Josh Groban with Jennifer Hudson — MSG, June 12

June 12 is the day after the World Cup opens. New York is already full of visitors who flew in for the group stage, found their hotels, and are looking at an evening to fill before Brazil vs Morocco at MetLife on June 13. The answer is at Madison Square Garden, where Josh Groban and Jennifer Hudson share the stage for one of the most vocally formidable concerts of the summer.

Josh Groban's career has navigated the narrow channel between classical technique and pop accessibility with more success than almost anyone who has tried it. His albums have sold in the tens of millions. "You Raise Me Up" remains one of the most streamed ballads in the classical-crossover canon. His voice — a lyric baritone with a range that extends into the upper register without losing its richness — is an instrument that MSG's scale serves rather than diminishes.

Jennifer Hudson has lived one of the most extraordinary career trajectories in contemporary entertainment: her Academy Award for Dreamgirls, her Grammy, the EGOT completion. Her vocal performances on record — "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" remains a benchmark that other singers are measured against — translate live into something that hits with physical force. Hudson in a concert setting does not hold anything back. She is among the most powerful live vocal performers currently working.

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Together on the MSG stage, the billing promises an evening of pure vocal performance — no elaborate choreography, no theatrical production tricks to distract from what the voices are doing. The show is the singing. For an audience of World Cup visitors who may be overwhelmed by the spectacle-heavy arena programming that dominates the tournament window, this is a different and valuable proposition.

MSG on June 12 is particularly strategic for visitors arriving for the group stage. A Tuesday night at the Garden — a 15-minute walk from most Midtown hotels — is an excellent way to mark arrival in New York and ease into the tournament week before the Brazil match changes everything the next day. See all MSG events in the complete NYC venue calendar.

Get Josh Groban + Jennifer Hudson Tickets at MSG →

June 12 — official Ticketmaster