Category Archives: Levitt AMP

Congrats to the Top 25 Finalists!After a very close public voting competition, we’re thrilled to announce 2016’s Top 25 Levitt AMP finalists! A huge thank you to the thousands of voters who participated—bringing their towns and cities one step closer to a $25K Levitt AMP matching grant! Meet this year’s Top 25 finalists and learn more about the public spaces they’re looking to revitalize through the Levitt AMP Music Series (listed in alphabetical order by city name):

ASBURY PARK, NEW JERSEY
Asbury Park Music Foundation | Springwood Park

CARSON CITY, NEVADA
Brewery Arts Center | Minnesota Street Stage

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA
WTJU Radio | IX Art Park

CLEVELAND, MISSISSIPPI
Delta State University’s Delta Music Institute | Crosstie Walking Trail

DENISON, TX
Denison Main Street, Inc. | Heritage Park

DIXON, ILLINOIS
Dixon Main Street and Riverfront | Dixon Riverfront

FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS
City of Fayetteville Parks and Recreation | Gulley Park

FREDERICK, MARYLAND
Downtown Frederick Partnership | Carroll Creek Amphitheater

GERMANTOWN, MARYLAND
Blackrock Center for the Arts | Blackrock Center for the Arts

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
Artsgreensboro | Jimmie I. Barber Park

JACKSONVILLE, ILLINOIS
Jacksonville Main Street | Central Park

LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA
Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center | Shea Homes Stage and Plaza

MIDDLESBORO, KENTUCKY
Discover Downtown Middlesboro | Levitt AMP Middlesboro Pop-up Park

MIDVALE, UTAH
Midvale Arts Council | Midvale Outdoor Stage in the Park

NEW ALBANY, MISSISSIPPI
The Levitt Riverstage Music Series | The Park Along the River

NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS
MCLA Berkshire Cultural Resource Center | Colgrove Park

OWENSBORO, KENTUCKY
Friday After 5, Inc. | Owensboro Riverfront

OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI
Yoknapatawpha Arts Council | Armory Pavilion

ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS
Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau | Davis Park

ROXBURY, NEW YORK
Roxbury Arts Group | Kirkside Park 

SHEBOYGAN, WISCONSIN
John Michael Kohler Arts Center | Arts & Culture Plaza on 8th Street

STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS
Cross Timbers Fine Arts Council | Birdsong Amphitheater

TAHOE CITY, CALIFORNIA
Concerts at Commons Beach | Commons Beach

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY
Trenton Downtown Association | Capital Green

UTICA, NEW YORK
Cornell R2G Utica Urban Studio | Rutger Park

What happens next? With online public voting now over, Levitt is currently reviewing the Top 25 proposals and will announce the 15 winners on January 5, so stay tuned!

PublicVotingOpens
Applications for the 2016 Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards are in, and we’re excited to begin the next phase of the grants competition!

Reflecting our commitment that each Levitt project be community-driven, YOUR votes help decide which small to mid-sized towns or cities win up to $25K in matching grants to present their own free outdoor concert series in 2016.

Online public voting opens November 2, so start rallying your friends, family, neighbors and colleagues to sign up to vote now!

  • Fort Fromage

Some of our greatest memories are linked to the senses: sights, sounds and tastes among them. At free Levitt concerts, sharing food with friends and family while listening to live music together under the stars makes for a memorable mix of all three, which is perhaps why Levitt lawns are often filled with picnicking concertgoers. Liven up your next picnic on the lawn with these easy, delicious recipes, inspired by upcoming Levitt concerts, and enjoy your own lovely intersection of the senses. Continue reading

SpotlightJimmyRose

Saturday night, Marine Corps veteran and America’s Got Talent finalist Jimmy Rose will take the stage at the Levitt AMP Middlesboro Music Series, playing a free show in partnership with Freedom Fest 2015. The festival, presented by nonprofit organization Veterans Serving Veterans, celebrates the service of veterans and helps spread awareness about PTSD.

