Folk-Focused Make Music Denver Festival Includes Experimental Composer Victoria Lundy

The fifth Make Music Denver event is happening on Tuesday, June 21. The free, all-day festival features live music performances, instruments on hand for attendees to play, and music-related workshops all across the city. The event is a branch of the international Make Music Day, which started in 1982 in Paris.

Sponsored by Swallow Hill Music, the live-music lineup highlights folk, Americana, singer-songwriter and blues artists from Denver. In addition, Afrobeat band ATOMGA will play a set in Curtis Park, experimental rock band Open to the Hound will be at the Spot Studios in Lakewood, and modern classical composer Jeffery Hsu takes the stage outdoors at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. But probably the most unusual music will be heard during Victoria Lundy's set at the arts-complex stage at 2 p.m.

Lundy garnered a name for herself in the local avant-garde world as a member of the Carbon Dioxide Orchestra and currently as the theremin player in rock band the Inactivists. Lundy is also a regular performer in the Concrete Mixer series of musique concrète performances. In 2015, Lundy released a full-length album called Miss American Vampire, which included compositions for theremin and synthesizer. Many may see the theremin as the device that made weird sounds for '50s science-fiction films, but like her idols Clara Rockmore and Léon Theremin, inventor of the instrument, Lundy uses it as any other musician would use his or her chosen sound-maker in writing actual songs.

“I think I'm going to do a more classical, ambient set,” Lundy says about her upcoming performance. “[It's] not that different from what I usually do, but I might leave out some of the more freaky pieces and add a classical piece.”

However Lundy's set manifests the day of the show, it's sure to be very different from every other show of the day.

Below is a schedule of the events and their venues. For more information, please visit Swallow Hill's event page.

Schedule of Events, Tuesday, June 21

The daylong event is free and open to all, including workshops for all ages, concerts and open jams. This schedule will be updated frequently as new venues and performers sign up to participate. Check back often to see what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Curtis Park (31st and Curtis streets)

12:30-1 p.m.
Jeffery Hsu (Experimental, Electronic, Classical)
East Stage

12-1 p.m.
Maya Bennett (Blues, Americana/Bluegrass, Indie-Folk)
West Stage

1-2 p.m.
Ryan Flick (Folk, Country, Americana/Bluegrass)
East Stage

3-3:30 p.m.
Mass Appeal: Ukulele Strum-Along
East Stage

3:30-4 p.m.
Mass Appeal: Drum Circle
East Stage

4-4:30 p.m.
Mass Appeal: Harmonica Lesson
East Stage

5-5:45 p.m.
Color (Soul, R&B, Funk)
Main Stage

6-7 p.m.
ATOMGA (Afrobeat)
Main Stage

7:15-8:30 p.m.
Dan Treanor & His Afrosippi Allstars w/ Erica Brown (Rock, Blues)
Main Stage

Audubon Nature Center at Chatfield (11280 South Waterton Road, Littleton, CO)

12-2 p.m.
Anna Robinson (Singer-Songwriter, Americana/Bluegrass, Rock)

3-5 p.m.
Nearly There (Folk, Rock)

Classic Pianos Denver (1332 South Broadway, Suite 200)

10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Learn to Play at the Clavinova Cafe!

Denver Performing Arts Complex (1400 Curtis Street)

11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Kelly Triplett (Indie Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Pop)

12:30-2 p.m.
The Bad Ideas (Americana/Bluegrass, Indie Rock, Indie Folk)

2-3 p.m.
Victoria Lundy (Other, Experimental, Electronic)

3-4 p.m.
Mile High Elements (Singer-Songwriter, Folk, Pop)

4-5:30 p.m.
South to Cedars (Singer-Songwriter, Americana/Bluegrass, Indie Folk)

5:30-6:30 p.m.
Josh Galvin (Americana/Bluegrass)

3-4 p.m.
Mile High Elements (Singer-Songwriter, Folk, Pop)

7-8 p.m.
Arizona Pinstripe (Blues, Rock, Folk)

8-9 p.m.
Jeffery Hsu (Experimental, Electronic, Classical)

Skylite Station (910 Santa Fe Drive)

6:30-7 p.m.
TSUB Analysis(Indie Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Americana, Bluegrass)

7:30-8:30 p.m.
Andy Ard (Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Folk)

9-10 p.m.
The Skyliters (Rock, Pop)

The Spot Studios (6006 West Jewell Avenue, Lakewood, CO)

12-1 p.m.
Amy Kress (Electronic, R&B, Singer-Songwriter)

3-3:45 p.m.
Open to the Hound (Experimental, Rock, Indie Rock)

5:30-7 p.m.
Jeffery Dallet (Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Folk)