June 17, 2026
Easttop Harmonicas For All
Everyone is invited to make music in public on June 21 – even those who have never played music before, or who don’t own an instrument!
Making this idea a reality, Easttop Harmonica has come on board to sponsor 32 harmonica events in the US this year, where anyone can get a free, high-quality harp to play on Make Music Day (and take it home afterwards). Many events are hosted by outstanding local harmonica players – including New York’s Jiayi He, Madison’s DeWayne Keyes, and Salem’s Chris Estes – who are leading harmonica jam sessions and providing free beginner lessons for all.
Since Easttop’s founding in 1997, the company has made an indelible mark on the harmonica world, making instruments of the highest quality and supporting festivals, educational initiatives, and international events that help promote and grow the harmonica community. Thank you to Easttop!
June 12, 2026
Make Music Partner of the Week: the NAMM Foundation
Make Music Day would never have gotten so big, so quickly, without the transformational support of the NAMM Foundation, representing the generosity and philanthropy of the music products industry.
While the NAMM Foundation has supported the infrastructure behind Make Music Day, individual NAMM members such as Easttop, Elixir Strings, Martin Guitars, Rhythm Band Instruments, Sweetwater, and Vic Firth have become core partners, donating instruments and promoting music-making for all on June 21.
(NAMM has also inspired many of our special projects – including Roomful of Pianos, based on a long-running series at The NAMM Show in Anaheim.)
This year marks 11 years of NAMM’s partnership. Thank you, NAMM!
June 12, 2026
Seven Roomfuls of Pianos
Pianists across the country will come together on Make Music Day to give free multi-piano performances in seven local music stores, in a returning partnership with the Music Teachers National Association!
For Roomful of Pianos, pianists of all ages and levels have the rare chance to perform together on up to ten pianos at the same time, on what is often a solitary instrument. Local music teacher associations and piano dealers, from Oregon to South Carolina, are collaborating to choose repertoire, set the schedule, and unite the local piano community and the public.
Visit the Roomful of Pianos page for full details, and to learn how to join!
June 12, 2026
Make Music Day – Olé Olé Olé!
As the FIFA World Cup kicks off across North America, Make Music Day’s series Olé Olé Olé is bringing music to soccer venues on June 21, and highlighting the countries competing in this year’s tournament!
⚽ Following Paraguay’s match, Make Music San Jose hosts a “fútbol-themed fiesta” with the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura – children from Paraguay who play instruments made from scrap materials collected from the Cateura landfill, and who have performed with Stevie Wonder, Metallica, and Megadeath.
⚽ For Make Music Kansas City MO, the FIFA Fan Festival at the National WWI Museum and Memorial will include concerts from local artists, and performances along the streetcar line by Sass-a-Brass, KCMO’s queer street parade brass band.
⚽ Make Music New York puts the “World” in “World Cup” with a world music series along the 7 Train line in Queens, known as the “International Express,” with performances by the Prinkipo Ensemble, MORE Opera, Percussia, HONK NYC, and others.
⚽ Make Music Houston kicks off at the Toros HTX Soccer Facility, with musical performances and watch parties starting at 11:30am.
⚽ And Make Music Santa Monica turns their Metro Station – a transit hub for fans en route to the World Cup games – into a music destination, with the first-ever live music performances on the Metro platform and on a Big Blue Bus.
June 8, 2026
Make Music Partner of the Week: Sweetwater
We’d like to take a moment to thank Sweetwater Sound for its longstanding Make Music Day sponsorship!
Since 2016, Sweetwater has spread the word about Make Music Day to thousands of customers, and even organized Make Music Fort Wayne for several years, bringing bands and musical discovery to their Indiana hometown on the first day of summer.
June is Sweetwater’s “Drum Month,” and they are currently offering deals on drum gear that can only be described as… unbeatable. But whatever your instrument, Sweetwater continues to join its customers in celebrating Make Music Day, and stands by to ship any last-minute gear that may be needed for June 21.
June 8, 2026
Make Music City of the Week: Cedar Rapids
“Conduct Us” with the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band is just one of two dozen events taking place for the inaugural Make Music Cedar Rapids!
