An article with several contributing writers in Friday’s (12/23) New York Times reports on the multiple musical events that were part of Make Music Winter, “an offshoot of Make Music New York, a festival of hundreds of concerts that occurs in June on the first day of summer, in public spaces around the city. … The founder of Make Music New York is Aaron Friedman, a composer and political activist who decided it was time to add a winter solstice edition. … The events included a crowd that rang color-coded bells on command; a medley of holiday songs played by percussionists at 1/120th speed while walking the length of Broadway; a sing-along to the songs of Egypt’s favorite pop singer, Umm Kulthum, down Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens; a continuous performance of the prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 on F train platforms; an early-music processional with lanterns through Central Park; and a roving brass-band performance in which players read music projected onto buildings. … One of the cleverest ideas of Make Music Winter was ‘Thru-Line,’ conceived by James Holt, presented by MATA, and performed by the chamber ensemble the Knights. The concept was elegant: on every Coney Island-bound F train platform, someone would be playing the prelude to Bach’s Suite No. 1 for solo cello continuously for an hour.”
Posted December 23, 2011
