Baruch Performing Arts Center

Baruch Performing Arts Center convenes a conversation across the disciplines of art, science, and the humanities, as well as across the panoply of world societies that are represented in Baruch’s diverse student body. We do this by presenting theater, music, dance, literary and spoken word, film, and discussions which inform through relevant content and engage through singular experiences, enriching the appreciation of Baruch students, faculty and alumni for culture in its broadest sense, while serving as a resource for all New Yorkers.

Baruch Performing Arts Center’s programming is a means by which the Baruch students engage, learn, and immerse themselves beyond the classroom, as well as a way for the college community and general public to share the fruits of its faculty’s broad range of intellectual inquiry, engage in issues of civic relevance, and experience the richness of culture that is the hallmark of New York City. BPAC and the Weissman School of Arts & Sciences, with the generous support of many donors, offer several regular series including the Joel Segall Great Works Reading Series (supported by the Nat R. and Martha M. Knaster Charitable Trust and Aaron Shapiro ’49 LHD (Hon. ’89) and Michael Lobel.), The Aaron and Freda Silberman Concert Series (supported by Freda and Aaron Silberman (’46 BBA), the Alexander String Quartet (Supported by George ’39 LLD (Hon. ’82) and Mildred Weissman), and the Milt Hinton Jazz Perspectives Concert Series. BPAC collaborates with the Sandra Kahn Wasserman Jewish Studies Center, the Zicklin School of Business, and numerous cultural organizations to present a rich array of programming across the disciplines.

BPAC has presented and hosted the creation of over 1,000 programs in 5 spaces since 2003. During 2018-19, more than 54,000 persons attended classes, programs by visiting organizations, and BPAC’s own season which gives prominence to work across cultures and genres with an emphasis on the intersection of art and social justice, work experienced in intimately scaled venues, and new work created on site through artist residencies. Presentations have included theatre companies such as Blessed Unrest, Teatri ODA of Kosovo, National Asian American Theatre Company, Folksbiene, and MCC. Dance companies such as Heidi Latsky Dance, Caleb Teicher and Company, and Urban Bush Women, BPAC is the New York home of the Alexander String Quartet and presents a rich chamber music season including ensembles such as the Israeli Chamber Project and Cantata Profana, artists such as pianists Sara Davis Buechner and Michael Brown, cellist Joshua Roman, baritone Brian Mulligan, and violinist Tessa Lark. Together with PROTOTYPE festival of new opera-theatre we presented the world premiere of The Echo Drift (“A truly moving, dynamic piece of music theater.” – Opera News), and the U.S. premiere of 4:48 Pyschosis (“Passionate, intimate…elegantly ferocious.” New York Times). With Heartbeat Opera we have presented four productions, including a #BlackLivesMatters adaptation of Beethoven’s Fidelio (“I was blindsided by its impact.” – The New Yorker). BPAC’s jazz series has featured artists such as 2018 Grammy-Award winner Jane Ira Bloom and the Aaron Diehl Trio. Discussion program have included writers Teju Cole and Daniel Mendelssohn, actress Linda Lavin, and thought leaders such as Gloria Steinem, and the late U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.