Led by Cedar Rapids Soundcheck, a new community group working to strengthen the music ecosystem in Iowa’s second-largest city, Make Music Cedar Rapids encompasses music of every kind.
Wander through the city to discover a professional brass quartet, youth rock bands, singer-songwriters, and – best of all – a Kazoo Parade at Coe College, where the first 125 participants to arrive will receive a free kazoo.
Visit the Make Music Cedar Rapids website
June 8, 2026
Introducing “Conduct Us”
This year, in partnership with Improv Everywhere, Make Music Day is launching Conduct Us, a participatory performance experience that puts the baton in the hands of the public.
In four cities on June 21, large ensembles will gather in public spaces, sitting quietly behind a sign that reads “Conduct Us.” When someone steps forward and picks up the baton, the musicians follow their lead and the performance begins. No conducting experience is required, just curiosity and a willingness to try.
Conduct Us events will take place in Cedar Rapids, IA, where the public will lead the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band during their evening concert at Bever Park; Mansfield TX with the Mansfield Philharmonic in Geyer Commons; New York NY with an orchestra of Google employees conducted in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony at Astor Place; and Salem, OR, where participants will conduct members of the Salem Orchestra in a special event honoring Make Music Salem co-founder Mark Green.
June 8, 2026
Your Make Music Day Checklist
Make Music Day is next Sunday – it’s time to finalize your plans!
🔲 Register with your local Make Music chapter and confirm your plans
🔲 Or mark your calendar to join a participatory Circle Singing, Sousapalooza, Roomful of Pianos, or String Together event near you (stay tuned for Mass Appeal and Flowerpot Music details, too!)
🔲 Promote your event with our poster generator and social media tiles, and use the hashtag #makemusicday
🔲 Go out on June 21 and make the city your stage!
June 2, 2026
Champions: Lucas Tecson, Blending Jazz, Nostalgia, and Good Vibes
In this interview, we talk with Lucas Tecson, a San Jose-based singer, songwriter, and educator whose music blends jazz, musical theater, and childhood nostalgia into a warm and uplifting sound. Lucas shares how growing up in a musical family shaped his journey, how Disney and cartoon music unexpectedly became part of his online identity, and why community-driven events like Make Music Day are so important for local artists. He also talks about finding his voice during the pandemic and the excitement surrounding his upcoming debut EP.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your musical journey started?
Of course. So my name is Lucas Tecson. I started doing music through my parents, actually. My mom is a music teacher, so I was raised very much surrounded by music ever since I was born. By the time I was born, the music school that my parents had happily founded in 1997 had already started to gain traction and grow legs. So that’s kind of where I started, with my parents already introducing me into the music scene. I went through all stages of schooling doing music through choir, and didn’t really find a sense of my own personal voice with music until high school, through jazz choir and leaning into jazz music. I would do jazz through college, but I didn’t start songwriting and performing for events like Make Music Day until the pandemic. Like everybody else, I started songwriting when we were put into quarantine. I was very much inspired by my mom and my family and the people around me, as well as Asian American artists that were already up and coming, like Olivia Rodrigo and Bruno Mars, to name just a couple.
And when did you first realize that music was something you really wanted to pursue?
I think I knew whatever I was going to do, it was going to involve music. Being born into it was very much something that I’ve always held onto and been inspired by. I’ve always found it to be my personal home. Whenever life gets crazy, especially in times like now where everything around us feels a little unstable and unsure, it’s really easy to look inward and figure out what’s happening in your own immediate world. I think music is a great tool to do that. But I think education and music teaching really came from doing jazz choir in high school. My music teacher, Erin Simone, from Middie High School in Santa Clara, really gave me a little bit more agency with my own music and gave me a chance to come into my own as an educator. She would put me in charge of sectionals for choir, have me start rehearsals sometimes, and just give me a stronger sense of ownership over my music.
You have a good following on social media, TikTok and Instagram. What do you think draws people to your music and personality?
