2024 is our eighth year for Make Music Milwaukee!  Whether virtually or in person, we always look forward to celebrating music in Milwaukee with you on June, 21st.

Make Music Milwaukee is part of Make Music Day, the worldwide music celebration held each June 21, the summer solstice. Featuring concerts, performances, music lessons, jam sessions and other musical events on streets, sidewalks, parks and public spaces in Milwaukee and across the U.S. Make Music Day encourages all people, of all musical abilities, to celebrate the joy of making music.

Over 1000 cities around the world have celebrated Make Music Day! 

It all started 40 years ago in France.

In 1982, Jack Lang and his staff at the Ministry of Culture dreamed up an idea for a new kind of musical holiday. They imagined a day where free, live music would be everywhere: street corners and parks, rooftops and gardens, store fronts and mountaintops.

And, unlike a typical music festival, anyone and everyone would be invited to join and play music, or host performances. The event would take place on the summer solstice, June 21, and would be called Fête De La Musique. (In French, the name means both “festival of music” and “make music!”)

Amazingly enough, this dream has come true. The Fête has turned into a true national holiday: France shuts down on the summer solstice and musicians take over. Almost 8% of the country (5 million people) have played an instrument or sung in public for the Fête de la Musique.

Four decades later, the holiday has spread throughout the world and is now celebrated in more than 120 countries. In the U.S., the presenting sponsor is the NAMM Foundation.

Check out highlights from Make Music Milwaukee HERE!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER AS A PERFORMER OR HOST!

Want to play? There’s always room in the band. Join this Celebration of Milwaukee Music on June, 21st!

We invite musicians and venues of all kinds to collaborate on making June 21 a musical masterpiece. Singers, church choirs, jazz combos, rock bands, glee clubs, MCs, marching bands, mariachis, and every other kind of musician, of any age group or skill level, are all welcome! Make Music Milwaukee on June 21st, 2024 will be taking place virtually and in-person, so you can perform any time, from any where! Make sure to register so we can share your performance and tune in!

Get involved in Make Music Day as either an artist wanting to perform, or a venue looking to host artists in-person or online! All genres, all ages are welcome to participate.  If you have any specific questions about registration you can contact: milwaukee@makemusicday.org

Baby You

Make Music Milwaukee and the Przekrój Foundation are thrilled to announce the world premiere of Baby You, a public art event where a massive 112-foot long hot air balloon in the shape of a sleeping newborn will be inflated and rise over Milwaukee on Make Music Day, accompanied by a new a cappella choral work by composer Michael Schachter.

As the sun sets in Milwaukee on Friday, June 21, 2024, hundreds of singers will gather in Veterans Park, on the shore of Lake Michigan, to perform the new composition, while behind them the balloon is inflated, takes shape, and begins its tethered ascent. The combined aural and visual experience invokes the shared humanity of all people. Everyone was a baby once: adorable, vulnerable and full of potential.

YOU are invited to join in this community chorus experience. No auditions are required and it is free to participate.

Support

The more people we can gather to make Make Music Milwaukee the best event it can be, the merrier!

Have a special skill you’d like to put to work volunteering with Make Music Milwaukee?

Would you like more information for PR?   Able to donate your time, finances, or instruments?

Email milwaukee@makemusicday.org

We are now accepting tax-deductible donations through Arts Wisconsin. Please follow this link to donate!

Whether it’s your first year or you’re a Make Music Day pro, we’re sure you may have questions!

Or, perhaps you’d like to find more ways to get involved in future efforts by Make Music Milwaukee?

Email us at: milwaukee@makemusicday.org 

We always need volunteers to host venues, perform, volunteer on the day of, or help plan!