“Music is healing. Music holds things together,” Prince once said. The quote from the late artist, one of the most influential in modern music, captures the spirit of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music’s (BKCM) new second musical hub, BKCM Prospect Park West, just four blocks from its original home at 58 Seventh Ave. in Park Slope, which opened 129 years ago.

BKCM leadership and staff, elected officials, including Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander, state Sens. Jabari Brisport and Andrew Gounardes, Assembly Members Jo Anne Simon, Latrice Walker and Bobby Carroll, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Council Members Rita Joseph and Mercedes Narcisse, and arts leaders, including Alexis Roderick Joel of The Joel Foundation, celebrated the once-in-a-generation project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Joel Foundation Concert Hall on Oct. 9.

Located at One Prospect Park West near Grand Army Plaza, the 12,500-square-foot campus includes 13 soundproofed, acoustically designed music studios, a 1,400-square-foot performance hall and a community space. The entire facility is ADA-accessible and sensory-friendly, doubling BKCM’s capacity to serve clients, students and musicians.

The $17.8 million facility was made possible through funding from the Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund, city, state and federal partners, and dozens of private donors.

BKCM new campus includes a 1,400-square-foot performance hall named after the Joel Foundation. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann BKCM’s new campus includes a community space. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann BKCM’s new campus includes 13, state-of-the-art music studios. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

The new space is also the official home of BKCM’s Music Therapy Institute, which received a $2 million grant from The Joel Foundation, founded by Alexis and Billy Joel. The institute will allow BKCM to expand its music therapy program, the largest in New York City, which serves more than 3,000 clients at more than 50 sites across the five boroughs. It will also serve as a hub for workforce training, research and advocacy, advancing the field of clinical creative arts therapies nationwide.

While the campus was completed in just under a year, from groundbreaking to opening, BKCM Executive Director Chad Cooper said the project had been about eight years in the making. During that time, Cooper noted, both BKCM’s music therapy program and community music school had more than doubled in size.

“When we started on this project eight years ago, we didn’t fully appreciate how much that would matter, as more of our lives moved onto screens, and loneliness and isolation grew, and the world around us became more polarized,” Cooper said. “So everything we do here, from music education to music therapy to supporting the livelihoods of emerging and professional musicians, has taken on greater urgency during these past eight years.”

Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, Chad Cooper, State Senator Andrew Gounardes, and Andrew Johnston attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of BKCM Prospect Park West. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

Toby Williams, BKCM’s music therapy director, explained that music therapists are credentialed health professionals and multi-instrumentalists trained to assess clients’ circumstances, state of being, culture and individual differences to build therapeutic and musical alliances.

Williams noted that the newly established Music Therapy Institute provides “true accessibility” for everyone, moving beyond inclusion toward belonging.

“The Music Therapy Institute will build upon the culturally responsive community music therapy model we have established,” Williams said. “Our state-of-the-art virtual learning system will help us reach therapists, students, and partners beyond these walls, positively impacting the need for diversity in our field, which is a great need. This is what the Music Therapy Institute is: expanded clinical practice, workforce training, advocacy, and strengthening in the field through research and education.”

Alexis Roderick Joel told Brooklyn Paper that The Joel Foundation, launched in 2012, initially focused on music education before shifting its focus to music therapy.

“We were working with Toby, and we actually encouraged this vision that they expand and create a space solely dedicated to music therapy and become the leader in this space,” Roderick Joel explained.

“Our organization started as music education, and I saw what was happening with funding in music education, so I pivoted to the importance of music in mental health, which then segued to music therapy. So I knew, in order to be able to start to get funding and appeal in an environment where they’re cutting the arts, I wanted to focus in that space to be able to raise awareness.”

Alexis Roderick Joel of the Joel Foundation told Brooklyn Paper that the Joel Foundation, launched in 2012, initially focused on music education before pivoting to support music therapy. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

The ceremony also featured a performance by Amaako Buachie, who sang Billy Joel’s 1985 classic “You’re Only Human (Second Wind).” The 34-year-old Brooklynite, who has autism, joined BKCM’s music therapy program in 2018, where he developed his voice and grew as a musician. Since then, he has shared his artistry and love of music with the wider community, including at Council Member Narcisse’s inauguration in 2022.

Amaako Buachie sang the 1985 Billy Joel classic “You’re Only Human (Second Wind).” Photo by Gabriele Holtermann Amaako Buachie (left) sang at Council Member Mercedes Narcisse’s (center) inauguration in 2022. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

Borough President Reynoso shared a personal story with the crowd about his 5-year-old son, who is autistic and nonverbal. Although his son does not speak, Reynoso said, he communicates, recalling how the family discovered that he was using music as a form of expression.

“It was like music for us. We like music. We figured it out. Let’s just throw a lot of music at this kid because it seems to be the way he wants to express himself,” the Brooklyn beep said.

“I didn’t know about music therapy, but then I came to BKCM day last year, and I said, ‘This is it. This is what [my son] needs.’ I don’t know anything about music. You can’t put me anywhere near music, but I needed experts to be able to help us. And now my kid is going to get that at five years old because of your work. So keep up the good work. You found not only a partner in the Brooklyn Borough President, but in the father, Antonio Reynoso.”

Alexis Roderick Joel, Toby Williams, and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Renoso attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of BKCM Prospect Park West. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

State Sen. Gounardes shared that his mother was a music teacher at a public school and recalled how devastated she was when New York City slashed arts and music programs in the 1990s. He said she was especially upset not for herself, but for her students, who were deprived of opportunities to learn and experience the arts.

State Senator Andrew Gounardes highlighted the importance of the arts and music. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

Gounardes noted that the arts and music offer young people a meaningful alternative to social media and technologies such as artificial intelligence.

“Sometimes I get the question, ‘Well, you take these phones away from kids. What are you giving them?’ You give them music,” Gounardes said. “You give them culture. You give them exposure to the arts. You let the music pierce their soul. In a broken world, what better salve than an investment like this? In a time when we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and we’re scrambling about to try to make sense of everything, music helps us make sense of everything.”