About Rochester Public Music

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Rochester Public Music brings people together through concerts, cultural programs, and music education. Our events are free and public by design.

We turn parks into concert venues, bring artists into classrooms, and share music across neighborhoods. Our work is rooted in shared experience, local connection, and the belief that music belongs to everyone.

Music with Purpose.

Rochester Public Music is a department of the City of Rochester.

Our Programs

  • FORWARD Park Concerts: Free summer concerts in Rochester parks. Local bands, local food, and space for everyone to gather.
  • Riverside Music Series: Live music. Big names. No tickets. Large-scale concerts featuring chart-topping acts and rising stars.
  • Sound School: In-school residencies where students explore rhythm, movement, and musical identity — from hip hop and taiko drumming to close-harmony singing.
  • Passport Sessions: Free outdoor concerts during Thursdays Downtown, celebrating culture and connection through sound.

Them Coulee Boys w/ Clay Fulton & the Lost 40 - forWARD Neighborhood Park Concert Series

 Current_oval 2020
forWARD Neighborhood Park Concert Series - 2022 | Allendale Park | Week #3 | Admission is FREE! | Sponsored by Mayo ClinicThe Current | Hosted by 6th Ward City Council Person Molly Dennis Food trucks (Jersey Jo's Philly Cheesesteaks and More, The Wandering Scoop, & Taco Lab) will be on-site!

Clay Fulton & the Lost 40
(5:30 PM)
- Rochester based Clay Fulton takes us back to the great American folk singers of yesteryear with a modern indie-pop twist; think John Prine meets Dawes. Fulton has a knack for writing clever and simple lines that are both approachable and memorable. He definitely wants you to feel the angst, frustration and grit of the ups and downs of love and life, all while leaving you with a sign of hope.


THEM COULEE BOYS (6:30 PM) -
Them Coulee Boys craft a brand of Americana that blends folk, punk, bluegrass, and rock & roll. They sing their conversational songs in 4 part harmony, often with a banjo stomp and rhythm section punch that drives the audience onto the dance floor and into community. Their trusty van has propelled them thousands of miles across the country and into the hearts of strangers, who tend to leave each show as family. It’s music that creates community through the shared experience of joy and giving a damn. 


The City of Rochester
, Rochester Civic Music, and Rochester Park & Rec present the forWARD Neighborhood Park Concert Series. Six free events in six parks, one for each ward in the City, on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer, featuring local bands opening for regional, national, or international headliners. Promoting neighborhood vitality and livability, emphasizing activities outside the downtown area. Designed to activate the City park system, and raise awareness of the City ward system and each ward’s representative on the City Council. Food trucks will be on-site for each event! Sponsored by Mayo ClinicThe Current

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support Grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.
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