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“Maybe a concert can be more than a concert.”
That idea has driven Basia Kurlender since late 2024, when she began creating unique community events around the independent music scene emerging on Long Island.
Through her DIY organization, Ballpark Figure Booking, the 29-year-old brings together bands, gathers supplies, designs flyers, creates social media posts and even runs sound for events that pair live music with interactive art workshops, pop-up galleries, book launches and more.
And she’s doing it all across Long Island — at libraries, bookstores, breweries and nonprofits such as Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown.
Her mission is simple: Give young people and artists cool places to go, create and experience something new together.
“Just because it’s not New York City, it doesn’t mean Long Island isn’t deserving of a really rich arts and music culture,” said Kurlender, a Nassau County resident who attended college in Brooklyn, where she honed her background in graphic design and marketing. “When you bring people together in a room and have creative things happening, it’s easier to make connections. We don’t all have to be siloed. There’s an appetite for it out here.”
And Ballpark Figure has quickly started making waves.
The organization has hosted everything from after-hours library shows to album-listening walk clubs and collaborated with the Patchogue Arts Council on “Songs and Zines,” a concert and art programming series that received a Suffolk County Cultural Competition grant in 2025 and again this year.
Last summer, Kurlender’s vision culminated in the PAC-MoCA Skate Festival, a large-scale Patchogue event featuring skateboarding, live bands, art workshops, a film screening and panel discussion.
About 500 people showed up.
So when JD Verbeck, a librarian trainee at Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library, was put in charge of the library’s Summer Concert Series this year, he knew who to call.
Verbeck wanted to shake things up.
Rather than stick solely with classic rock cover bands, he hoped to showcase local artists playing original music while reaching a demographic he believes is often overlooked by libraries: people ages 18 to 29.
“People in that age group don’t generally check to see if there’s anything at the library for them…and I’d hazard to say that’s the one that needs it most,” said Verbeck, 28, pointing to the abundance of programs geared toward children and seniors. “Frankly, it wasn’t something I thought was attainable until I saw Ballpark’s work with the Patchogue Library.”
Verbeck and Kurlender began working together in February, with Kurlender putting together a detailed proposal for what would become Lawn Fest.
The free, all-ages event is set for Monday, Aug. 17, beginning at 6 p.m. on the sprawling lawn next to the Moriches Branch of the library at 201 Montauk Highway in Shirley.
The lineup features three original Long Island-based bands: House Plants, an indie rock group; Strawberry Blonde, which blends indie emo pop and emo dance pop; and Items, a progressive math rock band.
There will also be lawn games, food trucks and Mr. Softee.
“The lawn is huge, and we’re making use of it,” Verbeck said. “We’re also trying to establish that you can come to the library to hear new music.”
And, he added with a laugh: “It’ll be palatable for an older audience—no screaming, no moshing.”
For Kurlender, the growing slate of events has become about more than simply putting bands on a stage.
It’s about creating connections and breathing new life into spaces that already exist in Long Island communities.
“Ballpark is not only everyone else’s answer to isolation—it’s also mine,” she said. “It’s a return to hometown movement. Re-learning how to socialize in some ways, reactivating spaces already in place in their communities. We want to involve as many people as possible.
“And some of it was like, ‘I’m going to make the world I want to see.’”
Top: Basia Kurlender (courtesy photo)
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