Ambassadors

Make Music Day

Carmine and Vinny Appice

“Music has always been my life. I always love to see people’s faces light up and smile while we are performing for them. It lets out all my feelings going on at the time I am performing. I could not imagine my life without music. And playing drums is great exercise!” – Carmine

“Music is an energy & passion inside of me. It’s always there when I need it, never lets me down. It does amazing wonders to the physical, emotional, and mental health of the listener and player. It’s magic to be able to touch people’s lives around the world, there are no language barriers.” – Vinny

Babyface

Black Violin

Brian Chase

“Make Music Day is a remarkable day that converts cities into concert spaces and pedestrians into audience. To hear specifically-crafted music coming from notable public locales reveals unexpected creativity in the place of the ordinary. And it provides a snapshot of each city’s leading talent and the diversity of its communities.”

Peter Cincotti

“What I love about Make Music Day is that it simultaneously erases barriers and embraces differences, becoming a global reminder of the language that connects us all: MUSIC.”

Quinn DeVeaux

“Make Music Day is the worldwide celebration of music and that celebration started for me at a very young age. Music was my connection to my grandmother growing up. She could be a hard woman to get to know but if we were connecting about music then she would soften like butter and we’d have a grand old time. She got me piano lessons and got my sister and I to harmonize with each other for the first time. It was always a family affair when it came to singing and I remember conversations around the dinner table about the best singers and songs and so when I started playing guitar the love I felt in those moments around the table came back to me. Music takes me where I wanna go, future past and present.”

Charles Esten

“You think you’re someone who “can’t make music?” I think you might just be someone who hasn’t explored all the ways that you could. Spend a couple hours in a music store. Try instrument after instrument. Don’t be self-conscious. Just have fun. You’re not playing for anybody else. You’re playing for yourself. So keep trying. At some point – maybe not that first day, or that first shop – but at some point, you’ll pick an instrument up, sound a few notes, and find that suddenly… something rings in you. Something moves you. There’s a connection. That’s what you’re looking for. Water where you thought it was dry. Music where you thought there was none. Get that instrument. Take it home. Play it. Learn it. And make music.”

Philip Glass

“In the last few years, I’ve been a part of Make Music Day concerts all over New York City – on an Upper West Side pier, at a Greenwich Village block party, and in the middle of Times Square. I’ve seen firsthand the joy and sense of community this celebration brings. I’m proud to support the efforts of Make Music Day to foster participatory music-making across the country, and around the world.”

Andy Grammer

Daniel Ho

“Make Music Day is a wonderful holiday that’s all about people sharing music with each other. I led a ukulele event for Make Music Los Angeles in 2014, where anyone could bring their instrument and join, and I could feel the spirit of Aloha in the park that day.”

Mandy Jiroux

“Make Music Day is a great reminder of the power of music. Music is the world’s universal language that brings people together. No matter who you are, what culture you’re from, or what religion you believe in, music is something we can all relate to and understand. Music is life. Music is healing. Music is unity.”

Paige King Johnson

“Make Music Day seems like a good excuse to celebrate the single thing that brings me the most joy – music. I love writing music, making music, performing music, listening to music, dancing to music, discovering music, teaching music, studying music and so much more! Music is something that deserves to be celebrated because of the joy and satisfaction and life lessons that come along with it. And music isn’t just for those who feel “gifted”; music is for everyone! We were told to “make a joyful noise” in whatever way we can, and music offers that opportunity in so many ways. I hope everyone can take Make Music Day to bring joy to themselves and others around them!”

Glenn Kotche

“The goal of Make Music Day is simply to celebrate music, a universal art form that binds us and enriches our lives and cultures in so many ways. Make Music Day is truly special and unique in its inclusiveness of all musicians of any level or genre – or anyone at all – who wants to participate and spread the joy of music.”

Lenka

“I believe in Make Music Day and the whole concept of liberating music from the constraints it sometimes acquires. Everyone has a go, everyone benefits from music’s powers. The more music the better!”

Christian McBride

“What I love about Make Music Day is that it brings music out to the public with no barriers or boundaries. On June 21st, you never know what you might hear – a jazz trio on a train platform, a funk band in a prison, or a string quartet on a porch. They’re celebrating every kind of music and bringing people together. It’s a great day and I’m happy to see it growing nationwide.”

Ian Mellencamp

“Music enhances everything and unifies individuals. It convinces us to drop our guards in a way that permits us to be vulnerable. It’s a language that dissolves our formalities and opens us up to revealing our true feelings and desires. That’s why creating music is so important.”

