In a celebratory program led by local singer/songwriter and ukelele whiz Gwendolyn Fitz, players of all skill levels are welcomed to participate in this group play-along. Song selections will include classic holiday and repertoire tunes for the ukulele.  

To register to participate, email gwendolynfitzmusic@gmail.com. 

Calling all pianists, of all ages! 

Celebrate the season with a very special version of Make Music’s signature series Roomful of Pianos: “23 Mixed Nuts.” The program will present an adapted version of Tchaikovsky’s timeless holiday classic, The Nutcracker Suite, to be performed simultaneously on multiple pianos (up to ten at a time!) The program will be led by conductor Zane Myers and the festivities will include a visit from the dynamic Duo Mundi and surprise guests. 

If you’re interested in playing, make sure to register below! Our younger pianists should register with a partner in a pre-formed and rehearsed duo. Single adult pianists in need of a partner should indicate which part (Primo or Secondo) they will be playing when they register for their specific piece. We are also in need of Volunteer coach-helpers for both evenings! 

Performers must attend rehearsal on Monday, December 18th at 7 pm, as well as the concert on December 21st. Call-time on December 21st is 6m. 

You will find scores to the music below, including: 

Selected Arrangements

Waltz of the Flowers (Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced)

Miniature Overture - Elementary (Goldston)

Miniature Overture - Intermediate (Rollin)

Russian Dance (Elementary)

The Entire Nutcracker Suite

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Intermediate, Elementary)

Arab Dance (Elementary)

Reed Flutes (Intermediate, Elementary)

Chinese Dance (Intermediate, Advanced)

Trepak (All levels)

March (All levels)

The March and the Trepak will be open to all players - those who would like to learn more than one piece may also play those selections!

Presented by The New York State Music Teachers Association, District 1 Manhattan-Bronx in partnership with PianoPiano. 

The Bronx Music Heritage Center (BMHC) hosts its 9th consecutive Make Music Winter program in the Melrose section of the Bronx with a music procession, or parranda – the Puerto Rican tradition of caroling.

Based in the music of plena and other holiday songs from the island, this festive parade will be led by members of the Bronx music and cultural community, including Jorge Vázquez, Matthew Gonzalez and Bobby Sanabria. Each stop along the parranda will be a different casita, the little houses that evoke the houses of the countryside in Puerto Rico.

The parranda will wind its way through Melrose Commons stopping at the various casitas and community gardens in the neighborhood, ending at the casita renowned for its musical legacy: Rincón Criollo Centro Cultural, aka “La Casita de Chema.” 

For more information visit: www.facebook.com/bxmusic

Producer Melissa Gerstein and conductor Douglas Anderson team up again to lead “Mobile Hallelujah,” bringing the oldest continuously performed piece of Classical music to the streets of NYC. Participating singers will gather at seven popular midtown locations to sing the famously uplifting “Hallelujah Chorus” from George Fredric Handel’s Messiah, surprising passersby with seemingly spontaneous outbursts of the most famous choral piece in history. 

 Pop-up locations and approximate performance start times  

6:00pm at the main branch of the New York Public Library, 476 5th Avenue [in front, on 5th Ave between the lions] 

6:15pm at One Vanderbilt Avenue [in front next to the exit from Grand Central Terminal] 

6:30pm at St. Patrick’s front steps 

6:45pm at Duffy Square [7th Avenue and 46th Street, in front of the George M. Cohan statue]

7:00pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue [On 57th , in front of main entrance] 

7:15pm in the 59th St. Subway Station [Turnstyle Underground Market] 

7:30pm at 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, in front of the fountain [On east side, facing east] 
 

Any singer who knows their part to the chorus is welcomed and encouraged to participate simply by showing up to their preferred location by the start time, but if you know you will be participating please register ahead of time!

In preparation, prior to the evening of the parade, you can also download the sheet music for free here. And if you want to practice your part ahead of time, free files are available on Cyberbass. 

Join us to (literally) ring in the winter season!  

