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Berklee Summer in the City


Presented by Natixis Global Asset Management

As the weather warms up, join Berklee students, alumni, and faculty for a free outdoor music series held in neighborhoods throughout Metro Boston and beyond. The series culminates with the Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival on September 28.


“Summer in the City is one of our very best contributions to the local community – the world’s next great artists performing throughout Boston all summer long. You can be among the first to see their careers take flight,” said Berklee President Roger H. Brown. Past performers have included Esperanza Spalding, Dopapod, and the Stray Birds, to name a few.


Summer in the City concerts bring neighborhoods to life with free programs of pop, rock, jazz, Latin, blues, flamenco, and Celtic music. The Boston-area concerts take place in destinations throughout the city from the Rose Kennedy Greenway, Institute of Contemporary Art, the Boston Harbor Islands, and the Boston Common’s newly renovated Brewer Fountain Plaza to communities with strong cultural identities ranging from Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, East Boston, and the South End.


Click on one of the locations on the left to find a concert near you.

Christian Li

Brewer Plaza, 12:00 p.m.Free

Jazz pianist Christian Li has won several DownBeat magazine Student Music Awards and has attended highly selective programs, including the Skidmore Jazz Institute, the Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony, and the Vail Jazz Workshop.

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Moira Lo Bianco

Regattabar at the Charles Hotel, 6:00 p.m.Free

Moira Lo Bianco is a bona fide triple threat as a composer, arranger, and pianist.

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Christian Li

Brewer Plaza, 12:00 p.m.Free

 

Jazz pianist Christian Li has won several DownBeat magazine Student Music Awards and has attended highly selective programs, including the Skidmore Jazz Institute, the Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony, and the Vail Jazz Workshop.

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Jordan Casty

Prudential Center, 12:00 p.m.Free

Jordan Casty is one link in a long chain of writers who grab ahold of what's driving people and steer it into a song.

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Christian Li

Brewer Plaza, 12:00 p.m.Free

Jazz pianist Christian Li has won several DownBeat magazine Student Music Awards and has attended highly selective programs, including the Skidmore Jazz Institute, the Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony, and the Vail Jazz Workshop.

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Isis Lune

Harvard Longwood Campus, 12:30 p.m.Free

Isis Lune is a Boston-based group led by Israeli vocalist Ella Joy Meir. The band creates a unique soundscape that combines electronic textures with a raw human element. 

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Cheong Kim's Summer Recital

Berk Recital Hall, 4:00 p.m.Free

Pianist Cheong Kim will present her first recital at Berklee, which will feature R&B and jazz songs as well as a selection of originals.

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Family Photo

Kendall Square, 12:00 p.m.Free

Family Photo takes complex vocal harmonies and arrangements and weaves them into popular song structures. The group seamlessly glides between genres, incorporating musical styles from jazz and pop to the more obscure corners of rock and neoclassicism. They tie it all together into an energetic performance, creating a sound that speaks to the band's relentless search of uncharted, sonic territory.

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Christian Li

Brewer Plaza, 12:00 p.m.Free

Jazz pianist Christian Li has won several DownBeat magazine Student Music Awards and has attended highly selective programs, including the Skidmore Jazz Institute, the Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony, and the Vail Jazz Workshop.

Read more

Unlimited Perception

Atlantic Wharf, 12:00 p.m.Free

With members from Turkey, Israel, Colombia, and Japan, Unlimited Perception offers a unique blend of microtones, lyrical melodies, and South American rhythms, such as bambuco and cumbia.

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Jenna Moynihan and Neil Pearlman

Club Passim, 1:00 p.m.Free

Jenna Moynihan and Neil Pearlman are at the forefront of a new wave of acoustic music. Though both heavily steeped in traditional Scottish music, they each bring outside influences from Appalchian old-time to jazz to their collaboration, helping to create their unique sound.

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Fabio Rojas

Kendall Square's Cambridge Center Plaza, 5:00 p.m.Free

Jazz percussionist and Berklee film scoring/performance major Fabio Rojas strives to express emotions through music that cannot be put into words.

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Christian Li

Brewer Plaza, 5:00 p.m.Free

Largely self-taught until college, Christian Li is an award-winning jazz pianist.

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Jacinta Clusellas Group

Charlestown Navy Yard, 6:00 p.m.Free

Jacinta Clusellas Group brings together sounds from Argentina in a unique, contemporary context, combining Latin grooves with jazz influences.

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Family Photo

Institute of Contemporary Art, 6:00 p.m.Free

Family Photo takes complex vocal harmonies and arrangements and weaves them into popular song structures. The group seamlessly glides between genres, incorporating musical styles from jazz and pop to the more obscure corners of rock and neoclassicism. They tie it all together into an energetic performance, creating a sound that speaks to the band's relentless search of uncharted, sonic territory.

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Matt Savage

Wakefield Library, 6:00 p.m.Free

Pianist Matt Savage, age 20, has been connected with some of the biggest names in jazz for over half of his young life. 

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Berklee College of Music, Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department

Tito Puente Latin Music Series: Leo Blanco

O'Day Park , 7:00 p.m.Free

Leo Blanco is a Venezuelan pianist, arranger, and composer. His music is informed by Venezuelan folklore – a blend of African and European musical traditions – as well as jazz, classical music, and pop.

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Christian Li

Brewer Plaza, 12:00 p.m.Free

 

Jazz pianist Christian Li has won several DownBeat magazine Student Music Awards and has attended highly selective programs, including the Skidmore Jazz Institute, the Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony, and the Vail Jazz Workshop.

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Lauren Desberg

Greenway Boston, 12:00 p.m.Free

A recent Berklee graduate, Lauren Desberg recently released her first EP, Sideways, produced by Gretchen Parlato.

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Matt Russo Group

Berk Recital Hall, 7:00 p.m.Free

Guitarist Matt Russo leads a nine-piece group for a set of original contemporary music that draws on jazz, hip-hop, funk, and R&B.

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