SummerStage returns to Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield and parks across the five boroughs this summer with more than 60 performances at 12 locations.
Most of the shows are free, with some benefit concerts supporting the City Parks Foundation, which brings arts, education and recreation programs to parks throughout New York City.
What You Need To Know
SummerStage returns to Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield and parks across the five boroughs this summer with more than 60 performances at 12 locations
Most of the shows are free, with some benefit concerts supporting the City Parks Foundation
Opening night is Wednesday, June 10 in Central Park
“We’re here to celebrate the 40th. It’s a big, big anniversary for us and a really important moment in time, and, you know, a celebration of all the things that are great about New York City,” said Erika Elliott, who has served as SummerStage’s executive artistic director for 22 years.
Among the artists helping mark the milestone season is BreakBeat Lou Flores, a Bronx DJ whose influence stretches back to the earliest days of hip-hop.
Flores has been using two turntables to get people dancing since the 1970s, when hip-hop was taking shape at park jams and block parties in the Bronx. Alongside DJ Breakbeat Lenny Roberts, he created the “Ultimate Breaks and Beats” compilation records, preserving many of the beats that DJs looped for breakdancers during the genre’s formative years.
The collections became an essential tool for DJs while helping document and preserve a growing art form.
“These particular break beats, we decided to bring back into the culture by facilitating them like the K-TEL records they used to have, those compilations, so we have the same kind of format,” Flores said.
SummerStage began 40 years ago with a performance by the Sun Ra Arkestra at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. The festival has since grown into a citywide celebration, with performances now centered at Rumsey Playfield, which transforms into a concert venue each summer.
Over the decades, countless artists representing a wide range of musical styles and cultural traditions have taken the stage.
This summer’s highlights include opening night on June 10 with Ledisi. Later in the summer, Laurie Anderson, De La Soul, La India and the legendary Mavis Staples will perform.
Elliott saidthe festival is curated to appeal to the residents of a diverse city.
“There is not a festival in New York City that better represents New Yorkers, you know, from Taiwanese music to Chinese, to Brazilian to Mexico and beyond. We’ve got the Met Opera, we have jazz music. I mean, there is really something for everyone,” Elliott said.
For Flores, who has performed at SummerStage events in other parks over the years, taking part in the festival’s 40th anniversary season in Central Park carries special significance.
“To be here and be celebrated, I cannot be even more overwhelmingly thankful for what’s being done for us and how I feel about it,” Flores said.
For a full schedule of shows, head to the City Parks Foundation’s website.