Learn more about Rose before his free show! Continue reading

Levitt AMP artwork_now_open
Calling all small to mid-sized towns and cities across the country: America’s largest free outdoor concert series is, once again, putting the spotlight on you!

New communities are invited, as well as current Levitt AMP grantees, to bring the joy of free, live music to their hometowns through the 2016 Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards! Continue reading

Spotlight_Series_BizTomorrow night, Sheboygan is in for a real treat! At the Levitt AMP Sheboygan Music Series, presented by the John Kohler Arts Center, audiences will enjoy an evening of extreme printmaking, Zumba and hip-hop dance lessons and a performance by legendary hip-hop artist Biz Markie.

Continue reading

BellinghamSheboyganLafayette

Artists pictured above (L to R, from top to bottom): Wild Rabbit, Marcella & Her Lovers, Floodwood, Marcia Ball, Five Alarm Funk, Biz Markie, Ayron Jones and The Way

The countdown has officially begun!

There’s just little over a month left before concert season kicks off, and soon, 100+ free concerts will be bringing joy to small and mid-sized towns and cities all across the country as part of the Levitt AMP Music Series!

Recently we announced who’s playing at Anchorage, Denison and Frederick, and we’re thrilled to release the lineups for Bellingham, Lafayette and Sheboygan.

Check out these incredible music series! Continue reading

Mimi and Liz for Blog

Mimi Levitt and Liz Levitt Hirsch at the reopening of Levitt Westport, 2014

In many parts of the country, the name “Levitt” has become synonymous with “free outdoor concerts,” “revitalized spaces” and “citywide destinations” open to all. And for good reason—in 2015, more than 400 Levitt concerts will be presented in 16 cities, bringing the joy of free, live music to hundreds of thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds across America, ensuring access to the arts and strengthening communities in the process. America’s largest free outdoor concert series is made possible, in part, by the generous philanthropy and forward-thinking vision of the Levitt family—the late Mortimer Levitt (1907-2005), whose humble beginnings inspired his lifelong love affair with free music under the stars, his wife Annemarie “Mimi” Levitt, and daughter Liz Levitt Hirsch. Since Mortimer’s passing in 2005, Mimi and Liz have taken the reins of their private family foundation, the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, and have led it with aplomb, honoring Mortimer’s legacy while directing more than $18 million in grants to support the core Levitt program of outdoor music venues presenting free concert series, along with other meaningful projects that invigorate communities through the arts. Continue reading

Levitt-AMP-Header_smallWith the first Levitt AMP Music Series launching soon, we’re thrilled to announce our new Levitt AMP website, your destination for all things Levitt AMP—from concert schedules to artist biographies to information about the unique places where each concert series will take place.

Which brings us to the topic of today’s post: place. Some people are born to a place. Others create it. The winners of the 2015 Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards fall into this second category. They are creators and activators, transforming underused sites—like a neglected horse farm in Lafayette, La., and abandoned railroad tracks in Cleveland, Miss.—into lively, music-filled community hubs as part of the inaugural Levitt AMP [Your City] Music Series. Continue reading

LevittAMPMusicSeriesCan you believe it’s almost concert season again?

Levitt Arlington and Levitt Shell Memphis have released their artist lineups, Levitt SteelStacks has announced almost half of its 50+ free concerts and the Levitt venues in Los Angeles, Pasadena and Westport will also reveal theirs soon. In just a few months, 400+ free concerts will bring joy to communities all across America, including 10 new small to mid-sized towns and cities as part of the Levitt AMP Music Series!

Excited? We are! And we’re thrilled to announce the artists who will be playing the Levitt AMP AnchorageDenison and Frederick Music Series, all of which begin early this summer. You can view their lineups, read artist bios, RSVP for concerts, invite your friends, find parking information and more on our new Levitt AMP website, your destination for all things Levitt AMP! And once concert season gets underway, you’ll be able to see all 100 free Levitt AMP concerts happening across the country, as America’s largest concert series gets even larger.

Learn more about these three exciting projects kicking off the 2015 Levitt AMP Music Series! Continue reading