“Bell by Bell” is a fun Make Music Winter tradition designed to transform first time participants and non-musicians into Music Makers, and is the perfect program for kids and families. Reserve your hand bell and your spot in this popular program by filling out the form below:

Meet us at Astor Place Plaza at 5:45pm, at the crossroad of the East and West Villages, where we will distribute to revelers color-coded bells that play different notes and give an introductory crash course in hand bell playing basics. Then, our team of conductors will wave matching color-coded flags, prompting you and your fellow participants to collectively contribute to commissioned hand bell compositions that intensify as the group learns to play together. 

We are proud to announce that this season features the world premiere of a new hand bell score, Gradient by Nat Evans. Gradient is part of a series of pieces relating to coyotes —meditations on their adaptations and perseverance in natural settings, but in urban settings like New York too. Their inherent trickster nature mirrors the chaotic, nonlinear nature of our own consciousness - at times mundane, and at other times wild - and this piece shares elements of both sides of that coin. 
 
Nat Evans is an artist and composer based in Seattle and Philadelphia. His interdisciplinary work focuses on ecology and meditations on everyday life, and is regularly presented across the United States and internationally.

Bell by Bell is co-presented with the Village Alliance, the neighborhood’s Business Improvement District. The Village Alliance works for the people and places of the Village to support community and business vitality.

NYC’s all-women Brazilian Samba Reggae drum line, Fogo Azul (Blue Fire), was born at the intersection of founder Stacy Kovacs’ passion for Samba Reggae, her deep respect for its cultural roots as a music of protest and resistance, her belief and activism in support of gender equality and her sense of civic duty in the current environment to publicly awaken and inspire people to resist oppression and exercise their power to uplift society — loudly.  Launched in 2016 as an extension of Marcus Santos’s Samba Reggae-based Grooversity education project, Fogo Azul NYC is an age and ethnically diverse community who spans the drummer spectrum from novice to professional. 

Presented in partnership with the DUMBO Improvement District

Sing along with us this Winter!

Led by conductor James John, artistic director of the Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble, headlamp-clad singers will walk a route along Riverside Park making stops at the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument and other landmarks to sing medieval melodies once sung on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. 

Singers of all skill levels are invited to join, from beginners to early music specialists; everyone is welcome, so don’t be shy! Dress warmly, in layers, and bring only what you can carry with you. Headlamps and music scores will be provided. You can also view the scores ahead of time HERE.

The parade will depart from the St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church (263 W 86th Street) in Manhattan's Upper West Side at 6:00pm sharp. Participating singers should arrive between 5:15pm and 5:45pm and enter the church via the W 86th entrance. At the reception desk, singers will be directed to the gathering space. The procession will conclude at St. Michael’s Church (225 W 99th Street) between 7-8:30pm.

“Gaits” is an immersive, site-specific music procession featuring commissioned compositions by Lainie Fefferman, Jascha Narveson, Dan Iglesia, and Cameron Britt in which the wonders of our everyday technology transform participants’ movements into musical Improvisations. Paraders use a free app that captures the GPS coordinates and velocities of their movements to trigger a variety of twinkling metallic sounds, electric guitar chords, dulcimer notes, water splashes, car horns and applause – empowering marchers to effortlessly make music while interacting with their environment and each other. 

The “Gaits” app has been newly updated to include the entire length of the High Line from Gansevoort Plaza to Coach Plaza at West 30th and 10th Avenue. Download the iPhone app HERE.

Presented by Make Music New York and hosted by Friends of the High Line.

WHEN AND WHERE: 

Participants will arrive between 5:30-6pm at the southern end of The High Line, at the base of the Gansevoort Stairs,  Gansevoort and Washington Streets. Participants will be spaced out in groups of 5-10 every 3 minutes. Elevator access is available to the left of the main entryway stairs. The procession will walk north along the elevated park. 

The Gaits App is currently only available to iPhone users. Please download the app prior to arrival, at this link.  

