Barbara Occhino & Friends Perform at New Canaan Make Music Day 6/21

The first ever Make Music New Canaan will take place on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. From 12 noon to 8:00 pm, professional and emerging volunteer musicians, of all ages and genres, will perform at a Pop Up Park and restaurants on Elm Street. Coordinated by the not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization, The Carriage Barn Arts Center of New Canaan, situated in Waveny Park, the free event connects the community through the joy of music. For venues and performance schedules, visit MakeMusicDay.org/NewCanaan/.

Professional singer Barbara Espinosa Occhino (BarbaraEntertains.com) is scheduled to perform with acoustic duets at two venues. From 2:00-2:45pm, she will be accompanied byguitarist/singer Daniel Swartz at the Pop Up Park on the corner of Elm Street and South Avenue in downtown New Canaan. From 5-6:45pm, she will be performing with guitarist/singer Carmine Marino at The Back End Mexican restaurant at 17 Elm Street. Guests need to reserve tables (203)-594-9130 to be
guaranteed seating.

The global Make Music Day is held annually on June 21st, the summer solstice, in more than 120 countries, 1,000 cities, and over 100 U.S. cities. Businesses, organizations, restaurants, churches, parks, and the like, offer their public spaces as a venue for volunteer artists. Launched in 1982 in France as the Fête de la Musique, Make Music Day is presented by the NAMM Foundation and coordinated by the non-profit Make Music Alliance.

Barbara Espinosa Occhino is a multilingual vocalist (English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese) who performs popular jazz, blues, and Latin classics in the Metro New York area. She has performed at Stamford's The Palace, Harbor Point, Stamford Artwalk, Mayor’s Afternoon of Jazz, the Mill River Collaborative, corporate events, festivals, yacht and country clubs, galleries, and private affairs. Barbara sang in Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival 50th Anniversary "the public domain" choir and has been a session vocalist and bilingual voice-over talent in NY/CT recording studios. Barbara has served as a music and entertainment curator for the Stamford Stamford Artwalk, Experience Greenwich Week, Sunday Music in Latham Park, Friday Music at Heritage Park, Make Music Day Stamford, Stamford Mayor's Afternoon of Jazz, the Greenwich Annual Holiday Stroll, and corporate events. See Barbara Entertains.com

Carmine Marino is a dynamic, improvisational guitarist with a sophisticated harmonic sense, covering jazz standards, Latin/Brazilian, blues, pop, and classical music. He has performed at The Waldorf, The Bushnell Center for Performing Arts, The Palace, U.S. and Canadian Playboy Clubs, Dolce Palisades Conference Center, Catskills Concord Resort Hotel, The Berkshires, Nissequogue Golf Club, Winged Foot Golf Club, corporate events, and notable Manhattan music clubs. He has played with master jazz trumpeter Clark Terry, drummer Ed Shaughnessy (Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show Band), saxophonist/composer Bobby Watson, record producer/saxophonist Houston Person, pianist Anthony Marinelli, guitarist Sal Salvador, was musical director for The Landmark Club, and co-leader for The Franklyn Circle Band. He has accompanied vocalists like Marion Cowings (New York Philharmonic), Melba Joyce (Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis), Maydie Miles, among others. Carmine also plays bass and Hammond organ and earned degrees in Music Education and Applied Guitar from the Hartt College of Music.

Daniel Swartz is a guitarist and lead vocalist with The Bob Button Big Band as well as a solo performer at local venues and senior residences. He has performed with The Fairfield Counts, Kismet Band, The Tony DiCerto Group, a cappella groups, Greenwich’s Angel Choir, The Good News Gospel Choir, and The New World Chorus. He has participated in local non-equity musical theatre productions. Dan studied guitar and voice with Interplay Jazz and previously as part of the Third Stream Department at New England Conservatory.