The Scarlet Opera performed early this month at TSQ LIVE 2023. Photo courtesy of Andrew Werner for the Times Square Alliance.

Partnering with Organizations Including Pioneer Works, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Ailey Extension to Celebrate the Arts in NYC

—Through September 2023—

Times Square Alliance continues its successful, entirely free, open air performance series this August through September with TSQ LIVE. Featuring over 80 live performances across Times Square’s public plazas throughout the summer, this year’s TSQ LIVE is the biggest series to date. The summer’s largest free open-air program of its kind, the 2023 edition features more partners than ever, including Pioneer Works, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Ailey Extension, Brickhouse NYC, Big Apple Ranch, Backwoodz Studioz Showcase, Elsewhere and Soul Summit Music.

Every summer, Times Square Alliance celebrates NYC’s vibrant arts community with free programming ranging from DJ sets, to dance classes, to live music performances from NYC-based artists. TSQ LIVE is proud to continue to showcase the incredible diversity of talent and creativity that the district and city have to offer. By offering accessible programs nearly every weekday, TSQ LIVE reaches out to the hundreds of thousands of individuals who pass through Times Square. The series brings artists, performers, and cultural partners from New York’s more established institutions together with emerging talents to share their work on one of the world’s most well-known, public stages.

TSQ LIVE August highlights include DJ sets from Soul Summit and Elsewhere, a line dancing class with Bigg Apple Ranch, and hip-hop’s 50th anniversary celebrations including a special dance class with Ailey Extension, a showcase of crews and dance battles with Brickhouse NYC, and a special performance by Backwoodz Studioz artists Fatboi Sharif, Fielded, Cavalier, and E L U C I D.

Thank you to the supporters who make TSQ LIVE possible. All Tuesday and Wednesday performances are presented by Nasdaq. All TSQ Live Jazz concerts are presented by T-Mobile.

FULL AUGUST SCHEDULE

  • Tuesday, August 15, 5pm: DJ Sets with Elsewhere | Jubilee (Broadway & 43rd St)
  • Wednesday, August 16, 5pm: Live Music with Pioneer Works | The Chutneys (Broadway & 43rd St)
  • Thursday, August 17, 5pm: Live Music with Jazz at Lincoln Center | Simon Moullier Quartet (Broadway & 46th St)
  • Friday, August 18, 6pm: Live Music on Summer Fridays (Broadway & 46th St)
  • Tuesday, August 22, 5pm: DJ Sets with Rash Bar | Time Four You to Get a Watch (Broadway &43rd St)
  • Thursday, August 24, 5pm: Dance with OTA Vogue Academy | Dance Class (Broadway & 46th St)
  • Friday, August 25, 5pm: Live Music on Summer Fridays | Backwoodz Studioz Showcase featuring Fatboi Sharif, Fielded, Cavalier, and E L U C I D (Broadway & 46th St)
  • Tuesday, August 29, 5pm: Dance with Big Apple Ranch | Line Dancing with Jon Lee (Broadway & 43rd St)
  • Wednesday, August 30, 5pm: Live Music with Pioneer Works | H x H (Lester St. Louis & Chris Williams) (Broadway & 43rd St)
  • Thursday, August 31, 5pm: Live Music with Jazz at Lincoln Center | Endea Owens and the Cookout (Broadway & 46th St)

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

DJ SETS

Curated by Rash Bar, Soul Summit Music, Elsewhere, and Disco Tehran

Presented by Nasdaq

Tune in on Tuesdays to hear NYC-based DJs bring their expert craft to music lovers and passersby in Times Square. The series kicked off from May to June with a euphoric summer soundtrack presented by Brooklyn-based Rash Bar, and followed with programs by Elsewhere, who return this month to spin radical dance rhythms. Once each in August and September, DJ collective Soul Summit will bring their soulful house music to the plazas of Times Square, along with other local DJs joining the celebration each Tuesday in August at 5pm. Later in September, Disco Tehran will join the fun with curated sets and a live dance party.

Brooklyn-based Soul Summit Music, consisting of DJs Jeffrey Mendoza, Sadiq Bellamy and Tabu, is best known for their soulful Sunday afternoon festivals in Fort Greene Park where the collective has built a devoted following from across the tri-State area for over two decades for their joyful and inclusive dance parties.

Elsewhere is Brooklyn’s leading venue & night club dedicated to new music, presenting underground and unbound music with love since 2017. Across three floors, Elsewhere is a space for all New Yorkers to experience expansive sonic offerings, spreading the joy of radical music, for all & forever.

