MMNY inaugurated “Mass Appeal,” a participatory series bringing together hundreds of musicians, from the amateur cellist to the professional harmonica player, to play pieces written for a single type of instrument. Punk Island continued to flourish, becoming an annual tradition. The Bronx Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Queens Museum of Art, Staten Island Museum, and Guggenheim all came on board. WNYC became MMNY’s official radio partner. Check out the full program here.

Program Highlights Included:
Henry Brant’s Orbits for 80 trombones at the Guggenheim Museum, named one of the year’s “ten memorable performances” by the New Yorker • a jazz block party on the Upper West Side with Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, and three Jazzmobile concerts • French pop star Yannick Noah at Central Park Summer Stage • hundreds of guitarists playing Beatles songs in Union Square, a 40-member “Accordion Forest” in Park Slope, a 4-piano block party on Cornelia Street and other Mass Appeal groups • African Jazz with pianist Randy Weston at the Jazz Gallery

Press:
“Symphony of the City,” by Alex Ross, The New Yorker, July 6, 2009