An exciting summer of music in Glen Cove's Village Square

For more than 20 years, live music has been a staple of Friday nights in downtown Glen Cove. As part of the Glen Cove Business Improvement District’s plan to revitalize the city’s businesses, the Downtown Sounds initiative started in 1997 as a free concert series called Jazz in the Square, which was held every Friday in July. Located at the intersection of Glen and School streets, the concerts showcases local musicians and businesses. This year, Downtown Sounds is holding their 2023 series until Aug. 25. 

Throughout the years, the concert series has grown with the help of sponsors. To accommodate the various musical preferences of the community and to attract a greater audience, the musical series evolved into Downtown Sounds, which was first coined by former BID executive director Francine Koehler.

“I think people just love to come out and have something to do,” Jill Nossa, executive director of the BID, said.” It’s nice to see friends and family and listen to really good music. Kids are out playing in the streets. This is a fun time for everyone. “

One of this year’s popular performances came from a band called Love Song, which drew a crowd of 2,000 people.

“Right from the start, people were up and dancing,” Nossa said.”  Every time you looked around more people were there. There was good energy.”

This summer marks the second year of the Teen Idol contest. Through the summer concert series, a group of 5 teenagers are selected to sing at Downtown Sounds until one winner is chosen on Aug. 4. This year’s final contestants are Tatiana Andino -Mendez and Stasia Kulpa, both 17. 

The winner receives $1,500 and four hours of recording time at Tiki Recording Studios in the city’s downtown. The runner up will receive two hours of recording time at the studio. 

“The ones who’ve been in it so far, they’ve had a really good experience and a lot of fun,” Nossa said.  “It’s a really great opportunity to showcase their talent and of course to win some cash and the recording time is big too, especially for some of these girls who are doing their own songwriting.” 

Patricia Holman, the former executive director of the Glen BID, decided to create the  contest to support the silver anniversary of the concert series. 

When she started the contest, the intention was twofold — to offer something for teens and engage the audience. 

“The contest not only gave our talented teens a platform to perform but the entire community is invested and can’t wait to see what happens next,” Holman said.

Nossa said the final two shows of the season would feature laser light shows, a sight new to the summer concert series.

Teens ages 13 to 18 interested in participating next year can submit an mp3 file with a video of them singing any song they choose to downtownsoundsteenidol@gmail.com in January 2024.