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J-Lo Kicks Off Bronx Free Concert Lineup This Summer

By Eddie Small | June 2, 2014 7:36am
 Jennifer Lopez will perform on Wednesday, June 4 in Pelham Bay Park.
Jennifer Lopez will perform on Wednesday, June 4 in Pelham Bay Park.
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Kevin Winter/Getty Images

BRONX — Jenny is coming back to the block.

Bronx native Jennifer Lopez will return to her home turf for a Wednesday, June 4, show at Orchard Beach in Pelham Bay Park at 8:30 p.m — kicking off a roundup of live summer music across the borough.

All of the free tickets to Lopez's show are gone, but $150 tickets are still up for grabs. Doors will open at 5 p.m.

SummerStage, a program of the City Parks Foundation, is offering a series of free shows in the Bronx this season. Highlights include the hip hop crew D.I.T.C., which stands for "Diggin' in the Crates," which will perform in Crotona Park from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 26.

Group members include Lord Finesse, an MC-turned producer who has worked on tracks for the Notorious B.I.G. and Dr. Dre, and Diamond D, who got started with hip-hop in 1979 DJing for Jazzy Jay of the Zulu Nation.

Music lovers who prefer opera can come to Crotona Park on Tuesday, July 1 for performances by artists from the Metropolitan Opera. Soprano Mary-Jane Lee, mezzo-soprano Ginger Costa-Jackson and baritone Yunpeng Wang will perform from 7 to 8 p.m., accompanied by pianist Dan Saunders.

Salsa singer Domingo Quiñones will perform in St. Mary's Park on Thursday, July 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. He worked with Tito Puente on his 100th record, and his album "Se Necesita Un Milagro" was named one of the most influential albums by the National Foundation for Popular Culture of Puerto Rico.

Parents can return to St. Mary's Park on Sunday, July 13 with their children for Bronx Family Day. The event runs from 4 to 7 p.m. and includes shows from musician David Gonzalez, winner of the 2011 International Performing Arts for Youth Lifetime Achievement Award, Kids Junk Orchestra, an organization meant to help get children interested in music, and family hip-hop artist Secret Agent 23 Skidoo.

"We do try to program for the community and focus on what we know appeals to the people there," said Ian Noble, director of arts and cultural programming at the City Parks Foundation.

Additionally, a series of free hip-hop concerts are coming to gardens in the Bronx this summer as part of the New York Restoration Project's Arts in the Garden Program. They will occur on Thursday, July 10 and Saturday, July 26 at 6 p.m. in the Target Bronx Community Garden and on Thursday, July 17 and Saturday, Aug. 2 at 6 p.m. in the Willis Avenue Community Garden. Local hip-hop artists such as RDAC BX and Circa '95 will perform.

A more complete list of free summer concerts throughout the city can be found here.