City hosts second Make Music event

The city became a part of the worldwide celebration of music last year

As part of Make Music, a free celebration of music around the world, Eastlake hosted its second Make Music Day last week.

Launched in 1982 in France, the celebration of music worldwide takes place on June 21. Eastlake hosted its celebration behind City Hall, 35150 Lakeshore Blvd., from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Different from a typical music festival, Make Music is open to anyone who wants to take part whether the musicians are young or old, amateur or professional.

To celebrate, musicians usually pour onto streets, parks, places or porches to share their music with friends, neighbors and strangers.

Eastlake had around 200 people participate in its first Make Music Day event last year, said Judy Moran, administrative assistant to the mayor and fire chief.

“It was more well received than I thought because being a first-time event, you never know, but they came out,” Moran said. “They brought their lawn chairs and many of them brought their own drums. People who have done this before knew what to expect and they brought tambourines and maracas, so everybody was prepared to have a good time.”

At this year’s Make Music Day event, three performers were in attendance. Tracy Ammon kicked off the event. DeBorah Hill and Gary Lee followed.

A graduate of Baldwin Wallace University, Ammon is a board-certified music therapist and holds the position of associate director of Creative Arts Therapies at Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood. She is also the Praise Band leader at Advent Lutheran Church in Mentor.

“Tracy is our singer at the Sept. 11 ceremony and she sang at our Memorial Day ceremony this year,” Moran said.

“She was one of my vendors at the market. Her voice is unbelievable, so we’re very fortunate to have her.”

Hill led the drum circle during the event and is a facilitator at Northeast Ohio Drum and Music Jam, a social media gathering for anyone interested in the world of percussion, music and dance. Her background as a bellydancer and drummer inspires her to share the beauty of community through drum circles, according to Hill.

“She was great last year and was here with her partner, Don, who helps her with this,” Moran said. “They were just amazing and well received by the community.”

In addition, Gary Lee, a local acoustic guitar player, inquired about being a performer during the Make Music event, Moran said.

“I said sure,” Moran said. “He does the oldies, the Beatles and things like that. That was well received.”

Make Music currently takes place in more than 1,000 cities in 120 countries.