How Central Park SummerStage is bringing live music back to NYC

When Gloria Gaynor belts out “I Will Survive” at Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage at the Coney Island Amphitheater on July 17, the 1978 anthem will take on a whole new meaning after the world came to a pause — and live music stopped — in 2020.

Because it will symbolize that, once again, New York has endured. “It’s a really big moment,” said Erika Elliott, Executive Artistic Director, noting that SummerStage — whose biggest shows take place at Central Park — had a series of digital events to keep musicians working and to keep frustrated concertgoers happy during the pandemic. “For me, the process of curating this season has really been about using our platform . . . to elevate what’s unique and special and vibrant about New York City in this moment post this crazy, traumatic, difficult year on so many levels, just to celebrate the joy of culture.”