Make Music New York is a unique festival of free concerts in public spaces throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Celebrate the longest day of the year with free performances in Riverside Park South.
Summer on the Hudson events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited, unreserved, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is heavy rain at the time of the event, the event will be canceled. For weather updates, check nyc.gov/parks/soh 2 hours before the event.
The West Side County Fair has been POSTPONED to September 17th. Enjoy a full day of county fair magic in Manhattan with live bands, sideshow performers, carnival rides and games, local food and merchandise vendors, cotton candy, and more!
This year’s live music includes French Cookin’ Blues Band, 15th Street, and square dancing with City Stompers. Bindlestiff Family Cirkus returns with jaw-dropping sideshow performers, Paris the Hip-Hop Juggler and ALLEZ-OOPS. The fair will also feature an exciting pop-up by the New York Handmade Collective!
Summer on the Hudson events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited, unreserved, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is heavy rain at the time of the event, the event will be canceled. For weather updates, check nyc.gov/parks/soh 2 hours before the event.
The Hippo Playground Project Presents: Hippo Playground Summer Concert Series!
August 9th – MIL’S TRILLS
Amelia Robinson is a Brooklyn-based children’s music project dedicated to creating positive inclusive experiences that strive to empower and embrace young audiences and families through music. www.milstrills.com
For up-to-date information about the performances follow:
Instagram: hippoplaygrounduws | Facebook: Hippo Playground – UWS
The Summer Concert Series is fully funded by proceeds from the Hippo Spring Fair.
The Hippo Playground Project Presents: Hippo Playground Summer Concert Series!
July 26th (rain date July 27th) – Esther Crow
Esther Crow is a NYC award-winning singer, songwriter, kids’ entertainer, puppeteer and member of the Recording Academy. She has been writing and performing music for many years (including with her rock band, The Electric Mess), but after her son’s birth, she became inspired to write music for children.
The Hippo Playground Project Presents: Hippo Playground Summer Concert Series!
August 2nd (rain date August 3rd) – JOANIE LEEDS
Joanie Leeds is a Grammy-award winning musician best known for her work as children’s musical artist. Over the past decade, Joanie has won 1st place in the USA Songwriting Competition, an Independent Music Award, a GOLD Parent’s Choice Award, NAPPA GOLD Award, Family Choice Award and is a John Lennon Songwriting Competition Finalist and International Songwriting Competition Finalist.
Please note this event has been cancelled.
The Jazz Foundation of America presents an evening of Jazz on the waterfront, featuring musician David Lee jones.
David Lee Jones
Soulful alto saxophonist and flautist David Lee Jones was born and raised in Houston, TX, a city that is deeply rooted in Blues, R&B and Soul music. He attended Texas Southern University, then Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he obtained a B. A. in Jazz Composition and Arranging. In 1984 David moved to New York City and began working with jazz organist Jack McDuff. In 1992 he began working with Phyllis Hyman, playing auxiliary keyboards as well as saxophones for three years, until her death in 1995. After joining the Grammy award winning jazz / rap group Digable Planets, he played on, wrote and arranged all the horn arrangements for their sophomore record “Blowout Comb.” He toured with Sade on her last U.S .tour entitled “Love Deluxe.” In recent years, David has worked with the Mingus Big Band and the Sun Ra Arkestra, and he leads his own Organ Groove Trio in Harlem at the American Legion Post 398 every Sunday.
Summer on the Hudson events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited, unreserved, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is heavy rain at the time of the event, the event will be canceled. For weather updates, check nyc.gov/parks/soh 2 hours before the event.
Make Music New York is a unique festival of free concerts in public spaces throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Celebrate the longest day of the year with free performances in Riverside Park South.
Philadelphia native Nick Marziani is a rising force in today’s music scene. Drawing inspiration from all sides of his musical upbringing, Nick’s songs combine the soulfulness and colors of jazz with the upbeat grooves of dance, pop and R&B music. Influenced by the improvisational prowess of Michael Brecker to the funky grooves of Grover Washington, Jr., Nick’s playing brings a fresh, unique perspective to the saxophone in the Philly and New York jazz scenes.
Under the tutelage of saxophone legends Donny McCaslin and Jaleel Shaw, Nick graduated in 2022 from the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, and in the same year won the DownBeat Magazine Award for Blues, Pop and Rock Soloist. Nick’s bright, soulful saxophone can be heard at venues throughout the NYC/Philly areas and is available to stream on all platforms.
Krystofer Maison (he/they) is a New York City based entertainer, songwriter, and activist in the LGBTQ+, substance use, and mental health spaces. He is a classically-trained singer, most influenced by theater and the androgynous rock icons of the ’80s. Known for his soaring range and precision vocal control as well as comedy between sets, Krystofer brings audiences on a memorable emotional journey.