ABOUT THE PROGRAM COMPOSERS: 

Lainie Fefferman makes music by putting dots on lines, drawing curves in software, writing code in boxes, and finding new and surprising ways to wiggle her vocal chords. Her most recent commissions for the creation of original works have been from Recap Quartet, Greg Oakes, JACK Quartet, Aaron Larget-Caplan, Ensemble Decipher, Tenth Intervention, So Percussion, Make Music New York, Experiments in Opera, ETHEL, Kathleen Supové, TILT Brass, James Moore, Eleonore Oppenheim, and Dither. Her one-woman voice & electronics feminist song project "White Fire," an electroacoustic meditation on the heroines of the Hebrew Bible, was released as an album on Gold Bolus Recordings in 2023. She is a co-founder and director of New Music Gathering, an annual conference/festival hybrid event for the international New Music Community. She had a wonderful time getting her doctorate in composition from Princeton University and is a programming/performing member of Princeton-based laptop ensemble Sideband. She currently teaches and advises a fabulous bunch of music makers as a professor of Music & Technology at Stevens Institute of Technology and recently concluded her time as artist in residence at Nokia Bell Labs.

Dan Iglesia is a composer and technologist whose ensembles include Sideband, Spirograph Agnew, and Datalore. His works have been performed by ICE, So Percussion, Yarn/Wire, Talujon, and many more. His A/V work has been at the World Expo, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Kitchen, etc. He is the author of the MobMuPlat app. His work for ensemble and 3D video is featured in the upcoming "3-D Experimental VR and Art Practices" (U Chicago Press). He lives in California and works for YouTube.

Jascha Narveson was raised in a concert hall and put to sleep as a child with an old vinyl copy of the Bell Labs mainframe computer singing "Bicycle Built for Two." He now makes music for people, machines, and interesting combinations of people and machines.

This program is presented by Make Music New York and hosted by Friends of the High Line. 

The High Line is both a nonprofit organization and a public park on the West Side of Manhattan. Through our work with communities on and off the High Line, we’re devoted to reimagining the role public spaces have in creating connected, healthy neighborhoods and cities. 

Built on a historic, elevated rail line, the High Line was always intended to be more than a park. You can walk through gardens, view art, experience a performance, savor delicious food, or connect with friends and neighbors-all while enjoying a unique perspective of New York City. 

Tilted Axes: Music for Mobile Electric Guitars is an orchestra of guitarists and percussionists led by composer and performer Patrick Grant since its premiere on the winter solstice 2011. Flexible in number, the musicians perform original music untethered via portable mini-amps strapped over their shoulders. The project takes on aspects of spectacle informed by urban street band tradition, avant-garde theater, and ancient music. It takes music out into the world and seeks transformative situations meant to change the community conversation. Since its inception, the project has performed at music, film, and theater festivals in the USA, Europe, and Brazil.

Patrick Grant is a composer, performer, and producer living in New York City and creates audio for a wide range media and live performance. A native of Detroit, MI, he moved to NYC where he studied at the Juilliard School, worked on the production team for composer John Cage, and produced his first recordings in the studios of Philip Glass. For the stage he has created scores for theatrical visionaries The Living Theatre, Robert Wilson, and produced opening night spectacles for Obama portraitist Kehinde Wiley. Interest in world music brought him to Bali three times to study the gamelan which manifested itself in his work through the use of alternative tunings, ensembles with multiple keyboards, as Composer-in-Residence at Cornell University, and in his work with Robert Fripp & The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists. He is the creator of International Strange Music Day (August 24) since 1998 and the mobile electric guitar procession (Tilted Axes) since 2011. He is a 2021 and 2023 recipient of a Composer Commissions Award from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), a two-time recipient (2020 & 2021) of a Creative Engagement Award from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and a multiple nominee of the Detroit Music Awards (2017-2019). He is a Post Production professor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts Film & TV and helps produce the “How To Be A Better Human” podcast for TED & PRX.

Tilted Axes will be presented in Partnership with BXP at The Hugh Plaza, a BXP Property. Corporate Support for Make Music New York is provided by BXP (NYSE: BXP), the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States.

