Music Day 2008

[Siamanto]

Official Site



What is Paris’ Fête de la Musique?
[It is not limited to Paris, but nation-wide. Siamanto]

In Paris on 21 June? You’re in for a treat. On the longest day of the year, musicians from all over the world perform free concerts at venues across town as part of Paris’ Fête de la Musique. Impromptu gigs break out in the streets and sound systems blast out music from every second window. The French capital fills with the sounds of everything from blue notes to Brahms to bossa nova and Paris’ Fête de la Musique rolls on well into the night.


Who organises it?
Back in 1982 France’s then Director of Music and Dance, Maurice Fleuret, started La Fête de la Musique in Paris after a study found five million French people - including one child in two - played a musical instrument. Fleuret wanted to get them all playing together out in the open.



So Paris’ Fête de la Musique is mainly for families?
Pas de tout, mon ami. So keen was the government to promote Paris’ Fête de la Musique that it quickly became the one night of the year where officially anyone could play music all night long, without fear of a visit from the law. Think an all-day, all-night Notting Hill Carnival by the Seine and with the odd accordion thrown in, and you’re beginning to get the picture.



Sounds like fun. Can I join in?
If you’re in the French capital, you won’t be able to miss it. And Paris’ Fête de la Musique isn’t just about ordinary Parisians and tourists tooting their horn – you’ll find big names at the main venues and a mix of pros and amateurs in the cafés and bars, be they string quartets or steel bands, reggae, rap or roots. Rock acts usually play the Place de la Republique, indie bands the Place Denfert-Rochereau, and classical orchestras the grandiose courtyard of the Palais Royal.



Where can I find out more?
Visit Paris’ Fête de la Musique website (http://fetedelamusique.culture.fr each year in early June). The play on words ‘faites de la Musique’ (let’s make music) has become the Fête de la Musique’s rallying slogan so don’t miss your chance to get involved, drink up the carnival atmosphere and enjoy more free music than you shake a (drum)stick at. Paris’ Fête de la Musique concept has proved so popular that its success has since been exported to San Francisco and New York, as well as across Europe, Manila, Brazil and Colombia. The 1998 Fête de la Musique in Paris even had a special postage stamp devoted to it.

http://www.eurostar.com/UK/uk/leisure/latest_deals/fete_musique_paris.jsp

[Siamanto]

Re: Music Day 2008

Official Site



MAKE MUSIC NEW YORK

Make Music New York is a new live, free musical celebration across the city that took place for the first time on June 21, 2007.

On that day, public space throughout the five boroughs – sidewalks, parks, community gardens, and more – became impromptu musical stages and dance floors, and social meeting points. Thousands of amateur musicians, in every genre, played on the sidewalks for the biggest crowds of their lives. Professional musicians performed for new audiences, who came out from under their headphones to hear unfamiliar groups risk-free. And everyone was invited to sing along and enjoy the first day of summer.

The first MMNY included 560 free concerts with 1,927 musicians. We are planning an even bigger festival for Make Music New York next year, on Saturday June 21, 2008.


WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM?
Make Music New York is based on France's Fete de la Musique, which has been a great success for 25 years. Since it was inaugurated, the festival has become an international phenomenon, celebrated on the same day in more than 300 cities in 108 countries, including Germany, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Australia, Vietnam, Congo, Cameroon, Togo, Columbia, Chile, Mongolia, and Japan.


WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
Anyone and everyone, in every borough of the city. Amateurs, part-time professionals, and established artists are all welcome.


WHO WILL ORGANIZE SUCH A GIGANTIC EVENT?
Starting in February 2008, musicians will be able to sign up directly through a new Time Out New York website, and match themselves up with performance locations. If you're a musician who needs a space, or a space that needs a musician, this is where to go.

Other concerts will be organized around the city by block associations, community gardens, churches, neighborhood cultural centers, museums, concert halls, jazz clubs, and more.

All concerts will ultimately be coordinated and permitted (if necessary) by the Make Music New York organizers.


WHERE WILL THE MUSICIANS PLAY?
Most musicians will perform on New York's 12,000 miles of sidewalks. MMNY organizers secure these permits from the City, so that musicians don't have to deal with all the paperwork.

If you have a rock band, and you want to set up outside your building and play for your neighbors, we can help make that happen. If you want to perform Bach's cello suites outside your friend's convenience store, you can do that, too. Almost anything is possible.

MMNY will also secure dozens of park locations for June 21st concerts, to be made available on the same Time Out New York website, beginning in February. Community gardens and plazas will also be listed there.

Finally, dozens of community organizations are closing off streets around the city for block party concerts. If your group wishes to produce a concert in the street, please click here for instructions on what to do.


HOW WILL YOU FIND ENOUGH MUSICIANS TO FILL THE WHOLE CITY?
In addition to the concerts organized by local community groups, our fourteen interns are busy signing up hundreds of musicians in music schools, choir rehearsals, jazz clubs, concert lobbies, and musical instrument stores. (The Brooklyn Arts Council and the Juilliard School are also helping with outreach to their communities.) Once found, we will coordinate spaces for these artists through the Time Out New York site.


WILL MUSICIANS BE PAID TO PERFORM?
Our organization does not pay musicians -- nor do musicians pay us. We are simply setting up the framework by securing the permits, coordinating the concerts, and publicizing the event city-wide with tens of thousands of posters, earned media stories, concert listings with our media partners, an interactive website, and a volunteer street-team.

Most musicians will be performing for free. But artists and venues are welcome to make any financial arrangements they wish, as long as the concerts are outdoors, free, and open to the public.


WHAT HAPPENS IF IT RAINS?
In eight of the past ten years, it has not rained in New York City on June 21st. If it does rain, concerts planned for sidewalks may take place inside a building lobby or store front. In this case, we simply ask that a door or window be opened so that the music is audible from the street.


WILL THIS BE A YEARLY EVENT?
Yes, Make Music New York will take place every June 21st. (In 2008, it will fall on a Saturday; in 2009, on Sunday.) It is our hope that Make Music New York will start big and expand from year to year, eventually to the point where, as with the Village Halloween Parade, New Yorkers will organize themselves largely without prompting.


HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?
Email us to learn more, or call Aaron Friedman at 917-779-9709.