Disco Tehran is a funky warm dance party and live performance project that connects New York to the era of 1970s discotheques in Tehran. Originally born out of a small apartment in New York City, Disco Tehran parties have rapidly attracted a cult following around the world. Exploring groovy household throwbacks and rare music from the Asian continent, Latin America, Africa, and Europe, Disco Tehran tours the world connecting cultures, people and dance floors. Disco Tehran provides VPN connections for the people in Iran to be able to bypass severe internet restrictions in the country.

THE COMMUTER SERIES WITH PIONEER WORKS

Presented by Nasdaq

Brooklyn-based leading nonprofit cultural center Pioneer Works, known for their experimental music program and residency, is curating and presenting a series of musical performances featuring past, current, and future musicians-in-residence across all genres, including Corrine Jasmin, H x H (Lester St. Louis & Chris Williams), and The Churneys.

Pioneer Works (PW) is an artist and scientist-led nonprofit cultural center in Red Hook, Brooklyn that fosters innovative thinking through the visual and performing arts, technology, music, and science. Its mission is to build community through the arts and sciences to create an open and curious world.

JAZZ IN TIMES SQUARE

Curated by Jazz at Lincoln Center

Presented by T-Mobile

Jazz at Lincoln Center is taking over Times Square to bring New York City’s jazz scene to Broadway, creating the feeling of an intimate club amidst the lights and sounds of the city. In keeping with its mission to entertain, enrich, and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education, and advocacy, the organization will present a dynamic array of musicians including Grace Fox Big Band, Simon Moullier Quartet, and Endea Owens and the Cookout.

With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest artists spanning genres and generations, Jazz at Lincoln Center produces thousands of performance, education, and broadcast events each season in its home in New York City and around the world, for people of all ages.

SUMMER FRIDAY CONCERTS

Check out NYC’s buzziest up-and-coming talent live on Fridays in Times Square. Musicians from New York City and beyond will present free concerts, ranging from indie, pop, and electronic, many of whom will be celebrating the debut of new work or an upcoming summer album release. Highlights include a hip hop showcase with Backwoodz Studioz and a punk rock show by arts organization NEW INC. Stay tuned for performance dates and more.

BIG APPLE RANCH: LINE DANCING IN TIMES SQUARE

Tuesday, August 29 | 5–6pm, Broadway & 43rd St

Big Apple Ranch comes to Times Square for ONE DAY ONLY offering you “gay-centric, straight-friendly” line dance class and party. Classes are open to people of all ages and all levels of dance experience! You can register for the dance class here.

Big Apple Ranch has been around since 1999 and offers a country-western, line and swing dance lesson and party at EPA Dance Studio located at 320 West 37th Street, 2nd floor, NYC (located between 8-9th Avenues).

ABOUT TIMES SQUARE ALLIANCE

The Times Square Alliance works to improve and promote Times Square – cultivating the creativity, energy and edge that have made the area an icon of entertainment, culture and urban life for over a century. Founded in 1992, the Alliance keeps the neighborhood clean and safe, promotes local businesses, manages area improvements and produces major annual events with partners including New Year’s Eve, Solstice in Times Square and Love in Times Square. As the custodians of Times Square, the Alliance works every day to improve the quality of life for the neighborhood residents and businesses while driving economic growth in New York City. TSQ.org

ABOUT TIMES SQUARE ARTS

Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists and cultural institutions to experiment and engage with one of the world’s most iconic urban places. Through the Square’s electronic billboards, public plazas, vacant areas and popular venues, and the Alliance’s own online landscape, Times Square Arts invites leading contemporary creators, such as Charles Gaines, Joan Jonas, Jeffrey Gibson, Pamela Council, Mel Chin and Kehinde Wiley, to help the public see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a cultural district and place of risk, innovation and creativity, and the arts program ensures these qualities remain central to the district’s unique identity.

ABOUT TSQ LIVE x Nasdaq

Through this partnership with TSQ LIVE centered at the Crossroads of the World, Nasdaq aims to amplify artists, singer-songwriters, and storytellers by celebrating New York’s vibrant and inclusive culture and championing people of all backgrounds to reach their full potential.

ABOUT Nasdaq

Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a leading global technology company serving corporate clients, investment managers, banks, brokers, and exchange operators as they navigate and interact with the global capital markets and the broader financial system. We aspire to deliver world-leading platforms that improve the liquidity, transparency, and integrity of the global economy. Our diverse offering of data, analytics, software, exchange capabilities, and client-centric services enables clients to optimize and execute their business vision with confidence. To learn more about the company, technology solutions and career opportunities, visit us on LinkedIn, on Twitter @Nasdaq, or at www.nasdaq.com.