Tag: performances

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Culture Music NYC

Westfield WTC, Sing for Hope, bring piano for public playing, to the Oculus

Photo: Westfield World Trade Center

Westfield World Trade Center has partnered with Sing for Hope to display a piano in the Oculus, painted by local artist Lance Johnson. The uniquely colorful piano, titled “Evolve” will be available for anyone and everyone to play, listen, interact with, and enjoy, from March 17 to March 27. At the conclusion of the piano’s public residency, it will be moved to a permanent home in a New York City school or community-based organization, where it will inspire lives for years to come.

In addition to the piano being open for the public to play, there will also be free and professional musical performances over the two weekends of its residency. Piano Soloist, Amir Farid, winner of the 2006 Australian National Piano Award, performs on March 19 and 26 from noon to 2:00 pm. The Sing for Hope Quintet will present performances of piano, violin, viola, and cello on March 20 and 27 from noon to 2:00 pm.

Local artist Lance Johnson poses with piano he painted, Evolve, as part of a project with Sing for Hope. Photo: Sing for Hope


The Sing for Hope Pianos program began in New York City in 2010. Today, it is one of the world’s largest annually recurring public arts programs, with more than 570 one-of-a-kind piano artworks in public spaces spanning from The Bronx to Beirut, and from Aspen to Athens. In addition to Westfield World Trade Center, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) will display pianos at Westfield UTC in San Diego, as well as Westfield Topanga and Westfield Century City in Los Angeles. 


“New York City is one of our world’s most inspiring, resilient cities, and we’re thrilled to work with URW to share hope and healing through these beautiful community instruments,” said Monica Yunus, Sing for Hope Co-Founder. Continued Sing for Hope Co-Founder Camille Zamora, “Music and art bring people together, and as the world continues to emerge from the pandemic, the Sing for Hope Pianos continue to spread vital moments of joy, connection, and arts for all.”
“We are so excited to host Sing for Hope at Westfield World Trade Center,” said Diana Grasso, Vice President, URW. “As we continue welcoming commuters, office workers, and local residents back to the Oculus, the power and joy of live music will further enhance our guests experience as they visit, shop, and dine with us.”

Categories
Events Featured Music

Interviews with Bryce Vine, Loud Luxury and Ava Max at 103.5’s KTUphoria

On Saturday, June 15, the amazing team at 103.5 KTU started off the summer the right way with “KTUphoria 2019,” at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater with stellar performances from some of our favorite artists at Downtown like The Chainsmokers, Ellie Goulding, Bebe Rexha, Bryce Vine, Ava Max, Becky G, CNCO and Loud Luxury.

Downtown had the chance to talk to some of these pop-sensations and ask each of them a few questions about inspirations, upcoming projects and more. The first artist we met was the “Sweet But Psycho” singer Ava Max.

Downtown Magazine: Are you familiar with the New York area?

Ava Max: “Yeah, I’m from Virginia actually!”

DT: If you had one thing that you wanted your fans to know about you, what would it be?

AM: “That I’m an East Coast girl at heart. I live in LA, but I love my East Coast.”

DT: When is your debut album coming out?

AM: “Very soon. A lot of music is coming out before the debut album too. I have new music coming out in probably less than thirty days.”

DT: Your song, “Sweet But Psycho” is one of my best friend’s guilty pleasure songs. Who is your target audience when making songs like that?

AM: “Oh my gosh, tell him thank you, and I’m sorry for it being so annoying! I don’t think about [target audience]. I just want to make people dance and just have good messages in my songs, personally, I just want them to feel like uplifted and if they’re having a bad day, they feel happier after listening to my music. That’s like my number one goal.”

Following our interview with Ava Max, we joined the duo Loud Luxury, Andrew Fedyk and Joe Depace, on KTU’s Blue Carpet.

Downtown Magazine: Where are the two of you from?

Andrew Fedyk: Canada. Different cities in the Toronto area.

DT: What do you consider your musical influences and what do you try to incorporate in your music?

Joe Depace: A little bit of everything. We come from pretty diverse backgrounds in music, so for us, it’s just like kind of finding a little bit of everything that we grew up with and incorporating it in everything we do.”

AF: “Definitely equal parts electronic music as well as a lot of Hip-Hop/RnB.”

DT: So do you work with a lot of Hip-Hop artists?

JD: “Yeah, totally, one-hundred-percent. We worked with brando; he was in an RnB sort of group before.

AF: “We’ve got a new track coming out with Bryce Vine, Drew Love from THEY., a lot of really talented people across the spectrum.”

DT: So can we expect an album some time soon?

JD: “Possibly!”

AF: “Maybe not an album, but something close to it if that makes since!”

As the night continued, we met up with Los Angeles’s Bryce Vine to discuss his upcoming album after a bit of catching up.

