MTA Selects Subway Performance Artists

And you thought it was only the homeless who performed in the subway.

On May 15, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced the results of its 21st annual “Music Under New York” competition, and gave 23 lucky musicians and groups the right to perform in New York’s subway stations.

The competition, launched in 1985 by the MTA’s Arts for Transit branch, involves annual auditions in which city bands and soloists vie for participation rights in 125 weekly performances in 23 subway locations citywide, including platforms and mezzanines of stations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

According to the New York Times, these spots are “coveted.” This year 55 acts performed for a judges panel, which selected its favorite 23 to perform in venues from Times Square and Grand Central to various stops along the 7th Avenue, Lexington Avenue, and NQRW subway lines. The closest venue to Columbia, according to the MTA Web site, is on the platform of the 125th Street/8th Avenue stop on the ACE subway line.

So the next time you drop a quarter in someone’s violin case on the 1 platform, don’t assume you’re feeding the homeless—consider the possibility that he or she is one of the “chosen ones.”

maggie.astor@columbiaspectator.com