Last Wednesday, the Brooklyn Music School held its annual fundraising event on the rooftop terrace of the Brooklyn Children's Museum. The night was a celebration of both music and performance in all of its forms, but this year with a new purpose. The New heartBEATS Fundraising Gala this year launched a new initiative at the Brooklyn Music School, emphasizing the importance of health and wellbeing in the arts and within the Brooklyn community.

BMS believes that a healthy arts community contributes to the overall mental and physical well-being of the borough while also fostering strong community connections. Contributions and funds raised from the New heartBEATS Gala will enhance programming such as early childhood music education, after-school programs, music therapy, dance, and musical theater. They will further support the borough’s schools, community centers, and senior centers by helping to sustain Brooklyn as a thriving arts community.

Our gala not only launched this new initiative of promoting healthy arts but also celebrated both our internal and external BMS communities. The night honored singer-songwriter Maya Azucena, bass guitarist Melvin Gibbs, drummer John Stanier, and producer Damon DeGraff. As well as, established the Dr. Leon Gunther Legacy Award which aims to honor Brooklyn Music School community members that go above and beyond to support the BMS mission. Hope Kelly was this year's honoree! You can read more about the origin of this award and Dr. Leon Gunther, whose history with BMS is quite exciting here.

The night was full of fun, laughter, and good company as we enjoyed distinguished artists performances throughout the evening. We watched Melvin Gibbs and Don Mackenzie perform and listened to Damn DeGraff speak.

We were also serenaded by Tesla String Quartet violinists Dr. Michelle Lie and Gloria Lee. Audrey Borst of the Brooklyn Ballet performed a ballet performance, while New York City painter Lauren Kelisha Muller painted a live painting throughout the gala, which was later auctioned off at the end of the night. The gala also highlighted the Brooklyn Music School’s own creative community.

We would like to thank everyone who came out to celebrate with us last night. It was an exciting night and we are delighted to see what the future holds for the Brooklyn Music School. A big thank you goes out to our BMS family, the Board of Directors, the BMS community, the new heartBEATS honorees, the Brooklyn community-at-large, and all the donors and sponsors who helped make the night possible. We hope to see you all again soon!

New heartBEATS Gala