Bargemusic, formally known as ''Bargemusic, Ltd.'' is a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

venue and cultural icon in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Founded in 1977, it is housed on a converted coffee

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. ...

moored at

Fulton Ferry Landing Fulton Ferry is a small area adjacent to Dumbo in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is named for the Fulton Ferry, a prominent ferry line that crossed the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn, and is also the name of ...

on the

East River The East River is a saltwater 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 Quee ...

near the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East Rive ...

History

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, which some compare to a floating living room. The barge itself dates to 1899. "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." 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 Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acousticia ...

did not suit concert performances. She found the current barge near the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, ...

and a

tugboat captain A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

advised her of the free slip near the Brooklyn Bridge that still houses the barge. In 2003, a mishap with a pipe nearly caused the barge to sink. 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 leve

Despite some uncertainties as to their location with all the redevelopment in Brooklyn Bridge Park and DUMBO, including the new

NYC Ferry NYC Ferry is a public network of ferry routes in New York City operated by Hornblower Cruises. , there are six routes, as well as one seasonal route, connecting 25 ferry piers across all five boroughs. NYC Ferry has the largest passenger fleet ...

service, Bargemusic received word in June 2017 that their bid for a twenty-year lease was approved. 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.

Funding

Like many organizations in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

and throughout New York City, Bargemusic's attendance suffered after

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

and that caused questions about its continued existence. To make money, Bloom and Bargemusic have rented the barge out for weddings and solicited donations from foundations, corporations, and individuals. Some believe that if Bargemusic were given

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

status, it would help secure the necessary corporate sponsorship to ensure the program's continued success.

References

External links

* {{coord, 40, 42, 11.2, N, 73, 59, 43, W, scale:500_type:landmark_region:US-NY, display=title Concert halls in New York City Music venues in Brooklyn