Since it began in 1979 as a catalyst for a burgeoning Brooklyn performing arts scene, the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival has become one of the city's foremost summer cultural attractions
Mark your calendars! Academy and Grammy Award-winning actor and musician Common will open the 40th annual BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival with a free concert on June 5 at the Prospect Park Bandshell.
Starting with the 1992 album Can I Borrow a Dollar?, Common has made a name for himself as a leading hip hop recording artist, poet, actor, film producer and activist.
He released his 11th studio album, Black America Again, in 2016. The album includes the anthem Letter to the Free, the end-title track to Ava Duvernay's Oscar-nominated documentary 13TH, for which he received the 2017 Emmy for "Best Music and Lyrics." After collaborating on the album, Common, Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins joined together to form supergroup August Greene; the trio's first album will be released on March 9.
As an actor, Common has appeared on the big screen in the Oscar-nominated film Selma, for which he won the Academy Award and Golden Globe in 2015 for "Best Original Song in a Motion Picture" for Glory, with musician John Legend. Behind the scenes, he currently serves as an executive producer of the new TV series The Chi, a coming-of-age story set in Chicago.
Since its inception in 1979, the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! has been a catalyst for a burgeoning Brooklyn performing arts scene. Over its 39-year history, NYC's longest-running summer outdoor performance festival has presented more than 2,000 artists, drawing a diverse audience upwards of 200,000 each season.
Preceding the concert will be a gala honoring outgoing BRIC President Leslie Griesbach Schultz for her 13 years of transformational leadership. Since 2005, Schultz has led the transformation of BRIC into a high-impact institution in an award-winning new facility in Downtown Brooklyn; vastly expanded BRIC's programming, education initiatives and community-engagement work; and strengthened BRIC's commitment to providing support and resources for Brooklyn artists. For more information about the gala, go here.
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! presents: Common
Where: Prospect Park Bandshell, Prospect Park West & 9th St., Brooklyn
When: Tuesday, June 5 at 8:00 pm. (Gates open at 6:30 pm)
How much: Free ($5 suggested donation)
