On June 21, the City of Liberty will join with 49 other U.S. cities and more than 800 cities worldwide to celebrate the first official day of summer and the joy of music. The event is called Make Music Day globally, and Make Music Liberty locally (or Make Music Boston, or New York, or Los Angeles according to each participating city).
Make Music Liberty is unlike any other music festival that you may have experienced in that it runs continuously from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with parks, businesses, sidewalks, theaters, porches, plazas and churches serving as venues that host musicians of all ages and musical abilities representing a myriad of musical genres. And, it's all free!!
Audience participation or "Mass Appeal" events are a big part of the schedule. These gatherings usually include either basic instruction on harmonica, guitar or ukulele, or play-along sessions where the audience is encouraged to bring along their own harmonica, guitar or ukulele and play along with the artist/performer.
Mass appeal events this year include not only basic Ukulele and Harmonica instruction, but also play-along sessions with the Kansas City Ukulele Alliance and the KC Women's Music Network.
For those who don't have their own harmonica, Hohner Instruments has provided them as giveaways and Alfred Music has supplied basic ukulele instruction books for giveaway.
As of early June, there are 39 artists and 43 performances scheduled and we're still counting. In addition to a host of vocalists and singer/songwriters, here's a sample of what else is currently slated for Make Music Liberty 2018:
- a bluegrass band
- a dulcimer club
- an Elvis impersonator
- a blues-rock band
- an all-day parade of very talented young "stars of tomorrow"
- a promising young solo pianist
- a bagpiper
- an organ crawl involving several area churches.
We hope you’ll come and join the Make Music Liberty celebration on Thursday, June 21 from 10 am until 8 pm.
Make Music Liberty is sponsored by the Liberty Arts Commission, The Liberty Arts Foundation, Hohner Instruments and Alfred Music.
For more information on Make Music Liberty along with performance schedules and participating artists, go to www.makemusicliberty.org.
Contributed by Bill Stillfield, Chair of the Liberty Arts Commission and Event Director for Make Music Liberty
Photos contributed by Shane Immelt & the City of Liberty