Music on June 21 can come from anyone, anywhere, and anything – even flowerpots.
Flowerpot Music, written by celebrated composer Elliot Cole and directed by percussionist Peter Ferry, is a composition for an unlikely but beautiful percussion instrument – the flowerpot! Last year on June 21st, 26 groups around the U.S. assembled in parks, fields and public squares, to learn and then perform the piece, specially composed for Make Music Day.
Flowerpot Music returns in 2023! Join a group and create outdoor soundscapes through easy-to-learn games, appropriate for musicians and non-musicians alike.
Register here to start a Flowerpot Music event near you, or to be connected with a local event leader.
Mallets for Flowerpot Music generously donated by:
Albany, NY
Location: Washington Park
Time: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Leader: Keith Morales
Email: kmorales@albanyny.gov
Anaheim, CA
Location: Anaheim Packing District
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Leader: Cat Wilson Smith
Email: manderson@aesd.org
Atlanta, GA
Location: Brownwood Park, 607 Brownwood Ave SE
Time: 12:00 PM
Leader: Chelsea Sommers
Email: hello@eastatlantabiz.com
Cheshire, CT
Location: 493 West Main Street
Time: 03:00 pm – 04:00 pm
Email: lblaisdell@ballandsocket.org
Chicago, IL
Location: Horner Park – 2741 W Montrose Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
Time: 05:00 pm – 06:00 pm
Cotuit, MA
Location: Ropes Field, Cotuit
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Leader: Su D’Ambrosio from Cape Symphony
Email: sue@blt.org
Florence, AL
Location: Florence-Lauderdale Public Library
Time: 11:45 am – 12:30 pm
Leader: Abby Carpenter
Email: abby@flpl.org
Frisco, TX
Location: The Harvest at Frisco Commons, 8000 McKinney Rd
Time: 09:00 am – 10:00 am
Leader: Grayson Dean
Email: gdean@friscotexas.gov
Nashville, TN
Location: Shelby Bottoms Nature Center 1900 Shelby Bottoms Greenway
Time: 01:00 pm – 02:30 pm
Leader: Christine Comer
Email: cvcomer3@gmail.com
New York, NY
Location: The Nethermead in Prospect Park
Time: 05:00 pm – 07:45 pm
Leader: Karl Ronneburg
Email: karl.allmusic@gmail.com
New York, NY
Location: Smiling Hogshead Ranch, 25-30 Skillman Avenue
Time: 03:00 pm – 08:00 pm
Leader: Elizabeth Aceituno
Email: elituno@gmail.com
Orange, CA
Location: The Potting Shed, Orange Plaza
Time: 05:30 pm – 06:00 pm
Leader: Kim Le
Santa Fe, NM
Location: Santa Fe Railyard Plaza
Time: 03:00 pm – 05:00 pm
Leader: Megan Louderman
Email: francescajozette@gmail.com
Seattle, WA
Location: Pier 62
Time: 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
York County, PA
Locations: Martin Library, Kaltreider-Benfer Library, Dover Library
Time: 12:00 pm – 04:00 pm
Leader: Carmen Walsh
Email: Rita@culturalyork.org
Make Music Day Flowerpot Music: Gallery
Elliot Cole, Composer
Elliot Cole is a composer and “charismatic contemporary bard” (New York Times) whose music “evokes sparkling icicles of sound” (Rolling Stone). He has performed his music with Grammy winners Roomful of Teeth, Grammy nominees A Far Cry and Metropolis Ensemble, as well as Alkemie Early Music Ensemble, Projeto Arcomusical, the Lucerne Festival Academy, and as a member of the book-club-band Oracle Hysterical. His percussion music has been performed by over 250 percussion ensembles all over the world. He is on faculty at The New School and Juilliard Evening Division, and also runs a music school for incarcerated men at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, NY.
Peter Ferry, Artistic Director
Acclaimed as “the ingenious percussionist Peter Ferry,” (Chicago Sun-Times), Peter Ferry is a young American percussion soloist re-imagining classical performances around the world through contemporary repertoire projects and innovative artistic collaborations. Ferry has been a guest artist at dozens of universities as well as the Zeltsman Marimba Festival in New Brunswick, NJ, and has stepped in as a guest percussionist with acclaimed ensembles Alarm Will Sound, Third Coast Percussion, Ensemble Dal Niente, and Eighth Blackbird. With Alarm Will Sound, Ferry serves as the Assistant Director of Artistic Planning, envisioning and managing the artistic activities of one of the world’s leading contemporary music ensembles.