Doing Something Good
With the holiday season in full swing BMS would like to take a moment to reflect on what makes this time of year so special- our community!
““When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.””
Giving Tuesday/Annual Appeal
With the holiday season in full swing BMS would like to take a moment to reflect on what makes this time of year so special- our community! We extend a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to making BMS a stalwart in providing quality, accessible, affordable, and inclusive performing arts education. Whether you supported us this year by making a donation, participating in Giving Tuesday, or volunteering, we are forever grateful and would like to remind you of the positive impact you’ve made in our community and BMS.
If you missed out on supporting us at our various fundraisers or events, it’s never too late to make a difference and lend your support through a kind donation! Remember, as a 501(c)3 organization, all donations are tax-deductible and go directly to supporting the quality programming, events, and numerous opportunities you expect from BMS.
Learn more about supporting BMS by visiting the link below or sending an email to our Director of Development, Julie Lozano at jlozano@brooklynmusicschool.org
Moving Voices Wrap Up
This year BMS was honored to receive a generous grant from The French-American Cultural Exchange (FACE) Foundation for an ambitious new jazz project entitled Moving Voices|Voix Emouvantes. Composed by BMS faculty member and accomplished musician Alon Nechushtan, and produced by BMS Executive Director, Brian Adamczyk, the piece premiered at BMS on November 8th along with four other East Coast cities. The tour culminated with a final performance in Paris, France at the notable Le Baiser Salé jazz club on November 15th. We’d like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who made this project possible with special thanks to Sara Serpa, Francois Moutin, and Louis Moutin for their incredible musicianship, creativity, and dedication to the project.
Fall 2023 Demographics Survey
To our BMS parents and enrolled students, we are excited to announce the release of our bi-annual demographics survey and are requesting your participation! BMS is committed to providing the best possible learning opportunities for our students, and your valuable input plays a crucial role in shaping the future of our community.
Why Your Voice Matters:
Understanding the diverse backgrounds and needs of our students and families allows us to tailor our programs and resources to meet your expectations effectively. By participating in our demographics survey, you contribute to creating an inclusive and enriching educational experience for everyone. Your responses will help us identify areas for improvement and better address the unique needs of our community.
Be on the lookout for an email from the BMS Registrar’s Office with a link to the survey and make your voices heard!
Donor's Den: Tom Conlon
We actually got involved with BMS through a client of ours, and we did pro-bono branding and design for the 110th anniversary, so we were able to contribute as a team in that way. Of course, monetary donations are great, but any way you can support BMS will help the cause.
“Music and artistic expression exercises the muscles in a different part of your brain, and helps you become a well-rounded individual. ”
Community support is at the heart of BMS. One of our most cherished corporate sponsors is North Street Collective, a creative agency focused on branding, strategy, design, and web development for corporate and nonprofit organizations. Tom Conlon is the Founder + CEO of North Street Creative, launching business operations 12 years ago and growing it into a company of 14 people with offices in New York’s Seaport district and Providence, RI. We recently had the opportunity to sit down with him and get his perspective on community involvement in the arts.
What about BMS’ mission excites you?
We’re big music fans at North Street; we love sharing artists and playlists with each other. Music is also an incredibly interesting and effective way for kids to learn. There are things you are taught in school that can wire you a certain way. Music and artistic expression exercises the muscles in a different part of your brain, and helps you become a well-rounded individual. It opens up opportunities that standard school subjects don’t! Arts education isn’t available to everybody, and it’s important for everybody to be able to experience it.
Growing up, what was your relationship with performing arts?
When I was growing up, we had the annual school play that the whole class was a part of. I had the esteemed privilege of playing the Mayor in the Wizard of Oz. After elementary school I wasn’t really into the drama scene, and I didn’t take any formal arts/music classes, but I played the bass guitar. I took lessons and played in a band in college. I took a class in high school called Music and Computers where you could make compositions on the computer and it was really fun!
What’s the best way for someone to show their support for BMS?
Honestly, any way you can. We actually got involved with BMS through a client of ours, and we did pro-bono branding and design for the 110th anniversary, so we were able to contribute as a team in that way. Of course, monetary donations are great, but any way you can support BMS will help the cause.
Donor's Den: François Leininger
Being an architect, I believe that access to culture and the arts is essential to one’s development and happiness. It should be a public service! BMS is the next best thing.
Donor’s Den
“Performing Arts have been central to my life. I have enjoyed attending live performances (opera, dance, rock concerts, theatre…) for most of my life.”
There are many ways to show your support of Brooklyn Music School. For some, this means volunteering their time; for others, this can mean spreading the news about BMS programming, or making a donation. Board member François Leininger prefers to spread his donations out, contributing on the same day each month to ensure BMS has support all year round. This is a wonderful way to contribute, and those who set up monthly giving can customize their donation to their specific needs and budgets. If you are able to donate even $5 a month for the rest of this year, it can make a huge difference.
François is a French architect and a Princeton alum. He has served on the Board of Directors at Brooklyn Music School since 2021. We sat down with him to understand why our organization is so meaningful to him.
What about BMS’ mission excites you?
Where to start? For me, the first important aspect is to be found in the mission statement of the school: “Making high quality performing arts instruction approachable and affordable to a wide range of students.” Why is it so important? Our cities have become less inclusive and more elitist than ever. When the cost of living in New York increases uncontrollably, cultural education, music, museums, and theatre become a luxury. Being an architect, I believe that access to culture and the arts is essential to one’s development and happiness. It should be a public service! BMS is the next best thing.
Additionally, I find BMS to be a beautiful, warm, charming, and totally unique educational environment. The building has a soul! BMS is a little bubble of diversity, of inclusion and culture, in the middle of a city that does not have enough of it. We need to nurture it and to support it.
Growing up, what was your relationship with performing arts?
Performing Arts have been central to my life. I have enjoyed attending live performances (opera, dance, rock concerts, theatre…) for most of my life. I was lucky enough to grow up with parents very fond of classical music and opera, and they had acquired a piano. None of us in the family were particularly skilled at playing it, but my parents had met a young man in the neighborhood who wanted to become a professional pianist. He was talented, but he was living in an apartment building with poor acoustic insulation (kind of like BMS!) and had issues with his neighbors. My parents moved the piano to a small room adjacent to our garage (still not acoustically insulated) and told him he could come and play whenever he wanted. He came to our home for many years. It was like having access to in-house live performances every day! He would sometimes practice Liszt or Rachmaninoff for 8 hours straight, including when I was trying to do my homework… He became a professional pianist and composer eventually, and we attended many of his concerts. This experience was foundational to me!
What’s the best way for someone to show their support for BMS?
Donating – When possible, is very important of course. But money is not the only way! I’d like to think that participation is essential too. Participation in the life of the school, via the many events and gatherings BMS organizes, at St Felix and beyond the walls. Attend the events and bring your friends with you! When they walk through this front door, chances are they will want to come back!
In fact, this is how it all started for me. I was invited by a friend to attend a school show at the Playhouse, six or seven years ago. My friend suggested a quick tour of the school beforehand, and soon enough, we found ourselves stuck in a tight stairwell crowded with kids and instruments coming from both ends! It reminded me of Alan Parker’s Fame. I was hooked! Now my daughter is a student at the school, and taking her to her class is a great part of my week. I sometimes sneak into the theatre with our younger son when the place is empty. We sit somewhere in the back. We talk about the theatre, the stage, the sets, the lights, the instruments, the clapping, and how wonderful it must be to perform in a place such as this one… Magical!