Arts and Entertainment Northern Brooklyn

Popular Open Stages music festival hits streets May 11

Unique historic conservatory in Park Slope uses music to educate and heal all ages

April 24, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Photos courtesy of Brooklyn Conservatory of Music

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PARK SLOPE — Founded in 1897 as a formal music conservatory serving 200 students, the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music now provides music education and music therapy to more than 10,000 individuals annually. Serving New York City today under the acronym BKCM, the Conservatory collaborates with more than 80 organizations across the city, including public schools, community centers, and other arts and culture organizations. Based in their historic Park Slope brownstone, BKCM has found great success “taking it to the streets.”

On May 11, the BKCM’s sprawling Open Stages music festival returns to the streets, stoops, parks and playgrounds of Park Slope. What began in 2021 as a way to enjoy live music outdoors has grown into an annual celebration of Brooklyn’s diverse and thriving musical community, with more than 150 paid musical artists and dance groups performing across 15 open-air stages between the hours of 3-7 p.m.

Over its first three years, Open Stages has hosted Grammy Award winners, talented teen rockers, marching bands, and rising Brooklyn-based stars like Stout and Taylor Ashton.

As always, this year’s festival is free and designed for the whole family, with stages stretching from the Conservatory’s home on 7th Ave to M.S. 51 at the corner of Fourth Street and Fifth Ave. It’s a community effort, with stages hosted by neighbors ranging from Park Slope’s local public schools to 5th Ave institutions like The Commissioner Bar and the Old Stone House of Brooklyn.

This year’s festival will feature everything from jazz and folk to DJ sets, outdoor opera, and a knockout Amy Winehouse cover band. There will be plenty for kids of all ages to enjoy, from the teen rock bands on the “Gen-Z Fren-Z” stage at Milk Bar to a “Wicked” meets “Wizard of Oz” meets singalong at J.J. Byrne Playground. And, for the first time ever, there will be a stage dedicated to dancing, with free contra, waltz, the all-women salsa band Lulada Club and a finale performance by Brooklyn’s own J. Hoard at 6 p.m.

Open Stages is also a fundraiser for the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. The 127-year-old nonprofit music school is one of NYC’s largest providers of music education and music therapy. Those who want to support this work can purchase VIP tickets that include exclusive musical experiences, a pre-festival party, food/drink from local vendors and more, with every donation going to support more access to music for more New Yorkers. You can find more information about the Conservatory’s community-based programs and events in their Annual Report or on their website.

The non-profit Brooklyn Conservatory of Music was founded by German immigrants in the 1890s. The Conservatory continues to make an indelible mark on its neighbors and music lovers all over NYC to this day. The central location of the Conservatory is 58 7th Avenue, a historic Victorian brownstone located in Park Slope, where hundreds of musicians — ages 2 to 82 — gather each day to study, rehearse and collaborate. Within the historic building and beyond, the Conservatory also produces more than 200 low-cost musical events each year and partners with some of New York’s most vital institutions, from art museums to refugee resettlement agencies to retirement communities.

Throughout NYC, BKCM provides music education, music therapy services and opportunities for musical engagement at more than 80 sites across all five boroughs. BKCM’s programs serve more than 10,000 New Yorkers from all walks of life. In 2022, the Conservatory opened a satellite in the Cypress Hills/East New York community in partnership with the CHLDC. The Community Music Center has shown to be a promising new model for ensuring high-quality music education is accessible to all in our community.