I couldn’t tell you, to be completely honest with you. I’m a teacher, so I grew up doing Disney, and I still teach Disney princess music, as well as other cartoon music I grew up with, and it has always been something I’ve loved to do. That’s been something people have really loved on TikTok. The nostalgia aspect right now, especially during and after COVID, and with social media moving so fast, we struggle to look back a lot of the time. I think revisiting childhood cartoons, especially as we get older, is a healthy way to still find fun and joy. So I think whenever I do those covers, that helps. But I also just love doing music, and I love people, and I love being around people. I’m really happy and grateful that people are connecting with what I’m doing, and I hope to use the platform to share, uplift, and pay it forward in any way I can.
How would you describe your sound or style to someone hearing you for the first time?
I’d say musical theater meets childhood nostalgia meets jazz and good vibes.
And who are some of your biggest musical inspirations? Are there any artists that you think inspired your sound?
Bruno Mars, definitely. I grew up absorbing any and all Bruno. One of my first concerts was Bruno, and I would go with my mom for our birthdays. So Bruno, and I’d say Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé for sure, Nat King Cole, a lot of the jazz vocalists I lean into as well. I don’t know if you’re familiar with this artist, but Rebecca Sugar, who’s also big for shows like Adventure Time and Steven Universe, is a really prominent songwriter for me, as well as Aivi & Surasshu, the composers she works with. I lean heavily into their sound, as well as their theories regarding how sound and music work in the universes they create. I really appreciate their intentionality with instrumentation.
Now onto a few Make Music Day questions. How did you first hear about Make Music Day?
Through friends, actually. I started gigging in October 2024, but by that point Make Music Day had already passed, so it took until the following May for a lot of the musician community to join in. It’s a really great community of musicians in the Bay, by the way. Everyone was saying, “Do it, do it, Make Music Day!”
And what do you think makes events like Make Music Day important for artists and local music communities?
I think because of social media—and I really do appreciate all the opportunities I’ve gotten because of it—people kind of have their blinders on. Events like Make Music Day are so intentional and so rich in community outreach that they kind of force you to open your eyes to the beautiful music that’s right in front of you. Our media is so saturated by your Sabrina Carpenters, your Olivias, all of those artists who are obviously very talented, but I think they got there through community events like this too. So I think these kinds of events are what help push artists forward. Artists become community activists, community fixtures. There’s a climate in events like these where artists become important members of their communities, and it’s further strengthened by gatherings like this.
And what advice would you give to young musicians or creators trying to share their music online?
Just do it! Just do it already! I literally watched a video this morning about how it could happen on a random Monday, how you’re found and discovered. It doesn’t necessarily matter when, and it could take 10 years or it could take one. It probably won’t take one—wanting to be on the Coachella lineup in 2026 after starting in 2025 is definitely a dream—but it all starts with one step, one gig, one post, one interaction, one discussion. All it takes is one moment for you to realize that this is important to you. It could become your whole world, or it could just become a meaningful conversation, but you’ll never know if you don’t do it.
Finally, what are you currently working on or excited about for the future?
At the moment, I’m really excited to finally be working on an EP. I guess I can announce it now—it’s almost done. I recently released a demo in March on Spotify called “Back to You,” and I decided to compile a group of songs that really reflect the music I perform live and the sound I’ve found for myself. I don’t have a lot of this music on streaming yet, so I’d really love to get it out there. I’d say this EP feels like a chapter bookend, like, “This is what I have, this is my sound, and I think I found it.” The EP is called Back to You and it’ll drop in late July around my birthday. It’ll have five songs and feature a lot of live bands. I hope you like it!
May 29, 2026
Make Music City of the Week: Kenosha WI
Make Music Kenosha is well-known for the epic musical block party they have thrown every year since 2021. Now for the first time in 2026, the celebration is broadening to become truly citywide, encompassing artists, families, businesses, and organizations across Kenosha.
Festivities will include a parking lot party at the 58th Street lot hosted by Would You Kindly?, a day rave at Anna’s On The Lake, music bingo at 58 Below, a music industry panel / writing circle, a kids open mic with “Boomwhacker Hero”, a late night open jam hosted by Miss B Haven, and bucket drumming with paint!
Learn more about Make Music Kenosha