Tiny Desk Contest & BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Announce Joint Showcase For Summer 2022

NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest and BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, New York’s longest-running free outdoor music festival, announced a first-of-its-kind joint showcase between the two experiential music giants.

The June 18 event brings together two trusted organizations that are known for discovery of emerging talent and providing platforms for new artists. By teaming up, BRIC and the Tiny Desk Contest will offer their combined audiences an innovative experience rooted in musical discovery and community as part of the overall free BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! summer programming. This performance will feature the winner of the 2022 Tiny Desk Contest, plus other alumni from the Tiny Desk Contest.

“As the Tiny Desk Contest continues to grow, we are excited about this new collaboration with BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, which provides an opportunity for our 2022 winner to play on such a legendary stage,” says Jessica Goldstein, Senior Director & Executive Producer of NPR Presents.

“For over forty years, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! has brought communities across Brooklyn and beyond together around a love of musical exploration,” says Diane Eber, Executive Producer of BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! “This year, we’re so thrilled to share that experience with Tiny Desk, an iconic institution that is fully aligned with our curatorial values and vision. Collaborations like this are what BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! is all about.”

For the past eight years, the Tiny Desk Contest has successfully showcased new talent, with considerable impact on the music industry. Past winners have gone on to great success on bigger stages. Fantastic Negrito, the inaugural winner, has won three Grammy awards; Linda Diaz performed at BRIC JazzFest in 2021; the 2016 winner Gaelynn Lea is the composer for the 2022 Macbeth production opening this spring on Broadway; and recently, Quinn Chistopherson joined NBC’s American Song Contest as a juror, and also performed at this year’s SXSW.

For the past 44 years, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! has been the summer-long outdoor concert and performance series that celebrates talent from around the world and around the block. Each year, the festival presents talent spanning global music icons to chart-topping indie bands and includes benefit concerts, family days, and movie nights. These shows have become one of the city’s foremost cultural attractions and a beloved summer tradition. Last week, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn announced the legendary saxophonist Kamasi Washington and international Afro-pop phenom Yemi Alade as the festival’s opening and closing night headliners. The full 2022 BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! lineup will be announced in May.

Since the launch of the Tiny Desk concert series in 2008, more than 900 performances have been recorded at the Tiny Desk — Bob Boilen’s festive workspace at NPR headquarters — which is adorned with years of music mementos and memorabilia. Tiny Desk concerts attract 16 million viewers per month and helps unify a passionate community around the love of music discovery. The series has provided a unique stage for artists across the genre spectrum and at every phase of their careers, including performances by Megan Thee Stallion, Taylor Swift, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Freddie Gibbs, Toro y Moi, Weezer, the characters of Sesame Street and more. Since 2020, in response to ongoing social-distancing measures, NPR Music has been producing Tiny Desk (home) concerts. This latest iteration of the Tiny Desk curates performances from around the world, with the same spirit — stripped-down sets in an intimate setting — while providing a unique look into the creative spaces of artists including Lenny Kravitz, Roddy Ricch, Dirty Projectors, BEAM, Little Dragon, Soccer Mommy, Lianne La Havas, Baby Rose and more.

The Tiny Desk Contest On The Road tour starts on May 24 in Washington, D.C., and will visit five cities. The full tour will be announced on May 17.

State Farm® is the exclusive sponsor of NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest.

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! at the Lena Horne Bandshell in Prospect Park will run from June 8 - Aug. 6.

ABOUT BRIC:

BRIC is a leading arts and media institution anchored in Downtown Brooklyn whose work spans contemporary visual and performing arts, media, and civic action. For over forty years, the institution has shaped Brooklyn’s cultural and media landscape by presenting and incubating artists, creators, students, and media makers. As a creative catalyst for its community, BRIC ignites learning in people of all ages and centralizes diverse voices that take risks and drive culture forward. BRIC is building Brooklyn’s creative future.

ABOUT NPR Music:

For more than a decade, NPR Music’s robust music journalism had engaged millions of music fans from all genres with feature stories, live performances, cultural analysis and interviews. Projects include the Tiny Desk concert series, the cross-platform Turning Tables project and the programs All Songs Considered, Alt.Latino, Louder Than A Riot and Jazz Night in America. NPR Music collaborates with NPR’s news magazines, public radio member stations and a passionate listener community to celebrate exceptional music and discover emerging artists. Visit NPRMusic.org and connect with NPR Music on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.