Summer is a wonderful time of year to enjoy music Uptown. For this event you’ve got to be an early riser, but if you’re up to it, you’re unlikely to be disappointed by The Paul Winter Consort as it presents its 16th annual Summer Solstice Celebration Saturday, June 18 at 4:30 am at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street.
The event will open in complete darkness with musicians surrounding the audience and playing continuously for two hours until the sun rises, day breaks and summer light begins to stream through the cathedral’s stained glass windows.
Winter, the seven-time Grammy Award-winning saxophonist and one of the first exponents of world music, will present the world premiere of the music from The Paul Winter Consort’s Grammy-winning album “Miho: Journey to the Mountain,” which was inspired by the architecture, landscape and antiquities of I.M. Pei’s Miho Museum in the Shigaraki Mountains of Japan.
In addition to Winter on soprano saxophone, The Consort will include: cellist Eugene Friesen; Armenian vocalist/percussionist Arto Tuncboyaciyan; Paul McCandless on oboe, English horn and bass clarinet; Tibetan vocalist Yangjin Lamu; bansuri (Indian flute) master Steve Gorn; percussionist Glen Velez; and Tim Brumfield on the cathedral’s pipe organ. All tickets are general admission and are priced at $35 each. To purchase tickets, you can go to the St. John the Divine website here.
If you’re looking for a way to celebrate the solstice and get your beauty rest, then Make Music New York may be the event for you. Taking place in all five boroughs, Make Music New York is a festival of free concerts from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm on Tuesday, June 21, the first day of summer.
Whether you’re into Latin jazz, punk rock, or opera, Make Music New York has over 1,000 events for music fans from every point of the spectrum. Various Harlem restaurants and public venues will be hosting performances this year. For a full list of events and schedules Uptown, visit the Make Music New York website here or http://makemusicny.org/schedule/venue/neighborhood/10