Free, family-friendly outdoor concerts will feature a feast of musical talents
The countdown to an unforgettable season of free concerts in Chattanooga is underway! RISE Chattanooga (formerly known as Jazzanooga) has announced its impressive lineup of artists who will perform on the lawn of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center each Thursday at beginning at 6pm from August 22nd to October 24th for the Levitt AMP Chattanooga Music Series.
Sponsored in part by the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, a national funder of creative placemaking that empowers communities to inject new life into underused public spaces through free, outdoor concerts, the Levitt AMP Chattanooga Music Series presents ten free, family-friendly concerts to the public this fall. The series will feature a diverse lineup of high-caliber talent spanning genres like Blues, R&B/Soul and Jazz. Local sponsorship support comes from the Lyndhurst Foundation, the City of Chattanooga, and the Benwood Foundation.
“We are extremely honored to be chosen to curate this fantastic event for the third year in a row”, states Shane Morrow, RISE Chattanooga Director. “It is a rewarding feeling knowing that we’re able to create a sense of community by bringing people from all backgrounds (social, racial, economic) together with a common purpose; to celebrate our city’s unique diversity through this concert series.” “We are thankful for the Bessie giving us a reduced rental rate this year so that we can continue to host this incredible free outdoor concert series on the lawn.”
RISE Chattanooga is also providing opportunities for local area musicians and performers to be opening acts for the series. They are hosting a free community audition showcase called RISE to Levitt in Miller Park on Saturday, August 3rd 7pm – 10pm and Sunday, August 4th from 5pm – 8pm where they are asking the community to help pick the opening acts this year.
“We wanted to showcase and provide career boosts for one of our greatest assets in Chattanooga - our creative musicians and performers so we created this performance showcase, along with our community partners, City of Chattanooga’s Open Spaces Division and Harmonic Productions.”
Kicking off the series this year on Thursday, August 22nd is Grammy Nominated trio, The Hamiltones.
Also scheduled to perform are
- 8/29 -- Valerie June
- 9/5 -- José Valentino
- 9/12 -- Rev. Sekou & The Freedom Fighters
- 9/19 -- Denise Renee AKA Stout & The Revolution
- 9/26 -- Jyemo Club
- 10/3 -- B. Slade
- 10/10 -- Louis York & The Shindellas
- 10/17 -- Frank Bumpass
- 10/24 -- Eric Roberson
The public is invited to bring their own picnics, blankets and lawn chairs to the concerts, which will have an open lawn setting. There will be an array of food and drink vendors on site. The Levitt AMP concert series is located at 200 E. MLK Blvd. Admission is free. So, grab your family, friends and neighbors and get ready to experience the power of free, live music to bring our community together!
Visit http://levittamp.org/Chattanooga for a full schedule of concerts, directions and information on parking and wheelchair accessibility.
Last December, Chattanooga was named one of 18 small to mid-sized towns and cities across America to win a Levitt AMP Chattanooga Grant Award of $25K in matching funds to present a free concert series in 2019. RISE Chattanooga submitted the Levitt AMP proposal and is presenting the concert series. In an effort to inspire and engage communities across the country around the power of creative placemaking, the Levitt Foundation invited the public to choose the Top 25 finalists through online voting. Learn more about the winners and the 180 free Levitt AMP concerts across America at http://levittamp.org