Brooklyn Conservatory of Music Breaks Ground on Campus Expansion

The new Park Slope campus will expand the nonprofit’s music therapy and education classes.

The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music on Friday broke ground on a new 12,000-square-foot campus at One Prospect Park West in Park Slope.

The state-of-the-art facility will double the nonprofit’s capacity to deliver high-quality music therapy and music education, significantly expanding the number of New Yorkers it will be able to serve. 

The campus expansion will house 13 acoustically designed studios, a performance hall, and a community space, all designed to be ADA-accessible and sensory-friendly.

The new space will also become the official home of BKCM’s future Music Therapy Institute, seeded with support from Billy and Alexis Joel’s The Joel Foundation. The Institute will have national reach and advance the field of clinical creative arts therapies by serving as a destination for workforce training, research and advocacy. BKCM’s music therapy program is the largest in New York City, serving 2,700 clients in Park Slope and at 52 sites across the five boroughs. 

A music therapy program at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. . Photo: Supplied/BCM

“This expansion is such an exciting moment for the entire BKCM community because it gives our music therapy clients, students and faculty the state-of-the-art space and resources they need to thrive,” said Chad Cooper, executive director of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. “For more than a century, BKCM has provided New Yorkers the opportunity to learn, perform, and enjoy music – regardless of age, income or ability.”

The groundbreaking at 1PPW marks the first step in a two-phase expansion. BKCM is raising $16 million for Phase I, with over $14 million already committed by The Joel Foundation, the Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund, city and state partners, and other donors. Because BKCM is also retaining its home of 80 years, its Park Slope Victorian mansion at 7th Avenue and Lincoln Place, Phase II will raise additional funds for investment in and expansion of that campus.  

“The new Music Therapy Institute at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music will be a national model for how the arts can support human development, connection and mental health,” said Billy and Alexis Joel of The Joel Foundation. “We believe deeply in the power of music and it’s therapeutic benefits.”

A rendering of a future performance hall. Photo: Supplied/BKCM