DCCA Executive Director Andrea Jordan (right) welcomes the crowd and kicks off Make Music Day ‘23.
Photos by Dawn Hatfield | The Daily Advocate
Katie Gilpin (far right) begins the celebration by singing the National Anthem while Sam Ploch holds the flag and Darke DD community Connections and Advocacy Coordinator Sue Huston looks on.
Kuraoi Taka Taiko form Mississinawa Valley High School performs “Kaikatsu” and “Stepping Stones.” Recently graduated seniors volunteered to come back to put on the show.
The audience numbers grew and grew as the performances continued from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at YOLO Park.
Bruce Shilt performs “Battle Hymn of the Republic” on keyboard.
The crowd claps along as music and dancing ensue.
Ryan Burnett performs a dance routine to a popular tune from Walt Disney’s “Mary Poppins.”
Jack Marchal performs “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” from Disney’s “The Lion King” on keyboard.
Kyle Wooten (left) performs the theme song from “Fairly Odd Parents” with the help of Katie Gilpin (center) and Cali Duff (right).
By Dawn Hatfield
DailyAdvocate.com
GREENVILLE — A large crowd of citizens gathered at YOLO Park in downtown Greenville on Wednesday, June 21, to celebrate the longest day of the year with song. Now in its second year, Make Music Day Darke County is the result of collaboration between Darke County Center for the Arts (DCCA) and Darke DD.
What is Make Music?
According to makemusicday.org, “Launched in 1982 in France as the Fête de la Musique, Make Music celebrates on the same day in more than 1,000 cities in 120 countries around the world… Completely different from a typical music festival, Make Music is open to anyone who wants to take part. Every kind of musician — young and old, amateur and professional, of every musical persuasion — pours onto streets, parks, plazas, and porches to share their music with friends, neighbors, and strangers. All of it is free and open to the public.”
“In 1982, Jack Lang and his staff at the Ministry of Culture dreamed up an idea for a new kind of musical holiday. They imagined a day where free music would be everywhere, all around each city: street corners, parks, rooftops, gardens, and store fronts… Amazingly enough, this dream has come true. The Fête has turned into a true national holiday: the country shuts down on the summer solstice and musicians take over. Almost 11 percent of French people (7 million people) have played an instrument or sung in public for the Fête de la Musique, and 64 percent of the country (43 million people) comes out each year to listen.”
More than four decades later, the holiday has spread throughout the world. In 2014, Make Music organizers from across North America founded the Make Music Alliance.
The local Make Music Day performance schedule included the following Darke County musicians:
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Katie G and Friends, “We’re All in This Together” Community Concert
5:30 p.m.: Joshua Freshour, who said, “My name’s Joshua Freshour. I’m a singer songwriter who grew up in Greenville. Doing things to try and help communities have opportunities for entertainment and growth is very important to me and what both myself and my partner really enjoy doing with our time! My performances are just me and an acoustic guitar telling stories and singing songs.”
5:45 p.m.: Zach Perry, who described himself, “My name is Zachary Perry; I am married to Sierra Perry with two children Naomi and Arthur. Arthur was just born in June (this month), for 5 years I’ve been a registered environmental health specialist for the Darke County Health Department and as a hobby I like to occasionally make music. Most of the music I create is hip hop, and I write my own lyrics but sometimes it’s fun to work with producers, so I don’t always produce my own instrumentals.”
6 p.m.: Dalton Hesson, with roots planted deep in Darke County, Dalton Hesson has been part of the local music scene as the lead guitarist of the band Mora & the Boys since 2019 and recently joined Northern Burnouts to play bass. Performing a solo acoustic show, it will take elements of classic country artists like Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard and mix them with modern artists like Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan.
For questions regarding upcoming Make Music Day celebrations, contact [email protected] or visit www.makemusicday.org/darkecounty.
Reach Daily Advocate Reporter Dawn Hatfield at [email protected] or 937-569-0066.
