City Parks Foundation announced the 2019 season of Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage, New York City’s largest free outdoor performing arts festival, bringing nearly 100 free and benefit shows to Central Park and 17 neighborhood parks throughout the five boroughs. This year’s festival will showcase 200 renowned artists and rising stars from around the world to local neighborhood parks, presenting distinctly New York genres – salsa, 
jazz, and hip-hop – along-side indie, reggae, Afrobeat, soul, contemporary dance, and much more.
SummerStage has a long history of presenting artists on the verge of breaking big. The launch of the 2019 season will build on that legacy with the reopening of SummerStage in Central Park on Saturday, June 1st as a night of discovery. Audiences will be introduced to both a refurbished venue and to the music industry’s next big stars. The night will feature New York City native, the soulful R&B singer songwriter Emily King, 
along with developing artists and deep soul revival band Durand Jones & the Indications, and more throughout the evening.
“This is a very big year for SummerStage. Not only are we reopening our storied Central Park venue, modernizing it for its next 30 years, but we are also partnering with our new title sponsor and looking to the future by launching the season with young musicians representing the next generation,” said Heather Lubov, Executive Director of City Parks Foundation . “Of course, throughout the summer, we will present a lineup that is reflective of our city’s population, focusing not only on gender equality, but also on the huge diversity of cultures and backgrounds that make New York so special and exciting.”
Brazilian Night
• Panel: Brazil: The Transforming Power of Music to Overcome Times of Crisis. Hosted by Fabiana Batistela, Director and Founder of SIM 
São Paulo
Saturday, July 27th, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Brazil is one of the richest countries in quality and offerings of artistic talent and cultural production, but it is undergoing a new economic and moral crisis. Batistela and panelists will discuss an overview of the Brazilian music market, present data developed by DATA SIM (SIM São Paulo’s research arm) as well as explore the country’s music scene with exciting new artists and notable festivals. Panelists will also share creative examples of how music and culture can be used as tools to transform and resist oppression, bring economic and social development, increase product export, and promote a positive image of Brazil.
• Music: Alceu Valença / Cordel do Fogo Encantado / Labaq / Dj Grace Kelly In Association with Brasil Summerfest
Saturday, July 27th, 6p.m. – 10p.m. (Doors open 5p.m.)
A showcase of Brazilian music from across the spec-trum highlighting the unequivocal cultural richness of the country’s Northeast. From the parched hinterlands of Pernambuco to a vast catalog of music that has topped the charts in Brazil, Alceu Valença encompasses modern and tropical sounds without losing his undeniable roots from Brazil’s Northeast. This performance marks his first time in the U.S. since his 1993 SummerStage debut. He’s joined by Cordel do Fogo Encantado, a musical-poetic rock influenced group who have a reputation for dramatic theatrical performances with massive drum sets; LaBaq, a self-taught multi-instrumentalist who splits her time
between Europe and Brazil and typically writes gentle songs bursting with emotion but has been recently dabbling in electronica dissonance; and DJ Grace Kelly, the Berlin-via-Bahia DJ who presents Afro Brazilian music and Latin American sounds such as Baile Funk filtered through electro and house.
For the most up-to-date scheduling and lineup for all SummerStage programming, visit www.SummerStage.org.