Join The Kensington Stewards for a Winter Solstice celebration! Featuring a holiday sing-along led by Deidre Rodman Struck, and free hot chocolate!

Join HONK NYC!, Mambembé and Criss-Cross for very special celebration of music, community and culture in East Harlem! Throughout the evening, Uptown Grand Central plaza will come alive with family activities and music concerts perfect for the whole family.

4:30pm: Family fun activities kick off in the plaza, so arrive early to help prepare for the parade! Activities include a Crafts Table where everyone can create paper plate maracas, paper marching hats, and create wishes for the Wishing Well; a Photo Booth; and the building of the parade float. Crafts continue in the plaza throughout the program. 

5:00pm: Performance by Criss-Cross, an ensemble of various sonic, aesthetic, and lived experiences by artists Elijah J. Thomas, Frank London, Kenny Wollesen, and Skyler Hagner. Named after the tune by the trailblazing Thelonious Monk, so expect the unexpected.

 5:45pm: Performance by Mambembé, a group that utilizes drums and the beats of samba reggae to value, preserve and expand Afro-Brazilian Percussive music. The group is based in NYC, but includes members from all over the world.

6:00pm: NYC’s street spectacle HONK Family Band leads the “Grandscale Mural Project Art March,” parading through the streets of East Harlem and stopping at murals along the way to meet and hear from some of the artists. 

6:30pm: The parade returns to UGC plaza for a rousing finale!

Mambembé, a group that uses the drums and the beat of samba reggae, intends to value, preserve and expand Afro-Brazilian Percussive music. It is based in NYC, but with members from all over the world. The group also celebrates the multicultural makeup of this city, in which each member feels the music in their own way. Our intention is to delight people and spread positivity with our beats and dances. Presented in partnership with Belongó (formerly Afro Latin Jazz Alliance) 

Criss-Cross: "An ensemble of various sonic, aesthetic, and lived experiences all intersecting at different points and different degrees in time, initially formed by artists Elijah J. Thomas, Frank London, Kenny Wollesen, and Skyler Hagner. Such convergence of various experiences breeds the unexpected and the familiar, the known and yet unheard, in the tradition of forerunner musician Thelonious Monk and his very own tune after which the ensemble is named!"

Celebrate the festive season with the Canarsie Merchants Association. Be prepared for an enchanting evening of fun and delicious food! Make Music is proud to help present the holiday sing-along at this community event. 

This event is not just a festive occasion but a celebration of the collective efforts and dedication that have shaped the Canarsie community throughout the year. Singer Dominique Smith (@operationdom) will lead the concert, followed a community tree lighting. Community members will be able to enjoy a taste of Canarsie with special treats and drinks from around the neighborhood. 

The Canarsie Merchants Association will also be giving away books, warm-weather accessories, and free meal tickets to redeem at participating restaurants.

Flatfoot Flatbush, Brooklyn’s first-ever flatfooting parade, turns 10!  

For the tenth year in December 2023, the North Flatbush Avenue Business Improvement District (BID) teams up with Make Music New York and Porch Stomp to bring you another exciting year of music and dancing to celebrate community and the winter solstice. 

During Flatfoot Flatbush, dancers, fiddlers and pickers parade down the sidewalks of the ever-busy Flatbush Avenue in Park Slope/ Prospect Heights (Dean Street to Sterling Place) playing old-time tunes while flatfooting, a form of percussive dancing from Appalachia. The evening begins with a warm up and quick flatfooting workshop hosted by Megan Downes (City Stompers), which will take place outdoors at 4pm. Immediately following, the flatfooting parade will kick off and traverse Flatbush Avenue stopping along the way at local businesses to bring holiday cheer (starting location and route to be shared in weeks to come) The parade will finish at the 6th Avenue Triangle (intersection of Flatbush, 6th, and St Marks Avenues), with a special performance from the Gowanus Wildcats, and participatory group dances lead by Brooklyn Contra and the City Stompers.   
 
Starting at 6:30pm, the fun continues at an indoor after-party featuring more music and dance, and an open jam lead by the Flatfoot Flatbush Band. The after party doubles as the North Flatbush Avenue BID merchant holiday party, and will bring together businesses in the district to share in holiday cheer. 

Guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo players and other stringed instrumentalists are encouraged to join the Flatfoot Flatbush String Band! To join, just email mmnyporchstomp@gmail.com no later than December 18th to obtain music scores and detailed instructions. Dancers and boosters are welcome to simply stroll on up! 

Are you a dancer, instructor or troupe leader that represents a different style of rhythmic dance? If so, consider complementing our flatfooters with a performance of your own ­— from soulstepping to Irish jigs to square dancing — by contacting the parade organizers at mmnyporchstomp@gmail.com. 

Join the Bed Stuy-Gateway BID for an evening of music, fun, and fashion this December 21st. Marcy Plaza will be filled with the highly danceable, interactive Carnaval experience of Bloco from da Block, the Art of Fashion by Music Fashion Show, a stunning display of creativity and style, and a toy giveaway for the kids!

Bloco from da Block is a carnaval troupe that offers family friendly experiences such as interactive performances, events and classes. Their performances aim to delight your senses and take you on a journey where you will be immersed in culture, language, costumes, music, and dance from Brazil and New York City.

Presented by Wells Fargo

Harmonica virtuoso Jiayi He, who has been featured on America’s Got Talent, will lead a crash course in how to play the harmonica and lead participants in a jam session to showcase their new skills with performances of holiday classics such as “Jingle Bell,” “Deck the Halls,” “Here Comes Santa Claus,” “Silent Night,” “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “Ode to Joy,” “Edelweiss” and “Amazing Grace.” Players of all skill levels are welcome and this is a perfect program for beginners and kids!  

The Harmonica Holiday Jam will meet at the Patience Lion Statue in Bryant Park (Manhattan) at 3pm. The Lion sits on the Southern Side of the Library Main Entrance Steps on 5th Ave, and is on your left when facing the steps. Accessible by the B, D, F, M trains at 42nd St - Bryant Park, the 7 train at 5th ave, the 4, 5, 6 trains at Grand Central – 42nd St, and the N, Q, R, W trains at Times Square – 42nd St. 

PLEASE NOTE: There are a limited number of FREE Hohner harmonicas available, please register early if you are in need of a harmonica!

If you have any questions, please email Jiayi directly: HarmonicaDay@gmail.com

Ring in the winter solstice with the Lincoln Square BID at the second annual WinteRamble - an illuminated community procession of Frost Giant puppets and icicle lanterns led by Processional Arts Workshop. The procession will step off at 5:00pm at a secret location (sign up here!), then meander through the Lincoln Square neighborhood until 6:00pm to the ethereal sounds of J.C. King’s Kalimbascope, a rolling ensemble of acoustically-enhanced thumb pianos.

Want to join in? By registering, you too can volunteer to play with the Kalimbascope! Other ways to partake in the winter affair are to carry a mini-lantern or icicle lantern as you walk - join our earlier workshop to make your own mini lantern between 3:00pm and 5:00pm (location to be announced).

Everyone is welcome to take part in this family-friendly event by watching or following along as we celebrate winter’s arrival together. 

Join Kalimba master Kevin Nathaniel to learn all things Kalimba and to turn Madison Square Park into a tranquil music garden. Kevin will cover the history of Kalimbas, playing styles and techniques, and approaches to learning the Kalimba, as well as giving participants hands-on guidance with instruments. The event will culminate in a play-along concert with dozens of Kalimbas and shakers filling Madison Square Park. Presented in partnership with the Madison Square Park Conservancy.

Kevin Nathaniel is an internationally celebrated kalimba and mbira player. He plays traditional music, jazz, and contemporary music - all using kalimbas - and also builds many of his instruments. Kevin has worked with Alice Walker, Oprah Winfrey, Jonathan Demme, Madonna, Niles Rodgers, Ephat Mujuru, Dumisani Maraire, Bobby McFerrin, Tito La Rosa, Nana Vasconcelos, Carlos Roberto, and many more.