1986—

SummerStage was founded in the spirit of Central Park’s original purpose—to serve as a free public resource to help enrich the lives of New Yorkers.

The first season consisted of free events at the Naumberg Bandshell from June through September, kicked off by a performance from the Sun Ra Arkestra (who returned in 2005 during the 20th Anniversary season), and, later in the season, Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company (who also made a return appearance in 2005). Other performers included Beausoleil, The New York Grand Opera and Astor Piazolla. From the beginning, the philosophy of SummerStage was to bring to Central Park as wide a range of music and performing arts as possible—not just classical and opera, which had been presented for years, but pop and jazz, dance, word, and family programs as well.

1987—

Premier South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, fresh from Paul Simon’s Graceland tour, played to over 7,000 people on Sunday, July 5. The show is still remembered as one of the highlights of SummerStage’s history, and it established the festival as one of the most adventurous venues in the City for booking world music talents, a reputation it holds to this day.

1988—

Performers included Youssou N'Dour, Jonathan Richman, Quentin Crisp, and gospel great Marion Williams, whose concert (complete with a huge tent that dwarfed the band shell) brought the southern revival meeting to the heart of the Park.

1989—

Although spoken word events had been part of SummerStage from the beginning, the Spoken Word series was formalized in July with performances by Studs Terkel, Sonia Sanchez, Jayne Cortez, John Sayles and Amiri Baraka.

1990—

This summer, SummerStage moved a few hundred feet east, from the Naumberg Bandshell to Rumsey Playfield, its present home. With a new sound system and greater seating capacity, SummerStage started to draw larger crowds. David Byrne made his first SummerStage appearance (returning in 2005 for our 20th Anniversary), while soul great Curtis Mayfield played one of his last concerts ever.

1992—

This memorable season saw Sonic Youth’s first appearance at SummerStage. The downtown band’s epochal performance with Sun Ra and his Arkestra brought avant-garde music to the heart of the city.

As the festival began to upgrade the facilities and undertake more ambitious programming, stage labor and artist costs increased. To help raise money for a summer's worth of free shows, SummerStage began hosting ticketed benefit concerts. The first artists presented this way were Simply Red, the Neville Brothers, and John Prine.

1993—

Patti Smith made her first New York appearance in over a decade at a magical spoken word event at SummerStage on July 8th. Reading to a packed crowd, she included a tribute to her good friend, the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

That year also saw “WoodyFest,” a celebration of Woody Guthrie’s 80^th birthday that included Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Nanci Griffith and Billy Bragg. Bragg first met Guthrie’s daughter Nora at this event, thus beginning a collaboration that would result in the Mermaid Avenue albums with Wilco.

1994—

City Parks Foundation officially took over the management of SummerStage in July, 1994, from the Central Park Conservancy, which had founded the festival. City Parks Foundation had a mission compatible with the festival, and undertook to grow SummerStage from being New York City’s outstanding annual free arts series to one of the world’s premier performing arts festivals.

1995-96—

SummerStage has always been an ideal venue for bringing new acts to these shores. The 1995 season saw the U.S. debuts of Chico Science & Nacao Zumbi and Ali Hassan Kuban & The Nubian Band, while the 1996 season gave Americans their first chance to see Timbalada, Safri Boys and DCS. 

1997—

Avant-garde musician Diamanda Galas teamed up with the Stephen Petronio Company for the world-premiere of Petrino’s #4 set to Galas’ “Balm In Gilead,” an innovate blend of world music and dance.

1999—

Vernon Reid, Chaka Khan, Jane Siberry, Duncan Shiek, Don Byron and others paid tribute the genius of Joni Mitchell, particularly the jazz side of her career. Joni herself showed up for a finale that brought the house down.

2000—

The summer of 2000 included world-premieres of SummerStage-commissioned dance pieces by Elizabeth Streb and Ronald K. Brown, as well as a once-in-a-lifetime Latin music summit organized by Little Louis Vega.

SummerStage also commissioned a tribute to our friend Chico Science, who had passed away in 1997. The event featured his band Nacao Zumbi as well as Arto Lindsay, DJ Spooky, DJ Soul Slinger and TC Izlam.

2002—

In January, Alexa Birdsong became the new Executive Producer of the festival. With experience at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Essence Music Festival, the National Black Arts Festival and elsewhere, she brought a new level of depth, creativity and edge to the festival’s storied history.

On July 16, Celia Cruz made her first appearance at SummerStage with an incredible performance.  Sadly, it would be her only Rumsey Playfield appearance, as she passed away the following summer. 

2003—

SummerStage was awarded the Municipal Arts Society’s Certificate of Merit, for helping to make New York City more liveable for New Yorkers. The certificate says, in part “…Free as a summer breeze, SummerStage is just as refreshing.”

Beloved writer and New York fixture George Plimpton hosted a special 50th Anniversary celebration of The Paris Review, in August of this year. The event included readings by actors John Hamilton and Peter Dinklage, and author Paul Auster. It was one of Plimpton’s final appearances.

