52 Musicians, 24 Judges: Inside New York’s Subway Performance Auditions

A throng of New Yorkers stopped to gawk as a tall violinist bounced from one foot to the other, at times using his bow to tap the body of his instrument for effect. Nearby, a man sat banging on a neon yellow drum. Together, they made music that was fun to listen to and difficult to categorize — a mash-up of hip-hop, dance, house, classical, Greek and country.

The musicians, Adrian Jusdanis and Alan Zavodsky, who make up the band New Thousand, were performing at Grand Central Madison on a recent morning as part of an audition for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Music Under New York program, which brings talented musicians across genres to dozens of locations within the city’s subway system.

While anyone can perform in the subway, only those who make it through the auditions can play or sing under the pink “Music Under New York” banner.

“It’s advantageous as subway performers to have spots that you know are yours at certain times,” Mr. Jusdanis said after the audition. “A guarantee of a good spot is unheard-of in the world of street performing.”

Musicians of all types auditioned for a coveted performance spot inside the New York City subway system. Among them (clockwise from top left) were a group called Band of Brothers; Doha Lee, who performed on a Korean harp called a gayageum; a two-man band called New Thousand; and the vocalist Chase Steele Greye.

This year, the M.T.A. received 147 applications for the program and invited 52 of those musicians to audition. The numbers are slowly creeping back up after plummeting amid the coronavirus pandemic. The program returned in 2021 after a 14-month halt; before the pandemic, the M.T.A. received hundreds of applications each year.