MTA Holds Auditons for the 27th Annual Music Under New York Program.

Photo By: Shanice Lewis

   Singers, drummers, and guitarists anxiously waited on line to audition as The Metropolitan Transportation Association held its 27th annual Music Under New York program on Tuesday, May 13th. 
  Auditions were held at Grand Central Terminal where 60 soloists and groups were expected to perform in front of a panel of 35 judges.
     The Music Under New York program (MUNY) gives musicians the chance to perform in MTA subways on a scheduled basis. The auditions were being held to find new talent to be apart of the program and add to the already thousands of performances that take place in MTA subways everyday.
     MUNY provides New Yorkers and visitors with live performances as they travel while, also giving musicians a chance to express their art.
     The auditions featured artists from all over the world covering a variety of genres from jazz, rock opera, bluegrass to Chinese orchestral music. The musicians gave a five minute performance and were judged on the quality, variety and appropriateness of their music for the mass transit environment. However, of the 60 acts only 20 performers will be added to the MUNY program.
     Noah Jackson is a professional bass player who was apart of the audition as an invitation from a friend.
     Jackson, 25, originally from Detroit moved to New York four years ago to attend grad school at Manhattan School of Music. He's deep in the jazz scene and has played all around New York City, internationally as well and, was excited to be apart of MUNY'S event to help out his friend.
     Although, Jackson believes an event like this has it's benefits he said, "doing something like this to get famous is not the way to go."
     Jackson has been working at his profession for years and is a strong advocate of persistance and hard work. "Be true to yourself and be great; good isn't good enough, it takes work said Jackson as he shared his advice to young upcoming musicians.

Musicians wait in line to be called to perform at MUNY. Photo By: Shanice Lewis

     Stephanie Apperio came to Tuesday's event as not only a music fan but, a strong appreciator of musicians and the work that they do. She checks out subway musicians all the time and was actually invited by Eric Paulin's the Meetles Band (who play under the MUNY program) to play percussion.
  Apperio always wanted to play in a band , she even played piano as a child but, recalls dance as her "first love" and later got into theater. She came to the event because, she wanted to experience the audition process and called it a "great experience for everybody."
  "Any kind of playing and being in front of an audience is good for their development", Apperio said of the musicians in the auditions.
    The winners of the MUNY auditions will be announced by MTA in the upcoming weeks and will then be allowed to perform in the subway as long as the abide by the New York City Transit's rules.

Jackson on the right, waiting in line for his friend. Photo By: Shanice Lewis