SummerStage screens excerpts from the television series Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues, including interpretive films from Scorsese, Charles Burnett, Clint Eastwood, Mike Figgis, Marc Levin, Richard Pearce and Wim Wenders.

Atlanta’s Indigo Girls were scheduled to play SummerStage on August 14. That afternoon the city (and much of the Northeast) was hit with the largest blackout in 40 years. The Indigo Girls showed up anyway and played to a packed house using generators that had been serviced earlier that day. It was one of the few performances in the entire Northeast to go on as scheduled.

2004—

The Newport Jazz Festival’s 50^th Anniversary was celebrated in Central Park with a screening of Bert Stern’s legendary film Jazz On A Summer’s Day, which includes performances from legends like Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Anita O’Day, Gerry Mulligan and Mahalia Jackson. Festival founder (and pianist) George Wein lead The Newport All Stars in a live jazz jam.

It was a Pulitzer kind of night on August 5^th. Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer winner Toni Morrison read from her novel Love, and 2004 Pulitzer winner Edward P. Jones read from his novel The Known World.

2005—

SummerStage entered its 20^th Anniversary season having presented over 750 free concerts. City Parks Foundation estimates that since 1986, two and a half million people have seen performances at SummerStage.

The mission of Central Park SummerStage remained the same: to bring a broad array of new music, dance, spoken word and film to New Yorkers, from the heart of the city. SummerStage featured soul crooner John Legend; jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson; dance performances from Ben Munisteri, Trisha Brown and Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company; readings from novelists Marilynne Robinson and Ha Jin; the world music of Femi Kuti, Lila Downs and Khaled; the comedy of the Upright Citizens Brigade; brilliant new films from Brazil; celebrations of George Balanchine, Nick Drake and the city of New Orleans; and dance music from the U.S., Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

2006—

2006 celebrated another year of eclectic performances which included Canadian songstress Feist; Brazilian samba-pop singer Seu Jorge; Malian duo Amadou and Mariam; British rapper Lady Sovereign; and the Refugee All Stars from Sierra Leone performed after a powerful screening of their documentary.  Joan Didion read from her chronicles of NYC and new novel, while Stephen Petronio Dance Co. and Noche Flamenca heated up the stage.

2007—

Highlights from 2007 included jazz vocalists Cassandra Wilson and Olu Dara; salsa/hip-hop fusion rockers Ozomatli and Mexican guitar rock duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela; and internationally renowned Zap Mama from Africa. Comedy Central Park came to SummerStage for the first time with Dave Attel; and Amiri Baraka and Sonia Sanchez, 1960s Black Arts Movement pioneer poets, took to the stage. Dance highlights include Ronald K. Brown / Evidence and David Parsons/Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Femi Kuti, son of the politically-conscious King of Afrobeat Fela Kuti, performed after a screening of the documentary on Kuti Music as a Weapon. 

2008—

In 2008, SummerStage received 8 New York Times reviews.  James Burke became Director of the Arts & Cultural Programs. SummerStage launched C2NY, CPF’s initiative to present NYC-based visual artists in addition to the performing arts. The summer of 2008 kicked off with newcomers Vampire Weekend.  SummerStage celebrated the 25^th anniversary of “Video Music Box” featuring icons of the original hip-hop scene.  Two Israeli choreographers presented their U.S. premieres: Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s “Kef Kafim”, and the site-specific installation “PeepDance” by Nimrod Freed/Tami Dance Company. Other highlights included Israeli folk singer Yael Naim, electro-pop group Santogold, blues legend Taj Mahal, and the grandfathers of Ska, The Skatalites.  The season wrapped up with the soul beats of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Junot Diaz read from his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Richard Price, the writer for hit TV series The Wire also read an excerpt from his new novel Lush Life.

2009—

The 2009 SummerStage season was marked by innovative programming and fresh collaborations including an unforgettable opening night performance by the acclaimed singer/songwriter Josh Ritter backed by the New York Pops orchestra; the first-ever appearance by The Metropolitan Opera (featuring Paulo Szot); and two special evenings of dance and music by the esteemed ballet company Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and musician Martha Wainwright. The performances featured the world-premiere of “Tears of St. Lawrence,” a specially commissioned work created by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon set to original music by Martha Wainwright. This was the first commission by City Parks Foundation that paired classical ballet with modern music.  Stars from around the globe also paid visit to SummerStage with impressive performances by Oumou Sangare (Mali), Alpha Blondy (Ivory Coast), Lee “Scratch” Perry (Jamaica), and Yannick Noah (France), among others. Stars of R&B and soul such as Jazmine Sullivan, Bettye LaVette, Joe, and Ginuwine all graced the 2009 SummerStage, and hip-hop icon Q-Tip gave concertgoers one of the year’s most memorable performances that featured an impromptu appearance by fellow New York City impresario P. Diddy. The season culminated with a raucous guitar-filled afternoon by the alternative rock giants, Dinosaur Jr, who made their second SummerStage appearance.