Report To The Community 2021

a celebration
for a city
Horizon Foundation Sounds of the City brings
a community outside to enjoy
camaraderie and cool tunes
The 2021 Horizon
Foundation Sounds
of the City kicked off
a summer of relative
freedom from pandemic
restrictions — and a
welcome resumption
of live concerts
GRAMMY®-winning gospel
singer-songwriter Le’Andria
Johnson was among the
headline performers when
Horizon Foundation Sounds of
the City returned to NJPAC’s
Chambers Plaza.
What is the exact opposite
of being locked-down
inside your home, alone or
with only your family?
How about being outside in
the sunshine listening to live
music with a few thousand new
friends — in other words, the Arts
Center’s Horizon Foundation
Sounds of the City program
of free summer concerts,
which returned as a series
of live, in-person events in
2021 featuring beloved artists
like salsa star Tony Vega,
hip hop legend Rakim and
reggae group Third World?
The previous year, during
the height of the pandemic,
the series had transitioned
into a series of live DJ
dance parties offered on
NJPAC’s Facebook feed.
But last spring, as New Jersey
emerged from a long, grim
COVID winter, the Arts Center
brought back the concert series
in its original and much-loved
format, with performances
on an outdoor stage, for
audiences gathered on chairs
and blankets on NJPAC’s
Chambers Plaza. And the
Greater Newark community
came out in droves to take part.
“For more than 20 years, this
is how the city has celebrated
summer,” says NJPAC Executive
Vice President and Executive
Producer David Rodriguez,
when the series was announced
in May. “This year, what we’re
celebrating is not just the
season, but also the return of
live performances to Newark.”
Mayor Ras Baraka and NJPAC
President and CEO John
Schreiber opened the series on
July 15, alongside a number of
religious leaders who offered a
blessing to the crowd gathered
to see series veteran Felix
Hernandez, whose Rhythm
Revue Dance Party has been
a part of Horizon Foundation
Sounds of the City for years.
But this year, that performance
had special resonance, as both
the kick-off to a summer of
relative freedom from pandemic
restrictions, and the start of
the Arts Center’s resumption
of live performances.
“That Felix Hernandez
show was like the first big
‘Welcome back to NJPAC’
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