Downtown Magazine: How are you doing?

Bryce Vine: “I’m good man, there’s a lot going on, it’s crazy.”

DT: What can you tell us about your upcoming album?

BV: “It’s called Carnival. It’s coming out July 26th. Somebody asked me that recently, and I didn’t know, but they knew. I don’t know, my songs make people feel better, I think. That’s what music was for me, so I just wrote songs like that.”

DT: Will the album be featuring “Drew Barrymore” and “La La Land?”

BV: “Yes it will!”

DT: Will it have “Bella?”

BV: “Bella actually isn’t on it! We didn’t want to give people too many songs- I’m glad you like that one by the way. We didn’t want to give people too many songs that were already out. When you want an album, you want some new stuff. My fans know that I take my time on stuff.”

DT: What sort of direction will this album be going- still the feel good vibes? Going from Lazy Fair to Night Circus, it’s a different vibe even though it’s still the upbeat feeling. Are you going to be sticking with that (upbeat vibe) primarily?

BV: “I mean, yeah, it’s just like ‘life stuff,’ you know. Not everything is always tip top. I’ve got a song that’s just based on an episode of Black Mirror that I really liked, you know what I mean, and then I’ve got a song that’s about ruining a good relationship, so it’s sad, but all of it I feel like makes you feel better about those little things that we all go through in life.”

Be sure to check out full footage of the interviews and a couple of clips from the KTUphoria concert here and stream these great artists’ music this summer.

Categories
Culture Europe Events Music

Europe Dominates Irving Plaza with a New Album in Tow

Photo: Courtesy of europetheband.com/Taken by: Patric Ullaeus

europe the band
Photo: Courtesy of europetheband.com/Taken by: Patric Ullaeus

Whether you primarily know “The Final Countdown” as a song that went to #1 in 25 countries, for being regularly-licensed in TV and films (e.g. “Pitch Perfect,” “Arrested Development,” “Glee”), or through its dozens of cover versions, it is important to remember that Europe is still making a global impact 32 years after the release of its self-titled album. Early 2015 brought the release of Europe’s 10th studio album, “War Of Kings,” and the quintet’s first U.S. tour in quite a few years. The band packed Irving Plaza on April 30th with Black Star Riders and the similarly-named Blackfires also on the bill.

I was able to connect with frontman Joey Tempest – who will be featured in a later “Really Busy People column – between their Chicago and New York City tour stops to discuss Europe’s past, present and future. Downtown Magazine’s Darren Paltrowitz:

What do you wish more people knew about Europe?

Europe’s Joey Tempest: That we are probably the “tallest” five piece band in the world. (laughs)

How would you describe “War Of Kings” to someone only familiar with the “Final Countdown”-era of Europe?

J: “War Of Kings” is simply just part of our amazing journey. The same way “Final Countdown” was. It’s all an organic adventure for us. Nothing is really planned, apart from that we strive to dig deeper. We try and find new expressions that touch us and hopefully others.

Photo: Courtesy of europetheband.com/Taken by: Patric Ullaeus
Photo: Courtesy of europetheband.com/Taken by: Patric Ullaeus

You’ve said in other interviews that “War Of Kings” is the album that Europe always wanted to make.  As the 10th studio for Europe, does that set the bar too high for your next album?

J: Yeah (laughs), I might regret that one! Well, in a sense it really is. We wanted to make an album that had a “vibe,” an “atmosphere” and a depth that would remind us of some of the amazing records we grew up with. And it could not have been done without incorporating the thousand gigs we’ve done as a band. We are so proud of this record, it really is a record we always wanted to make and we could never have come close to this not even five years ago.

What should one of the attendees at Irving Plaza in New York City expect from your show on Thursday, April 30th?

J: Well, New York, being one of our favorite cities in the world, the whole band and crew are really up for this one! Coming off a great gig at the House Of Blues [in Chicago], we want to make sure to try and top that one. We will bring four or five new songs, which seem to be going down well on this U.S. tour. We will of course hit you guys with some well-known songs from “Out Of This World” and “Final Countdown.” There are some great live tracks from “Last Look At Eden” and “Bag Of Bones” as well. We’re having a great U.S. run this time and we want to make the New York show very special.

In having multiple platinum albums and having the international reputation as festival headliners, what is it that keeps a legendary band like Europe going?  Is there anything left to prove?

J: I guess it’s some sort of a SLOW BURNING OBSESSION that keeps the five us going. We try and keep the adventure going by constantly putting ourselves in new situations that hopefully brings the best out of us.

What’s the best thing about being Joey Tempest?

J: Being a frontman with these amazing musicians and childhood friends is simply the best job in the world. Eternal gratitude to our fans for keeping us in it!

 

-by Darren Paltrowitz