The Brass Queens group won the first MTA WE❤️NYC Riders’ Choice Award, which honors the best “street artists” who participate the most in the Big Apple Subway stations.
After a week of public voting, Brass Queens took home the grand prize with 55.7 percent of the more than 55,000 votes cast and will receive an exclusive recording session with Atlantic Records.
The Riders’ Choice Award was developed by the WE❤️NYC campaign to encourage artists and musicians who have won coveted spots on the MTA Music Under New York program and have encouraged travel for New Yorkers since the program became part of MTA Arts & Design in 1987. For the first time, public transit passengers had the opportunity to select their favorite from three musical performances that are part of the first batch of artists selected for the program since the start of the pandemic in 2020. .
“This competition celebrates the subway and music, two integral parts of the fabric of New York,” said Governor Hochul. “Brass Queens exemplify what it means to be a New Yorker and I am excited to see them impress commuters and tourists alike throughout the subway system with their incredible sound,” added the official.
Brass Queens is an all-female musical group with a funk, soul and hip-hop brass section that appeals to the second-tier New Orleans tradition. They are known for their high-energy performances and their mission to empower women through music.
“We are a band from New York but with rhythms from New Orleans when we started the group we knew that we would break the mold for being all women. The Music Under New York program has allowed us to express ourselves and communicate directly with the people of New York. We have played at Blue Note and other places but they don’t compare to the subway”, expressed one of the members of the winning band in a promotional video.
Riders’ Choice Award-winning members of Brass Queens. /Courtesy MTA
the finalists
The three Riders’ Choice finalists represent some of the city’s most exciting and diverse musical talent and riders can watch them perform on the city’s subway network this year. The other finalists who competed for the Riders’ Choice Award were:
Afro Dominican: It is a Latin fusion band that combines traditional Dominican music with folk roots with an Afro-Caribbean soul. They are known for their high energy riffs and romantic ballads.
“We are a band from Brooklyn and the reason we created this group was to present a different musical full of Afro beat, reggae and rock,” said a representative of Afro Dominicano.
Augie Bello: Instrumentalist, vocalist, producer, and composer known for his energetic live saxophone performances on city streets.
“I grew up watching artists on the subway, I am a saxophonist, vocalist and composer. When you see that people in a hurry on the train stop to listen to you, it means that you are giving a good show,” Bello said.
More than 300 artists
MTA MUSIC has over 350 artists showcasing classical strings, jazz ensembles, world bands, folk, a cappella groups, singer-songwriters and more, featuring a wide range of instruments such as the Gambian kora, Korean drum, drums West Indian steel, Andean bagpipes, cajón cello, Celtic and Baroque harps, guitars, violins, hammered dulcimers and musical saws.
Artists are scheduled at 43 MTA MUSIC locations throughout the transit system, including MTA subway stations and commuter rail terminals and the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. MTA Arts & Design presents more than 7,500 musical performances on the transit system each year. The musicians perform at designated venues with a Music Under New York sign featuring their name and the Music Under New York logo.
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the MTA has selected 24 MTA MUSIC artists to perform under its banner. Initial auditions were conducted by MTA Arts & Design, which offers visual and performing arts on the MTA network. Forty auditions registered at Grand Central on June 28, with 128 applying to be considered for the opportunity.
The auditions were the first to be held since 2019, and the 33rd since MTA MUSIC became an Arts and Design program in 1987. This was the first time the public had been able to vote for their favorite MTA artist.
