| The Board of Directors of the national Make Music Alliance is pleased to welcome Anne Katz, Director of Create Wisconsin, Wisconsin’s community cultural development organization, to the Board. Anne started her board service on October 17, 2023.
Modeled on France’s Fête de la Musique, Make Music Day is the international celebration of music that takes place on June 21st (the summer solstice). Unlike a traditional music festival, Make Music Day is not limited by genre, professional status, or income. Instead, diverse musical groups from mariachi bands to jazz combos to chamber ensembles take to their city’s streets, parks, and plazas, and traditional and nontraditional venues open their doors, stages, and even parking lots. The only requirement is that each event be free and open to the public. In 2023, roughly 500,000 people attended over 4,800 such performances, which took place in more than 110 cities and towns nationwide, as well as in dozens of other countries around the world.
Anne has served as director of Create Wisconsin, whose mission is to grow Wisconsin creatively, ensure access to the arts for everyone, everywhere in the state, and advocate for investment in the arts and creativity as a force for economic, workforce, and community success, since 1995. She is a consultant and trainer on creative economy development, civic engagement through the arts and creative expression, and creative placemaking and placekeeping, working across Wisconsin and nationally.
Anne and Create Wisconsin have been instrumental in growing Make Music throughout the state since 2020. There are 21 Wisconsin communities currently involved in Make Music Day, from Superior, Chequamegon Bay, and Land O’ Lakes (population 900 people) in far northern Wisconsin to Milwaukee and Kenosha in southeastern Wisconsin, and cities and small towns in between. Wisconsin has the largest number of Make Music communities of all 50 states, and Make Music Madison, the first Make Music community established in Wisconsin, is one of the largest chapters in the country.
Aaron Friedman, Executive Director of the Make Music Alliance, notes that “Anne is a visionary leader in the arts community, and a creative force in Wisconsin. She has been a tireless, passionate advocate for Make Music Day from early on, and has been instrumental in bringing this celebration to so many Wisconsin communities. We are thrilled that Anne will bring that same vision and experience to the Make Music Alliance Board of Directors, and she will be an invaluable addition as we enter a period of significant organizational growth.”
Mal Montoya, President of the Board of Create Wisconsin, says, “Create Wisconsin’s Board of Directors is glad to see Anne recognized nationally for her commitment to civic engagement and access through the arts through Make Music Day. Music is the universal language, and Make Music Day is a great way to bring people and communities together.”
For more information on the Make Music Alliance and Make Music Day, go to www.makemusicday.org, and for information on the arts and creative sector in Wisconsin and Create Wisconsin, go to www.createwisconsin.org.
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