Make Music on Summer Solstice

This year, the Summer Solstice falls on June 21 and marks Make Music Day across the world. Spawning from the French national holiday, Fête de la Musique, Make Music Day is now celebrated in more than 120 countries and 750 cities-including Salem. This year, Salem’s slogan is “Music by the People, For the People.”
To make the event possible, the City of Salem invited performers of all ages and experience levels to take the chance to share their love of music, and sign up to perform for free at one of the more than 24 venues scheduled for the event. These venues range from sidewalks, to plazas, and parks. Venues include The Space, Capitol Mall, Riverfront Park, and Capitol City Television. Salem Philharmonia Orchestra Musicians, the RiverCity Royals, and Eileen the Flapper Tapper are some of the over 95 artists signed up.
Last year was Salem’s first official Make Music Day, and Spencer Hughes ’18 performed with the RiverCity Rockers in front of the Grand Theater and Ranch Records among other venues.
“I thought it was really awesome that we had so many different groups, and so many different artists, that were all coming together to make such different music for really the entire city of Salem-all across the city,” Hughes said.
Though the deadline for performance registration passed on June 7, other ways to get involved include signing up to volunteer or showing support by attending performances. Specific locations, times, and descriptions of acts signed up can be found on the Salem Make Music Day website or through their social media accounts.
“I think it’s very unlikely that you’re not going to see something that you’re going to like, even a little bit,” Hughes said. “So I think it’s a really good idea to go so you can see something that you’ll at least find interesting.”