Taylor Momsen

“Music is a universal language. It frees the mind and soul. Now more than ever, the chance to play music needs to be introduced to as many people as possible to help expand our minds and create a better future.”

Graham Nash

“It’s been scientifically proven that when music is a part of the school curriculum students a. feel better about themselves, b. are less likely to get into gangs and trouble, c. get better grades, and d. have a better understanding about their whole world. These are the sound reasons for making sure that music is a part of the school programs.”

OK Go

“Why do we love Make Music Day? Because for one day of the year music gets to run free in the streets in all of its most insane and mundane permutations. Want to bring your clarinet to a park at 5am and play a duet with birds? Go for it. Want to hang out on a pier filled with over 100 punk bands? By all means. But maybe you’d rather run 800ft long piano strings from the top of the Manhattan Bridge so you can play the world’s lowest note at street level. Well you can do that too. For one day of the year, across hundreds of events and locations, music breaks free of the rock club, free of curators, free of your headphones, and pours out into the streets. And that’s why we love it.”

Lee Oskar

“As one who equates making music with the joy of life itself, I LOVE the all-inclusive, celebratory, free-wheeling and open-ended spirit of Make Music Day! This special day represents exactly what music is all about as the world’s greatest unifier for ALL people to embrace, express, and experience!”

Doug Perkins

“Make Music Day is one of the best days of the year. I can’t imagine a better holiday than this one where music makers fill stages, parks, porches, street corners, and more to make the world sound better. I have personally had some of the best musical experiences of my life playing concerts in Central Park Lake, Morningside Park, playing drums down the whole length of Broadway as part of Make Music NY. Make Music Day is a wonderfully inclusive celebration of sonic creativity and I love it!”

Alex Skolnick

“Music serves many functions, from the simple providing of pleasurable ambience and entertainment to far higher purposes such as the harnessing of educational skills and bringing about of positive social change. With our society currently witnessing an unprecedented erosion of ethics, rationality and human decency, along with attempts to discredit and silence those who don’t fall in line, the power of music and art is more essential than ever. For all these reasons and more, it is a great honor to be an Ambassador for Make Music Day.”

Nita Strauss

“Never give up! Trust yourself, practice hard and keep kicking down doors until the right one opens.”

Tokyo Police Club

“In my decade plus of leading a band, I have found the true secret to creativity is to be a beginner every time you play a note. That’s when I forget my preconceptions and expectations and am truly free to express myself, in the moment. Make Music Day can put us in that frame of mind. By uniting music makers from every walk of life, it reminds us that music is bigger than any one culture, viewpoint or experience and that we can revel in being humbled by it. – Dave Monk, lead singer”

Tower of Power

“I’ve been a bandleader for 54 years and making music has given me a life beyond my wildest dreams. For me making music is a spiritual journey that nourishes my mind, body, soul, and spirit. I’ve seen its benefits in my children and I’ve made lifelong friends around the world because of it. I’ve fallen in love with my favorite songs and those same songs have brought me through the most painful of times. To me making music is a blessing directly from God.”

Elise Trouw

Us The Duo

“No matter where we travel around the world, there’s always one thing that’s consistent… people love, feel, express, and react to music. It’s universal. It’s powerful. It breaks through language and social barriers. It brings hope and peace to desperate situations. It gives life to emotions that we would otherwise have no idea how to feel. And although music is constantly happening all around us, Make Music Day celebrates it in one glorious day of sound-making in the streets of a city or town near you. We love our mothers daily, but Mother’s Day is special because it allows us to celebrate & remember all of their amazing qualities. Make Music Day is no different. It gives all of us, worldwide, an organized reason to listen and make the most powerful thing this world has to offer… music. This June 21st, don’t forget to pause, look around you, and remember how important music is to you.”

Suzanne Vega

“I’ve been part of a few Make Music Day concerts, and it’s heartening to see people responding to the music as they go about their day. I have watched my husband Poez perform concerts in Harlem on the street in front of a coffee shop; in a beautiful garden on the Upper West Side; and downtown on a side street flanked by high buildings. Once I performed a concert at the French Embassy on Make Music Day, which has led to a great friendship. I am glad to help it continue around the world.”

Vintage Trouble

“To change is to grow, to change often is to perfect. Long live music!”

Eric Whitacre

“It’s simple: Music Changes Lives. Make Music Day cuts through social and economic barriers and brings us together using all musical genres. Sing in your choir, play in your band, jam with people you’ve never met before or play found instruments in unusual spaces. Join the world community of musicians and feel the extraordinary connection between us.”

Bernie Williams