September 12, 2023
Announcing Make Music Winter 2023!
The winter counterpart to Make Music Day returns on Thursday, December 21!
Make Music Winter is a series of free, outdoor musical celebrations, taking place last year in 30+ U.S. cities. People of all ages, musical abilities, and backgrounds meet up to promenade and play participatory music for bells, electric guitars, voices, gongs, and more.
It’s a joyful way to ring in the longest night of the year, and celebrate the end of 2023.
For December 21, we are looking for events that turn audiences into music makers, in a true “make music” spirit!
Some popular initiatives will return from previous years, including String Together, Roomful of Pianos, Bell by Bell, and The Resonant Path. We can help you bring one of these ideas to life in your community, or you can come up with something completely new!
For more inspiration and guidance for what Make Music Winter can look like, visit makemusicwinter.org and check out the photos, videos, and handbooks.
Have an idea of what you want to do? If you’re interested in leading an event for Make Music Winter on December 21, just fill out this form. We will get back to you right away.
June 29, 2023
Mark your calendar for Make Music Winter: December 21, 2023!
June 29, 2023
Thank you to our national sponsors!
June 29, 2023
Make Music Day – thank you!
Congratulations to all who took part in last week’s Make Music Day!
An astounding 4,791 music-making events took place in the U.S. on June 21 – 25% more than in 2022 – along with performances by thousands more musicians in 120 countries around the world who celebrated the day.
Check out 206 press clips about Make Music Day 2023, from media outlets in 71 U.S. cities, to learn about events you may have missed!
And congratulations to the winners of this year’s #MySongIsYourSong prize drawing, Damian Morris from Sydney Australia, and Ryan Oyer from Chattanooga, TN. Damian and Ryan will each receive a concert ukulele from Flight, a Scarlett 4i4 audio interface, and a Launchkey 37. Their performances, and others, are posted on the #MySongIsYourSong page.
June 21, 2023
MMD scale challenge: 12 keys completed!
We are finishing our scale challenge today, on Make Music Day, with the 12th key, Bb major. Congratulations! You have learned all of the major scales, which is a major achievement and something to be very proud of.
For today’s practice, you know what to do—play this scale thoughtfully, with awareness, listen as you play, and don’t rush. See if you can play it perfectly the first time through, by waiting until you are sure of the next note before you play it. This may seem really slow and tedious, but this cultivation of awareness will resonate through everything you play, and elevate the level of your playing. As before, play all of the previous scales that we learned, and assess how much you have grown as a musician in the past 12 weeks. Maybe you will choose to continue this work beyond Make Music Day, with the minor scales, or something else?
The route we took through all the keys was a little unusual, and I hope that this was interesting and stimulated further thought about the order in which you practice. Thank you for joining us, and Happy Make Music Day! #makemusicpractice
June 20, 2023
10 Press Previews for Make Music Day
- “What’s new about this year’s Make Music Madison?,” by Hannah Ritvo, The Isthmus, June 19, 2023
- “CT towns to host Make Music Day celebrations on June 21,” by Abby Weiss, CT Insider, May 31, 2023
- “Hawaiʻi prepares to celebrate Make Music Day,” by Russell Subiono, Hawaii Public Radio, June 14, 2023
- “Make Music Day invites Huntsville musicians to show their skills,” by Alex Pfenenger, Alabama Public Radio, June 20, 2023
- “Make Music New York to Present Unique Open Performance of Mozart’s ‘Requiem’,” by David Salazar, Opera Wire, June 19, 2023
- “Make Music Day comes back to Salem in full-force on June 21,” by Kristian Foden-Vencil, Oregon Public Broadcasting, June 16, 2023
- “Music Mania: International Make Music Day brings extra strums and drums to Santa Fe,” by Alex De Vore and Noah Hale, Santa Fe Reporter, June 14, 2023
- “Randolph Readies for Global Celebration of Music,” The Herald, June 8, 2023
- “Laredo musicians invited to perform as part of Make Music Day,” by Louis San Miguel, Laredo Morning Times, June 13, 2023
- “Want to learn guitar or join a kazoo parade? York’s Make Music Day will make that possible,” by Tina Locurto, York Dispatch, June 12, 2023
June 18, 2023
Make Music City of the Week: Lviv, Ukraine
In Ukraine, Make Music Day celebrates its 10th anniversary in Lviv, where the event continues to flourish despite Russia’s invasion of the country.
Sixty-seven musical groups, ranging from electronic music to the Ukrainian hurdy-gurdy, are on the schedule at 44 locations in the city, all with free performances and collection boxes for the Musicians Defend Ukraine foundation.
June 18, 2023
Make Music Partner of the Week: Vic Firth
The Vic Firth Company, setting the standard for percussion since its inception in 1963, is stepping up to support two Make Music Day programs this year.
All percussionists who attend Flowerpot Music will receive Balter mallets, a key element to get that clean flowerpot sound. And even more generously, Vic Firth will provide drumsticks for this year’s 28 Mass Appeal Bucket Drumming sessions. These events will range from structured classes to free-flowing bucket drumming circles, according to the concept of each local organizer. To take part, all you need is a beat in your heart… and a pair of sticks.
Thank you, Vic Firth!
June 18, 2023
Flowerpot Music
Music on June 21 can come from anyone, anywhere, and just about anything.
As if to prove the point, celebrated composer Elliot Cole and percussionist Peter Ferry are again organizing a series of music especially for Make Music Day, featuring an unlikely but beautiful percussion instrument – the flowerpot!
This year, sixteen groups around the U.S. will come out to parks, fields, and plazas to perform Flowerpot Music, a set of easy-to-learn musical games. Anyone can join the events and make a great sound on a flowerpot – no experience required.
Find Flowerpot Music near you!
June 18, 2023
New for 2023: Global Jam Sessions
Two new programs give you a chance to jam with other musicians on June 21, all joining Make Music Day from around the world!
Lessonface has organized 16 free live online jam sessions on June 21, using Zoom’s new Live Performance Audio feature. Instructors from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Israel, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S. will lead jams for beatboxers, bluegrass players, jazz and funk musicians, rock guitarists, Native American flutists, vocalists, and more! Click here to RSVP.
Meanwhile, participants from all over the world are invited to join Trevor New’s Cohere Touch, developed with the American Composers Orchestra. As performers play this large-scale, remote composition over Zoom, other participants can improvise with hand and body movements that impact the music and create on-screen animations.
On June 21, Trevor will be on Zoom all day, with a main performance at 2:00pm (EDT). RSVP to play, listen to the performance, or stop in throughout the day to explore the work. Click here to RSVP.