Brooklyn Academy of Music /

Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance. The Brooklyn Academy of Music presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in 1908. Today, BAM has a worldwide reputation as a leader in artistic innovation and has grown into a model urban arts center focused on both international issues in the arts and local community needs. Its enduring purpose is to provide a distinctive environment in which its audiences—annually, more than 550,000 people from New York City and beyond—may experience a broad array of aesthetic and cultural programs. BAM’s activities have been conducted under the leadership of Karen Brooks Hopkins, President, and Joseph V. Melillo, Executive Producer, for over 25 years.