 | |
| Address | Fulton Ferry |
|---|---|
| Location | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Owner | Bargemusic, Ltd. |
| Genre(s) | classical music |
| Opened | 1977 |
| Website | |
| bargemusic | |
Bargemusic, formally known as Bargemusic, Ltd. is a classical music venue and cultural icon [1] in Brooklyn. Founded in 1977, it is housed on a converted coffee barge moored at Fulton Ferry Landing on the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge. [2]
Olga Bloom founded Bargemusic in 1977, following the transformation of the coffee barge into a music hall in that same year, and the programming has evolved over time while not losing the intimacy of the performance space, [3] which some compare to a floating living room. [4] The barge itself dates to 1899. [5]
"Actually, we're practicing great economy of motion here," said Bloom in 1990. "Water exerts a universal pull on humanity. People commune with nature here, to a degree. They even see a soaring seagull occasionally, and I have my scraggly, brave pines on the deck. We also offer an unmistakably warm social occasion. Our audiences are small - we can hold 140, but I usually try to cut off at 130 - so even though they don't know each other, they speak to each other readily during the intermissions. They are sharing values. And they are experiencing a noble performance of great music. All in one visit." [3]
The current barge, 102-feet long and built in 1899, was the third that Bloom purchased for this use after the first two barges' acoustics did not suit concert performances. She found the current barge near the Statue of Liberty and a tugboat captain advised her of the free slip near the Brooklyn Bridge that still houses the barge. [1]
In 2003, a mishap with a pipe nearly caused the barge to sink. [6] It took hundreds of gallons of water into its bilge when a pipe feeding water into it snapped due to freezing weather. Listing, it began taking on seawater through a crack in its side. A repair crew pumped more than 1,500 gallons of water out of the bilge before it started to level.
Despite some uncertainties as to their location with all the redevelopment in Brooklyn Bridge Park and DUMBO, including the new NYC Ferry service, Bargemusic received word in June 2017 that their bid for a twenty-year lease was approved. [7]
Bargemusic has been led by Mark Peskanov as executive and artistic director since 2006 and as of 2010 produced more than 200 concerts each year. [8]
Like many organizations in Lower Manhattan and throughout New York City, Bargemusic's attendance suffered after 9/11 and that caused questions about its continued existence. [9] To make money, Bloom and Bargemusic have rented the barge out for weddings and solicited donations from foundations, corporations, and individuals. [3] Some believe that if Bargemusic were given landmark status, it would help secure the necessary corporate sponsorship to ensure the program's continued success. [1]
The East River is a salt water tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens on Long Island from the Bronx on the North American mainland, and also divides Manhattan from Queens and Brooklyn, which is also on Long Island. Because of its connection to Long Island Sound, it was once also known as the Sound River. The tidal strait changes its direction of flow frequently, and is subject to strong fluctuations in its current, which are accentuated by its narrowness and variety of depths. The waterway is navigable for its entire length of 16 miles (26 km), and was historically the center of maritime activities in the city.
The Gowanus Canal is a 1.8-mile-long (2.9 km) canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the westernmost portion of Long Island. Once a vital cargo transportation hub, the canal has seen decreasing use since the mid-20th century, parallel with the decline of domestic waterborne shipping. It continues to be used for occasional movement of goods and daily navigation of small boats, tugs and barges.
Dumbo is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The area known as DUMBO used to be known as Gairville. It encompasses two sections: one located between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, which connect Brooklyn to Manhattan across the East River, and another that continues east from the Manhattan Bridge to the Vinegar Hill area. The neighborhood is bounded by Brooklyn Bridge Park to the north, the Brooklyn Bridge to the west, Brooklyn Heights to the south and Vinegar Hill to the east. DUMBO is part of Brooklyn Community Board 2.
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Belle of Louisville is a steamboat owned and operated by the city of Louisville, Kentucky, and moored at its downtown wharf next to the Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere during its annual operational period. Originally named Idlewild, she was built by James Rees & Sons Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the West Memphis Packet Company in 1914 and was first put into service on the Allegheny River. Constructed with an all-steel superstructure and asphalt main deck, the steamboat is said to hold the all-time record in her class for miles traveled, years in operation, and places visited. Belle of Louisville's offices are aboard Mayor Andrew Broaddus, also a National Historic Landmark.
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a 25-mile (40 km) radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It includes the system of navigable waterways in the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary, which runs along 650 miles (1,050 km) of shoreline in the vicinity of New York City and northeastern New Jersey, as well as the region's airports and supporting rail and roadway distribution networks. Considered one of the largest natural harbors in the world, the port has become the second busiest port by tonnage in the United States as of 2019, and the busiest on the East Coast.
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The Mostly Mozart Festival is an American classical music festival based in New York City. The festival presents concerts with its resident ensemble, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, principally at David Geffen Hall of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Other festival concerts occur at such venues as:
Brooklyn Bridge Park is an 85-acre (34 ha) park on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. Designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is located on a 1.3-mile (2.1 km) plot of land from Atlantic Avenue in the south, under the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and past the Brooklyn Bridge, to Jay Street north of the Manhattan Bridge. From north to south, the park includes the preexisting Empire–Fulton Ferry and Main Street Parks; the historic Fulton Ferry Landing; and Piers 1–6, which contain various playgrounds and residential developments. The park also includes Empire Stores and the Tobacco Warehouse, two 19th-century structures, and is a part of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a series of parks and bike paths around Brooklyn.
The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is a waterfront greenway for walking or cycling, 32 miles (51 km) long, around the island of Manhattan, in New York City. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is separated from motor traffic, and many sections also separate pedestrians from cyclists. There are three principal parts — the East, Harlem and Hudson River Greenways.
The Rose Museum, located on the second floor of Manhattan's Carnegie Hall at 154 West 57th Street, is a small museum dedicated to the history of Carnegie Hall. The museum, which opened in 1991, was funded by the Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation and includes more than 2,500 feet of archives and more than a century of concert programs. The plan when the museum opened was to supplement its permanent collection with a series of rotating exhibits. The museum also focuses on the Hall's uncertain future following the growth of Lincoln Center and the sale of Carnegie Hall in the late 1950s leading to the campaign preservation spearheaded by Isaac Stern and New York City's purchase of the Hall in 1960 for a sum of $5 million as well as its being declared a National Historic Landmark in 1962.
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Coordinates: 40°42′11.2″N73°59′43″W / 40.703111°N 73.99528°W