NY Philharmonic’s Bandwagon brings socially distanced live music to NYC (pics)

At the end of August, the New York Philharmonic rolled out a pickup truck loaded up with gear for mobile orchestral performances, dubbing the outdoor concert series NY Phil Bandwagon. The Bandwagon shows are done as pop-ups, with the locations remaining announced ahead of time, and The Philharmonic plans to continue the series with multiple performances on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through the middle of October, weather permitting.

On Saturday (9/19), the Bandwagon made its first stop of the day at the top of Manhattan at Inwood Hill Park for a half hour set, before heading down the road to Dyckman and Broadway near the Anne Loftus Playground (they later continued to the Feast of San Gennaro). The former location allowed attendees to set up picnic blankets and stretch out on the grass while the second location, set against the backdrop of busy Broadway traffic, seemed to draw in onlookers more organically; some stopped their bikes or scooters to watch.

Performers for the weekend included regular Philharmonic members Robert Botti on oboe, Pascual Martinez Forteza on clarinet, and Kim Laskowski on bassoon, as well as guest participants: Grammy-winner Pedro Giraudo on bass, and singer Anthony Roth Costanzo and Felipe Tristán serving as co-hosts. Also present, as Costanzo noted in a tribute to late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, were two women from the League of Women Voters providing info on voter registration. The music itself was from a variety of composers including Mozart, Piazzolla (in part to honor Mexican Independence Day and Hispanic Heritage Month), and a new commission "Noise Suppression."

Check out pictures from Saturday's NY Phil Bandwagon in the gallery below.

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photos by Sachyn Mital