4th Annual Summer Concert Series at the Artesian Commons

Council Member Renata Rollins host The Bridge @ Arts Walk on April 27
Council Member Renata Rollins host The Bridge at Arts Walk on April 27. Photo courtesy: City of Olympia
0 Shares

Submitted by the City of Olympia

For the fourth year in a row, the City of Olympia is partnering with The Bridge Music Project to host their annual concert series at the Artesian Commons Park in Downtown Olympia. This year’s concerts will feature youth musicians from The Bridge Music Project, alongside regional and national renowned artists. The goal of the concert series is to create positive cultural events downtown that are accessible to all communities.

This year’s concert series kicks off on Friday, June 8 at 7 p.m. and will be hosted by Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby. The event will feature several youth from The Bridge Music Project and the hip hop/funk band, Speaker Minds from Portland. “Our organization, The Bridge, is all about building community, drawing all different types of people together and having a fun time. That is exactly what we do with these concerts,” says Bobby Williams, executive director of The Bridge Music Project.

This year’s concert series will include five concerts on rotating Fridays. Highlights of this year’s series include the all-styles dance battle tournament, world touring singer/songwriter, Erica Freas and local celebrities, DBST. All concerts will also feature youth songwriters from The Bridge Music Project.

The Bridge Music Project is a nonprofit organization in Olympia, WA that works with at-risk youth to show how music and writing can be used as tools to deal with life’s challenges. This work is done through songwriting workshops in the community where youth work together to write, produce, record and perform original music that shares their stories. The Bridge has also partnered with organizations like the Thurston and King County juvenile courts and Together! to express how writing can be used as a therapeutic tool. “It’s good to have a creative outlet, because then you don’t have all these emotions that are bubbled up inside of you and you have a way to release them,” says Shanelle Berry, a youth music mentor for The Bridge.

Local band Monkflower will also be playing on Fridays this summer in addition to many other upcoming events and programs. For dates and details, see the Artesian Commons Calendar: www.olympiawa.gov/artesiancalendar

This year’s sponsors for the Bridge Summer Concert Series include the Parking and Business Improvement Area (PBIA), The West Olympia Rotary, Olympia Federal Savings Bank and the Olympia Downtown Alliance (ODA). For more information about the Bridge Summer Concert Series visit their website at www.bridgemusicproject.org. Those interested in learning more about the Bridge can contact Bobby Williams, their Executive Director, at bobby@bridgemusicproject.org.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
0 Shares