Having experienced the Fête de la Musique in Paris in 2006, Aaron Friedman was inspired to create a comparable event in New York. Alongside founding board members Robert Singerman & Steven Swartz, and with support from Citizens Committee for NYC, Mr. Friedman brought together a group of volunteers and organized the first “Make Music New York,” with free concerts throughout the five boroughs. The name came from the event’s French slogan, “Faites de la musique!” (“Make music!”).

560 performances included:
a kazoo jam session outside a Morningside Heights church • dozens of indie bands blanketing Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg • Tuvan throat singers outside the Rubin Museum of Art • high school Christian rock bands in Sunset Park • the NYPD jazz band at Coney Island • a kick-off on the field at Shea Stadium with former French Minister of Culture Jack Lang and guitarist Sylvain Luc • In C on Cornelia Street in the West Village

Press:
“All-Day Festival of Sounds, From African to Operatic,” by Vivien Schweitzer, New York Times, June 23, 2007

Download the 2007 program (PDF)