Krystofer produced and released his EP Libera Me in 2021, featuring songs about the queer experience and self-acceptance. They are currently in development of their alt-rock album CORONATION, a love letter to Krystofer’s mental health journey and living unapologetically yourself.
Summer on the Hudson events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited, unreserved, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is heavy rain at the time of the event, the event will be canceled. For weather updates, check nyc.gov/parks/soh 2 hours before the event.
POSTPONED to September 17th.
Enjoy a full day of county fair magic in Manhattan with live bands, sideshow performers, carnival rides and games, local food and merchandise vendors, cotton candy, and more! Rain Date September 17.
This year’s live music includes David French & French Cookin’ Blues Band, Samoa Wilson, and square dancing with City Stompers. Bindlestiff Family Cirkus returns with jaw-dropping sideshow performers, Paris the Hip-Hop Juggler and ALLEZ-OOPS. The fair will also feature an exciting pop-up by the New York Handmade Collective!
Summer on the Hudson events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited, unreserved, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is heavy rain at the time of the event, the event will be canceled. For weather updates, check nyc.gov/parks/soh 2 hours before the event.
Get out to the park and kick off the weekend with some local sounds at this monthly musical get-happy hour.
May 26: Austin Zhang
Austin Zhang is a jazz saxophonist, electronic musician, and composer based in New York City. Zhang graduated from the Manhattan School of Music on scholarship and went on to perform with giants of jazz music: Terri Lyne Carrington, Wycliffe Gordon, the Mingus Big Band, and others. Zhang’s saxophone has been heard at such venues as Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Newport Jazz Festival. Austin uses his music as a communication medium to further social and environmental causes.
Summer on the Hudson events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited, unreserved, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is heavy rain at the time of the event, the event will be cancelled. For weather updates, check nyc.gov/parks/soh 2 hours before the event.
Get out to the park and kick off the weekend with some local sounds at this monthly musical get-happy hour.
June 30: Troy Weekes
Hailing from Harlem, Troy Weekes is a singer/songwriter, actor, dancer, and MC, and performing since the age of 14. When not working on his own project, he can be seen performing with his band Ji- Groove and hosting events all across America. He is currently working on his first EP project, Not yet titled, under the new genre and style he created called *Soul & B. Blending gospel, neo-soul, and R&B, Troy Weekes has a story to tell and he pulls you right in with him each and every time he performs.
Summer on the Hudson events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited, unreserved, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is heavy rain at the time of the event, the event will be canceled. For weather updates, check nyc.gov/parks/soh 2 hours before the event.
Enjoy vibrantly-danceable live music accompanied by spectacular sunsets over the Hudson River! Amplified Sundays take place each Sunday in July.
July 2: Itai Kriss & Telavana
Itai Kriss, a Grammy nominated recording artist praised by Jazzwax as “one of the most exciting new flutist-composers” on the scene, commands a variety of musical genres with an eclectic style infused with Jazz, Latin and Middle Eastern sounds.
After spending the past 20 years working at the forefront of New York City’s Jazz scene while performing, recording and touring with some of the world’s top Afro-Cuban, Latin and Salsa artists, flute virtuoso Itai Kriss fuses the sounds of his native Israel with those of his adopted homelands in the Americas to create TELAVANA. From the desert shores of Israel to the tropical beaches of Cuba, TELAVANA bridges the musical spheres of the Middle East and the Caribbean by combining Timba, Soul, North African music and Jazz to create a unique and lively mix of rhythms and textures.
Summer on the Hudson events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited, unreserved, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is heavy rain at the time of the event, the event will be canceled. For weather updates, check nyc.gov/parks/soh 2 hours before the event.
Enjoy vibrantly-danceable live music accompanied by spectacular sunsets over the Hudson River! Amplified Sundays take place each Sunday in July.
July 9th: Falsa
Based in New York City and under the “Falsa” banner, a diverse array of improvisational World musicians rooted in 14th century Sufi music (Indian/Persian classical mysticism similar to Rumi’s elevating poetry) offer experiences that range from Minimalist Meditative to Raga Jazz Fusion to high energy World Improvisation that gets you moving. Through music, Falsa communicates reverence for the most magical aspects of experience that are gifts and not acquisitions, as Sufi music is not about means to ends, but about meaning and transcendence.
Summer on the Hudson events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited, unreserved, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is heavy rain at the time of the event, the event will be canceled. For weather updates, check nyc.gov/parks/soh 2 hours before the event.
