Music
Music is one thing that makes summer in New York worth it. When the mercury soars, the city sings, rejoices because of the sounds of summer. Live music from doo wop, jazz, and swing to rock, Broadway, and classical herald in a season that has something for everyone.
Upper East Side
Making Room on Broadway: A Musical Theater Cabaret
Saturday, June 15, Sunday, June 16
If you love Broadway, the Museum of the City of New York is the place to be Saturday or Sunday, June 15 and 16, at 3 p.m. for Perform! a musical cabaret written and directed by Michael Montel. The show weaves together stories about living in New York. Reservations and prepayment required; $35, museum members; $40, general public; Register by phone at 917.492.3395; https://boxoffice.mcny.org/public/show.asp
UPPER WEST SIDE
Midsummer Night Swing
June 25 to July 13
One of the hottest outdoor tickets of the summer is Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, West 62nd Street, between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, 15 nights ? Tuesdays through Saturdays -- of music and a huge elevated dance floor where you can dance the night away.
This year, the 25th anniversary celebration headlines such groups as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, The George Gee Swing Orchestra, and Boogie Woogie from Mitch Woods and His Rocket 88s, Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, and the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra.
The evenings begin at 6:30 p.m. with a dance lesson for all skill levels; live music and dancing are from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Dancing for the live "Silent Discos" through headphones on July 5 and July11 continues until 11:30 p.m. Tickets for one evening are $17; four nights for $60; for six nights $84, and $170 for the full season at Swing Box office, lobby, Avery Fisher Hall, Broadway and 65th Street or through CenterCharge, 212-721-6500; www.MidsummerNightSwing.org. 212.375.5049.
UPPER EAST SIDE
June 25, July 9, July 30, Aug. 21
The Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park is the setting for four classical music concerts this summer with 900 first-come, first-served seats available. The free series dates to 1905 when founder and philanthropist Elkan Naumburg initiated the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts.
The Knights headline the opening concert on June 25 and the July 30 concert. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra performs July 9; the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is set for Aug. 21.
The July 30 concert features tenor Nicholas Phan. www.naumburgconcerts.org.
MIDTOWN
Summergarden: Sundays July 7, 14, 21, and 28, doors open at 7 p.m.
MOMA Nights: Thursdays ? July and August, sets at 6:30 p.m., nine concerts.
The Museum of Modern Art brings two music series to New Yorkers: Sunday nights in July are free and Thursday nights during July and August are included with museum admission.
Summergarden: New Music for New York, established in 1971, takes place in The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden on the four Sundays July 7, 14, 21, and 28 with doors opening at 7 p.m. and concert at 8 for between an hour and 90 minutes. Admission is free; first-come, first-served.
Museum exhibitions are closed during Summergarden.
MOMA Nights is scheduled for every Thursday night in July and August from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and is included with the price of regular admission. Sets begin at 6:30. Local and international musicians will perform a variety of styles. Among the musicians are a Brazilian singer, a Congolese guitarist, and a musician from Sierra Leone who performs with a band from Brooklyn. In case of rain, music moves to Theater 1 at the music except for Aug. 9 when music moves to The Agnes Gund Garden Lobby with standing room only.
UPPER WEST SIDE
July 27 to Aug. 24
For a month beginning at the end of July Lincoln Center will come alive with the sounds of the Mostly Mozart Festival 2013. All are ticketed events except for the Saturday, July 27 preview concert featuring the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. Tickets for this free performance will be available July 27 at 10 a.m. at the Avery Fisher Hall box office, first-come, first-served with a limit of two per person.
The 47th season showcases more than 50 events from concerts, opera productions, preconcert lectures and recital, late-night performances, and a film screening,
One of the highlights of the festival is the Budapest Festival Orchestra performing the entire comic opera Le nozze di Figaro Aug. 11, 13 and 15, at Rose Theater, Frederick P. Rose Hall. Performances are Aug. 11 at 5 p.m., Aug. 13 and Aug. 15 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40 to $125; contact www.lincolncenter.org or CenterCharge at 212.721.6500.
For all Mostly Mozart Festival performances, visit www.mostlymozart.org.
DOWNTOWN
Music of Jewish Heritage Concert
Sunday, June 2
Face the Music, the avant-garde teen ensemble, will present Different Trains, by Steve Reich, in a concert at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Place in lower Manhattan, Sunday, June 2, at 2:30 p.m. The performance is one of the selections in their repertoire.
Tickets for the concert are free at the box office first-come, first served beginning at 11:30 a.m. the day of the program. A separate ticket is required for museum admission.
Founded in 2005, the ensemble has performed throughout New York City at Merkin Concert Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Lincoln Center's David Rudenstein Atrium. The group focuses on the performance of music by living classical composers including Reich and Philip Glass. Contact 646.437.4202.
DOWNTOWN
June 7, 14, 21, and 28
The Seaport Music Festival draws thousands of people to the Seaport's Pier 17 Fridays at 7 p.m. in June, the "indie-rock" series books bands from Brooklyn to across the Atlantic. Music wafts through the area against a backdrop of cool breezes and views of downtown Manhattan. It's all free.