BAM Trailblazer Gala 2025 shows the bourgeois role of the arts

Fort Greene -Ung ferry 400 people, dressed in “Elevated Brooklyn Chic” according to the dress code, took part in the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) 2025 Trailblazers Gala on Wednesday, April 23. The goal of the evening was simple philanthropy, but the guests with a night full of performance, a meal and dance with four circles.

Michael Imperioli and Bric President Wes Jackson were the actor “White Lotus” and “Sopranos” on the remarkable numbers.

“At BAM, we believe in the power of the stage to challenge, provoke, connect. We always want to program work, take the risks, draw a demanding audience and promote artists whose creative practices – do not impart and lively,” said BAM artist director Amy Cassello.

BAM has been a cultural landmark in Brooklyn since its foundation in 1861. The original goal of the institution was to present music, but over time, BAM has expanded into theater, dance, opera, visual art, film and literature. The winners of the gala, Serge Laurent, Charles J. Hamm and Irene F. Hamm represent two important facets of Bam's mission: dance and artistic maintenance.

Laurent is the director of dance and cultural programs at Van Cleef & Arpels, a luxury jewelry company. BAM honored Laurent for his contributions to the world of dance, most recently with Van Cleef & Arpels Dance reflections – A contemporary dance festival that was founded in 2020 and founded partnerships with theaters and dance companies in 16 countries, including BAM.

During the gala dinner, the renowned choreographer, dancer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov presented Laurent.

“He really promotes new programs that support established artists and aspiring support. BAM and Serge have this together. BAM started with the mission to present the most curious creators of the moment. Serge enables it to continue,” said Baryyshnikov. “I think he's on the way to one name in the dance world … it is difficult to overestimate how unusual this commitment to dance is.”

The dinner was served on the stage of Bam Howard Gilman Opera, while eight speakers represented BAM shared their appreciation of the institution and encouraged the participants to donate the promise cards at their tables.

“Every year BAM welcomes 300,000 people in our stage and our demonstrations and reaches the audience from every council district in the city,” said Diane Max, CEO of BAM. “Ticket revenues cover only a third of what is necessary to achieve all of this. BAM has always believed in courage and transformative art, and we believe that this should be supported by brave and transformative philanthropy.”

Max called Bam's current season of the “most exciting in the recent memory”, citing recent shows such as Rebecca Frecknall's “A street car called Desire”, “ Barrie Kosky's “The Threepenny Opera” and Whitney Whites “Macbeth in Stride”. The guests were treated earlier in the evening with a private performance by “Macbeth in Stride”, which was Bam's work -worthy work.

In a homage to the many appearances that BAM has organized over the years, Helga Davis, Artistic Committee Artistic Committee, wore the original coat from the production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rices “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, which was performed on the stage of Opera in 1976 and 1977.

The BAM Hamm archive, in which more than 150 years of performance history are accommodated by programs, letters, posters, recordings and more, was named after the Hamms to recognize their philanthropy.

“[The BAM Hamm Archives] Tells the history of art in motion, “said Davis.” And the archive not only exists in boxes. It is now accessible to artists, researchers and dreamer.

One of the two long -time BAM employees who take care of the archive is Sharon Lehner. Lehner has been the archive director since 1998 and celebrated 70 years old just a few weeks before the gala.

“I think BAM is a place with a large heart. In my view, I think that performances are archives themselves, you know so that every performance is a container for things that we cannot always say,” said Lehner. “It's about the present, it's about things that are not conveyed. It's about similarity, it's about being together. It's all about our culture at the moment.”

Bam's importance for the culture of Brooklyn was repeated by other speakers all night, including award winners Laurant, the supporting institutions such as BAM a “bourgeois role that our society can make even better”.

Several elected officials were present, including council member Crystal Hudson (D-35), member of the meeting Phara Souffrant Forrest (D-57) and cultural officer Laurie Cumbo. Hudson emphasized how important it is to represent a district that includes several cultural institutions such as BAM, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Botanic Garden and more. “The cultural institutions in Brooklyn and in the city play an important role in the merger of New York.

“The city council has won 60 million US dollars of restored funds for the arts in this financial year, and we know that deeper investments are required to obtain the industry that is crucial for the life elixir in New York City.

After dinner, the participants were invited up to the top in Adam E. Max Gathering Space of Peter Jay Sharp building. An open bar, music by Niara Sterling and more food greeted the guests.

The Cotton Candy Company Fluff + Fluff founder Natalia Ryder served clouds made of spun sugar with pop rock, Black Hawaiian sea salt and much more for the after party participants.

“As a neighbor from Brooklyn, who has long admired Bam's role as a cultural power package, it is a real honor to be part of her celebration,” said Ryder. “It is our endless privilege to sweeten the night to highlight the important work of an institution in Brooklyn that gives our community so much.”

The post -party went to the dance floor with patrons, artists and performers of “Macbeth in Stride” until late at night to celebrate what BAM can best do: art.

“This is an institution that is art centers, and if you say that it is art centers, is it about artists. And what do artists do?” You can't escape the reality of the Brooklyn Academy of Music: an opera house with 2,000 seats, a dramatic theater with 850 seats, a completely flexible theater with 250 to six cinemas, an archive. That is the essence of this reality-we don't have to do anything about it. “