Spend some time tomorrow going to free music events around Boston at Make Music Boston! This is a fabulous celebration of the City’s diverse music scene.

I was privileged to photograph the event the past two years and am sad to miss it this year (because I do not live in the area at this point). I made a number of friends from some of the performances I saw in addition to hearing their wonderful music.

One of my personal favorites was the Bucket Drumming – you can participate or stand back and enjoy. I highly recommend that event.

On Thursday, June 21st, the fifth annual Make Music Boston festival will fill 36 of Boston’s outdoor spaces and music venues with over 85 live concerts, free and open to the public. From classical to folk, hip hop to opera, Latin jazz to punk rock, live music of all kinds will resound on streets, sidewalks, plazas, parks, gardens, storefronts and other public spaces on the longest day of the year.

This year, Make Music Boston is sponsoring four anchor performances: Converge Arts, Water Music, Crayon Box, and Ring A Bell, as well as two mass appeals where the public can join in for bucket drumming and harmonica jam sessions.

Crayon Box // 2pm-4:30pm

Dudley Cafe

Crayon Box will give participants a chance to write their own music and listen to a trio of professionals perform their creation. The Crayon Box station will be complete with two digital tablets where participants can make their own graphic musical score based on a color – violet, blue, green, red, yellow, orange, black or brown. These digital scores will be displayed on a screen hung in front of the Dudley Café outdoor wall, and the scores will be animated with the assistance of a digital artist. A trio directed by Amanda Ekery, made up of voice, bass and saxophone will perform participants’ scores. This project engages the community to be a part of the music making and allows for one-on-one interaction between performers and listeners.

Bells, Bells, Bells // 5pm-6pm

Edgar Allan Poe Statue: Intersection of Boylston & Charles St. adjacent to Boston Common

This project is inspired by “Bells, Bells, Bells,” a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. Ring A Bell explores memories and our many associations with the sound of a bell. The Thread Ensemble (two violinists and a vibraphonist) will work with listeners to create a piece by distributing 50 bells to passersby and attendees. Unfolding in in three phases, the experience will culminate in a performance by the audience of 50+ bell players and the trio of professionals.

CONVERGE ARTS // 5pm-8pm

Magazine Beach, Cambridge

Converge Arts Boston in collaboration with Mattapan Teen Center, and Cambridge Community Center will present a teen-produced showcase of youth musicians, for which students will take on performance, design, and production roles, along with the support of Make Music Boston and Converge Arts. The program will empower teens from Mattapan and Cambridge to take on artistic leadership roles and develop technical skills while working together towards a shared goal, under the guidance of teaching artist Devin Ferreira. The event will also feature lawn games, visual art-making activities, and free yoga at Magazine Beach in Cambridge.

Water Music // 7:30pm-9:30pm

The Charles River Esplanade

A site-specific, environmental work, Water Music at Make Music Boston is inspired by the Charles River and the many roles water plays in our daily lives. Directed by Maria Finkelmeier, 59 musicians (brass players, percussionists, and singers) will perform newly commissioned work by Marti Epstein, C. Neil Parsons, Maria Finkelmeier, Anthony Green, and Manuel Garcia. The performers will be placed along the Esplanade walkway, near the Arther Fiedler memorial, and the new works will be performed at sunset on the Summer Solstice. Listeners will each create their own experience by walking within and around the performers themselves.

MMB MASS APPEALS

Harmonica Playing // 1:00-3:00pm

Boston Center For The Arts, Boston

Learn how to play the harmonica with guidance from a professional musician at the Boston Center For The Arts! The first 100 participants will receive a free harmonica from Hohner Harmonicas.

Bucket Drumming with Zeke Martin and Friends // 4:30-8:00pm

Long Wharf North, Boston

Jam on buckets with professional drummer Zeke Martin, at Long Wharf North in Boston! Participants will receive free drumsticks from Vic Firth, and get the chance to experiment with bucket lids from Remo.

Circle Singing Boston // 5:30-7:00pm
Joan Lorentz Park, Cambridge Public Library

CircleSinging is a spontaneous, improvisational community-singing experience, a little bit like a “drum circle” for singers. Come and sing. You’ll follow along as a leader creates a new short melody, and then harmonies, all newly created by a spontaneous community.

ABOUT MAKE MUSIC BOSTON

Make Music Boston (MMB) is part of an international effort in more than 750 cities in 120 countries. Inspired by France’s Fête de la Musique, Make Music Day is a day for all musicians – young, old, professional, or amateur – and all audiences. With support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, The Cambridge Arts Council, and The Esplanade Association, MMB will fill the summer solstice with music. Performers are matched with venues such as  the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, Downtown Crossing, Boston Common, New England Aquarium, The Lawn on D, and Boston Public Market. Matchmaking takes place through an online profile service, which also posts a map of the day’s free performances at makemusicboston.org.

KEEP UP WITH MAKE MUSIC BOSTON ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook: www.facebook.com/makemusicbos/

Facebook event: www.facebook.com/events/1994289237553799/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/makemusicbos

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kadencearts/

Official hashtag: #MMBos2018

LINKS

MMB website: www.makemusicboston.org

Kadence Arts website: www.kadencearts.org