June 21, the summer solstice, is the longest day of the year. Make Music Cincinnati plans to make it the noisiest, too.
Hayley and Brandon Voorhees brought Make Music Day — an international musical celebration observed in cities across the U.S., France, Italy, Argentina, China and more — to the Queen City in 2017.
The first year was small, with one venue and only a few musical groups. The second year was curbed by rainy weather. In 2020, COVID-19 forced the event to go virtual. But in 2021, all signs point to success, Hayley Voorhees said.
There are nearly 30 venues planning to host the event throughout the city on Monday.
Ault Park will kickstart the day at 10 a.m., and will run until 10 p.m. Several other parks and venues, including Hyde Park Square, Sawyer Point Ampitheater and The Wyoming Fine Arts Center, will host performances throughout the day and night. Downtown, there will be interactive stations with instruments like steel drums and ukuleles available for anyone to play. There may even be a karaoke stage.
As of Wednesday, there were over 60 performers signed up, including Cincinnati Boychoir, BOOMBOX and Queen City Samba. Interested parties can sign up until Friday at makemusicday.org/cincinnati.
Make Music Cincinnati is more than a day of performances, Hayley Voorhees said. It's for people of all skill levels, ages and genres.
"It truly is a day for anybody to go out and make music, even if they're out on their front porch or if they're out in their local park," she said. "We want this to be accessible to anybody, even if it's just a guy who has a guitar. There are no expectations."
Make Music Day, Fête De La Musique, debuted in Paris in 1982 as a national holiday. The government shuts down for a day of street music to celebrate professional and amateur music-makers each summer solstice. Over 1,000 cities have since started their own.
The Voorhees got involved in the Cincinnati event while working together at Buddy Roger's Music. Hayley was a classically trained pianist, flutist and violinist who played for the University of Cincinnati band; Brandon was a guitarist with regular rock band gigs. The president of Make Music Alliance found them and asked about starting a local chapter in Cincinnati.
"It's kind of nice that our worlds get to collide a little bit and put some passion into Cincinnati," Hayley Voorhees said.
2021's Make Music Cincinnati is funded by ArtsWave, Buddy Roger's Music, Cincinnati Arts Association, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, NAMM Foundation, among other organizations.
While the event seems to be hitting its stride now, thanks in part to its various community partnerships, Hayley Voorgees has big plans for Make Music Cincinnati's future. She hopes one day every musician in Cincinnati will participate. She added that the city has a lot of untapped potential as a music hotspot.
"We really want to show that off, like why can't we be the next Nashville? We have such a strong arts presence, why can't it grow?" she said.
There is also an educational aspect of the summer solstice event. Voorgees said not all Cincinnati schools have a music program, and Make Music Cincinnati can provide inspiration.
"This is kind of a special day where we need to introduce music to kids. We also want to show adults that it's never too late to learn how to play an instrument," she said. "We want more music every year."
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