The Sounds of Summer

Today is the first official day of summer (although most of us have a sweat-stained clothing item or two that would beg to differ), and what better way to celebrate its arrival than with the city’s best warm-weather perk: the free outdoor concert? Starting at 11 a.m., the second annual Make Music New York festival transforms virtually every scrap of open-air space in the five boroughs, from street corners to front stoops, into one city-wide jammy-jam. A variety of genres will be featured at this year’s festival—from hip-hop and country to Chinese opera and Tamil choral singing—with 700 events planned in all. (That’s 700.) They include the transformation of Governors Island into “Punk Island,” (no noise restrictions!), performances by the New York City Opera, and block parties hosted by the Jazz Gallery, the Music Hall of Williamsburg, and Galapagos.

Sat., June 21, 2008