive concert featuring music in a range of styles will be held at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. In New Haven, Connecticut, organizers will try to break the record for the most vocal solos in a song recording, and on the steps of the world’s largest “M” – built out of limestone on a hillside in Platteville, Wisconsin – participants will gather for a concert exclusively featuring percussion instruments.

Make Music Day began in France in 1982 and now takes place in more than 800 cities across 120 countries around the world. For more information on events and participating cities, visit the Make Music Day website.