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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.

Hiahli

@ Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park

When: Wednesday, June 5 | 5:30 - 8 p.m.

Where: Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park | 1738 E. Center St., Rochester, MN 55904

Cost: Free!

RPM Forward-Cover_Hiahli

Schedule

5:30 p.m. | Loud Mouth Brass
Loud Mouth Brass is a Southeast Minnesota percussion and horn band specializing in high energy rock/pop/jazz/dance covers and funky originals with a New Orleans-brass-band flare! This isn't your high school marching band, this is LOUD MOUTH BRASS!
6:30 p.m. | Hiahli
Hiahli (HIGH-uh-lie) is a live hip-hop band that plays rock and roll instruments. The high-octane MC Cold Sweat delivers his Golden-Age Hip-Hop lyrics over a variety of musical stylings. In addition to the usual fatback rhythms, you may hear some undercurrents of outlaw country, disco, and grungy rock. Hiahli is also known to throw in a few deep covers from the archives of hip-hop. This Minneapolis-based group formed in 2020 and has been delighting audiences around the midwest ever since! 

Learn more about Hiahli on their website.

Food and Beverage Vendors

  • The Compadres
  • Delicious Potato Skins and More
  • Little Thistle Brewing

About FORWARD Park Concerts

These free, Wednesday evening concerts highlight local bands and regional headliners.

 

Concerts are held in six different walkable, pet friendly, and bike trail connected parks - one in each city ward. The music starts at 5:30 and wraps up by 8 pm. Come early to enjoy the park before the show, visit the bookmobile, and grab a coloring sheet and crayons for the kids!
Everyone is welcome! Picnic baskets, coolers, well-behaved pups, and blankets are encouraged, and here will be local food and beverage vendors on site.

 

Closed captioning will be available with your data-connected smart phone or tablet.
 
FORWARD: Local Music. Local Parks.

 

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