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Make Music Winter, a free celebration with exuberant and participatory musical processions, performances and virtual events in twenty U.S. cities on Monday December 21, has announced its complete schedule at makemusicwinter.org.
Since 2011, people of all ages, musical abilities, and backgrounds have met up for Make Music Winter to promenade through public spaces and play music for bells, electric guitars, percussion, and more. It’s a joyful, socially-distanced, and safe way to ring in the winter solstice, and celebrate the end of a long, wearying year. Make Music Winter is the cold-weather counterpart to Make Music Day, the annual global celebration of music occurring each June 21, the summer solstice.
“This has been an unpredictable and difficult year for so many,” said Aaron Friedman, President of the Make Music Alliance. “Despite it all, we can still count on music to bring us together and help us get through it. We are grateful and excited to see Make Music Winter continue for its 10th anniversary year.”
In addition to the flagship event in New York City, where over a dozen programs will be held in neighborhoods across the city, Make Music Winter celebrations will take place in Boston (MA), Briarcliff (NY), Chequamegon Bay (WI), Columbia (SC), Columbus (OH), El Paso (TX), Federal Way (WA), Hartford (CT), Hawai’i, Islamorada (FL), Land O’ Lakes (WI), Long Beach (CA), Milwaukee (WI), Montclair (NJ), Ossining (NY), Portland (ME), Santa Fe (NM), and St Louis (MO). Over 375 percussion instruments will be donated nationwide by Rhythm Band Instruments for use in fourteen cities.
Live and In-Person Events
Make Music Winter’s outdoor celebrations, with participants spread out at a safe distance, are among the rare in-person events still viable in this disrupted holiday season.
In New York, NY, Make Music Winter will include a world premiere by composer Pete Wyer, an immersive choral installation entitled “For Love and Only for Love: Letters to New York,” to be presented with The New York Botanical Garden. Visitors are invited to explore the NYBG’s Native Plant Garden, at their own pace and socially distanced, as the prerecorded music – performed by choirs of up to 72 voices projected over 24 independent speakers – inspires reflection on themes of love, gratitude, acceptance, and our connection with nature during the pandemic. Because the Garden is closed on December 21, the program will debut on the weekend of December 19-20, will run through January 10, 2021, and is included with any NYBG timed-entry ticket.
Other live programs in New York on December 21 include: “Harmonicas in Solidarity,” a participatory project from NYU Faculty Housing Happenings led by Dr. Dave Schroeder and residents of Washington Square Village; “Bell by Bell,” featuring handbell compositions for beginners, at Elizabeth Street Garden; “Flatfoot Flatbush,” a Brooklyn parade celebrating percussive music and dancing from Appalachia; and “Ukulele Caroling,” a festive holiday-themed performance in the West Village. Additional community-led and family-friendly events will be held in the neighborhoods of East Harlem, Melrose, Kensington and St. George.
Outside of New York, in-person events will take place around the country.
Window Serenades
Window Serenades make up another national highlight of this year’s Make Music Winter. On December 21, musicians will share the joy of live music with isolated older adults during the darkest days of the year, bringing solo artists or small groups to play outside nursing home windows for those who request a song.
In Boston, MA, the Unlikely Strummers ukulele band will perform window serenades at several area nursing homes and assisted living centers. Hartford, CT will organize a “Buckets & Bells” performance for nursing home residents. Milwaukee, WI and Briarcliff / Ossining, NY will join forces to collect virtual window serenades from local musicians and share them with residents in each city for Make Music Winter. And in England, small groups of volunteer musicians in Ilkley, UK will play carols and Christmas songs outside of care homes, nursing homes and housing facilities for elderly people (organized by Musicians Coronavirus Action Ilkley).
Virtual Events
All Make Music Winter events are free and open to the public. Complete details are available at www.makemusicwinter.org. Due to the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, events are subject to change. Make Music Winter is presented by The NAMM Foundation and coordinated by the nonprofit Make Music Alliance.
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