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Brooklyn Academy of Music

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues.

Address

30 Lafayette Avenue (Peter Jay Sharp)
651 Fulton Street (BAM Strong)
321 Ashland Place (Fisher)

Brooklyn, New York

Howard Gilman Opera House: 2,109
Harvey Theater: 874
Lepercq Space: 350
Fishman Space: 250
Total: 3,583

1908

1908

BAM was chartered in 1859, presented its first show in 1861, and began operations in its present location in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, in 1908. The Academy is incorporated as a New York State not-for-profit corporation.[1] It has 501(c)(3) status.[2] Gina Duncan has served as president since April 2022.[3] David Binder became artistic director in 2019.[4]

History[edit]

19th and early 20th centuries[edit]

On October 21, 1858, a meeting was held at the Polytechnic Institute to measure support for establishing "a hall adapted to Musical, Literary, Scientific and other occasional purposes, of sufficient size to meet the requirements of our large population and worth in style and appearance of our city."[5] The group applied to the New York State Legislature for a charter in the name of Brooklyn Academy of Music.[6] The New York Legislature passed the bill to incorporate the Brooklyn Academy of Music on February 16, 1859.[7] The group raised $60,000 by November 22 and another $90,000 by March 16, 1859.[8][9] The Brooklyn Academy of Music opened on January 15, 1861.[10]


At the inaugural address on the opening, the management announced that no dramatic performance should ever be held within its walls.[11] The first concert opened with the overture to Der Freischütz, followed by arias and excerpts from various operas, including the William Tell Overture which opened part 2 of the concert.[10]


Founded in 1861, the first BAM facility at 176–194 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights was conceived as the home of the Philharmonic Society of Brooklyn. The building, designed by architect Leopold Eidlitz, housed a large theater seating 2,109, a smaller concert hall, dressing and chorus rooms, and a vast "baronial" kitchen. BAM presented amateur and professional music and theater productions, including performers such as Ellen Terry, Edwin Booth, and Fritz Kreisler. On her lecture tour of the United States in 1889-1890, Egyptologist and founder of the Egypt Exploration Society Amelia Edwards gave her first and last lectures here, in November and March, respectively.[12]


After the building burned to the ground on November 30, 1903,[13] plans were made to relocate to a new facility in the then fashionable neighborhood of Fort Greene. The cornerstone was laid at 30 Lafayette Avenue in 1906 and a series of opening events were held in the fall of 1908 culminating in a grand gala evening featuring Geraldine Farrar and Enrico Caruso in a Metropolitan Opera production of Charles Gounod's Faust. The Met presented seasons in Brooklyn, featuring star singers such as Caruso, until 1921.


It was also used for religious services during the early 1900s. Charles Taze Russell, founder of the bible students movement (now Jehovah's Witnesses and International Bible Students Association), gave sermons there the first Sunday of the month from 1908 until 1912.

1960s–1999[edit]

The Waltann School of Creative Arts (WSCA), founded in 1959,[14] located at 1078 Park Place, Brooklyn, was a BAM venue during the 1960s and 1970s.[15] One of the dance teachers there was African American contemporary dancer Carole Johnson,[16] and the Eleo Pomare Dance Company performed there in 1967.[17]


In 1967, Harvey Lichtenstein was appointed executive director and during his 32 years in that role, BAM experienced a turnaround,[18] attracting audiences with new programming and establishing an endowment.[19] BAM began hosting the annual Next Wave Festival in 1983, featuring performances by international and American artists.[20][21] Humanities, education, and events for children take place throughout the year, plus first-run and repertory films and series.


The Chelsea Theater Center was in residence from 1967 to 1977.


From 1999 to 2015, Karen Brooks Hopkins[22] was president, and Joseph V. Melillo was executive producer through 2018.[23]

2000–present[edit]

A regular event as of 2012 was BAMcinemaFest,[24] a festival focusing on independent films. Katy Clark was president from 2015[25] and left the institution in 2021.[26]

People[edit]

Artists who have presented work at BAM include Philip Glass, Trisha Brown, Peter Brook, Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Laurie Anderson, Lee Breuer, ETHEL, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Steve Reich, Seal, Mark Morris, Robert Wilson, Peter Sellars, BLACKstreet, Ingmar Bergman, David Van Tieghem, Michael Moschen, Twyla Tharp, Ralph Lemon, Ivo van Hove, and the Mariinsky Theater, directed and conducted by Valery Gergiev, among others.


American punk band Hole recorded their live album MTV Unplugged at the Academy on February 14th, 1995. Alice in Chains also recorded their live album Unplugged at the Academy on April 10, 1996 at the Majestic Theater (now the Harvey Theater) for MTV Unplugged. Alanis Morissette also recorded her live album MTV Unplugged at the Academy on September 18, 1999.

2023: by Lorraine Hansberry starring Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan[40]

The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window

2022: by Edmond Rostand starring James McAvoy[41]

Cyrano

2020: by Euripides starring Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne[42]

Medea

2016: by David Hare starring Rupert Everett[43]

The Judas Kiss

2016: / Henry V by William Shakespeare starring David Tennant[44]

Richard II

2014: by William Shakespeare starring Frank Langella[45]

King Lear

2011: by Nikolai Gogol starring Geoffrey Rush[46]

Diary of a Madman

2008: by William Shakespeare starring Patrick Stewart

Macbeth

List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City

Official website

Brooklyn Academy of Music on NYC-ARTS.org

Brooklyn Academy of Music on NYCkidsARTS.org

Brooklyn Academy of Music at Google Cultural Institute