NYC Subway Music Winners Picked

The Lost and Wandering Blues Band (Marlon Bishop/WNYC)

(New York, NY -- Marlon Bishop, WNYC) Coming soon to NYC underground:  a Japanese mandolin player playing Italian classics, Baroque harp music, and a full blown Afro-jazz group. They're just some of the 19 individuals and groups chosen by the MTA's Music Under New York (MUNY) program to join the roster of musicians officially sanctioned to perform underground.

Last week, 68 groups tried out for the program in front of a panel of judges culled from New York's cultural scene in an alcove of Grand Central Terminal. The new acts will join about 350 sanctioned groups already in the program. Although anybody can play in the subway legally, MUNY artists can display official banners, use amplification, and have dibs on some of the best and busiest spots underground.

To listen to one of the winners, click here.

The Lost and Wandering Blues Band (Marlon Bishop/WNYC)