BMS Backstage: Mentor Program + Damon DeGraff

BMS Backstage

BMS Backstage is a new monthly series that takes our community behind the scenes and on a journey through BMS, the history, the community and by celebrating historical and contemporary aspects of music and the performing arts . Anika Rahman our new and brilliant marketing intern explores contemporary and historical subjects through the lens of the building, programming, events and our local and global community connections.

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The Mentor Program hosted a workshop with music producer and manager Damon DeGraff on Monday, October 17th, 2022. Damon is the CEO and partner of dGi Management, a New York-based management and production company that represents some of the industry's most elusive DJs. On Monday, he led a workshop for the teens in our professional youth development program in which he shared his own personal journey with music and music production.

The Mentor Program at BMS enables high school students to prepare for a career in music. Mentors receive instruction from professional musicians and artists through private lessons and ensembles, while also learning to become community leaders by mentoring younger BMS students and performing at various events throughout Brooklyn and beyond. Throughout the workshop, these mentors performed both individually and collectively. Damon in turn provided feedback and techniques to improve these performances from his own professional experience.

It was an honor to have Damon at BMS to lead a workshop for our Mentor Program students. His industry experience and knowledge were extremely valuable, and our teens appreciated his feedback on their individual performances. We appreciate him taking the time to mentor our young people and assist them in their professional musical journeys. Thank you for your time and generosity, Damon!