The Bronx Music Hall (BMH) hosted its grand opening on Oct. 18, marking the first newly constructed independent music performance venue in The Bronx in over 50 years, according to officials.

 

Located at 438 East 163^rd Street in the Morrisania section of the borough, the $15.4 million music hall and community cultural center covers a total of 14,000 square feet. The BMH features a 250-person capacity performance theater, an exhibition hall, a multipurpose room and dance studio, a green room for performers, a recording studio and post-production room, and amphitheater-style seating in two adjacent plazas for outdoor performances.

 

The BMH is owned and operated by Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco), a community development organization. Davon Russell, president of WHEDco, told the Norwood News, “We are, and we have, and we will continue to be a curator of the history of music in The Bronx.”

To celebrate the grand opening weekend, BMH hosted several performances, including Afro-Haitian roots music band, Kongo, the Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band, and Grupo Maburuaña. Of BMH’s reach, Russell said, “What we aim to do is make sure that we are representing all (people), not only The Bronx but across New York City.”

 

The BMH plans to host live music, dance, and spoken word performances along with music and dance classes, theater workshops and productions, a youth orchestra, film screenings, art exhibitions, community showcases, and more. Children, teens, and adults will also be able to participate in music and dance classes. BMH is located within a mixed-use housing development that includes 305 units of affordable housing known as the Bronx Commons, according to officials.

 

BMH will also serve as a cultural center, providing a new space for the Bronx Music Heritage Center (BMHC). BMHC was founded in 2010 to preserve and promote Bronx music, cultivate Bronx artists, spur neighborhood revival, and provide free cultural programs for the community.

 

The BMHC’s co-artistic directors Elena Martínez and multi-Grammy nominated percussionist Bobby Sanabria will curate programming at the Bronx Music Hall.

Sanabria said, “When I was growing up, there were a plethora of clubs, and not only clubs but catering halls, dance halls, and you had church dances. You could make a living as a musician just by playing in The Bronx. At one time, The Bronx had as many or more nightclubs, catering halls, and dance halls than Manhattan.”

 

Sanabria added, “Here at the Bronx Music Hall, we are bringing that back, educating people about the great history, especially the new generation of Bronxites.”

 

Kerry McLean, vice president of community development at WHEDco, said of the grand opening, “It really is our honor to bring a space where we can celebrate music, that we can continue to provide opportunities for music to be innovated here in our borough, as it has for so many decades, and to really nurture young people.”

 

Meanwhile, Nancy Biberman, WHEDco’s founder and president emerita, said, “Today marks the culmination of a long journey: countless hours of research and dialogue with neighborhood residents, elected officials, Bronx musicians & historians.

 

She added, “Over decades, The Bronx produced more popular music than any place in our country for the simple reason that different cultural traditions lived alongside one another. Puerto Ricans and Cubans brought mambo and salsa. West Indians brought calypso. African Americans brought jazz, rhythm and blues and harmonic singing. Garifuna music arrived from Hondurans, Guatemalans, Belizeans & Nicaraguans. Eastern Europeans, Italians, and migrants from the African continent settled and brought their own rhythms.”

 

At one point, as reported, music lovers had proposed opening an International Salsa Museum as part of the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory in Kingsbridge Heights. After the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC) project was abandoned, seemingly at the end of the DeBlasio administration in December 2021, as reported, the Armory later received State and City funding of $200 million in hopes of boosting efforts to promote new redevelopment ideas and an envisioning process which better aligned with the wishes and needs of the local community, as championed by the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition.

 

The RFP was duly put out to tender around Sept. 2023 and the deadline to respond was Jan. 18, 2024. As reported, the latest redevelopment discussions have not been without their casualties. While we await further updates on the main redevelopment, short-term usage opportunities for film, TV, and more are available according to NYC Economic Development Corporation. Most recently, the Armory served as a shooting location for Amazon Prime’s smash series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Max’s The Penguin.

Meanwhile, back at the Bronx Music Hall, Biberman concluded, “The Bronx Music Hall will spotlight the sounds of new Americans from around the globe, as well as Bronx-born artists like Prince Royce, Romeo Santos, Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B, French Montana, and Samara Joy.”

 

For more information on tickets, classes, or events, visit Bronxmusichall.org.