The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is the major performing arts venue in the New York City
borough of Brooklyn. It hosted its first performance in 1861, a program that included works by
Mozart and Verdi. A week later, it presented its first opera production, Mercadante’s Il Giuramento,
with First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln in attendance. BAM has since evolved into a center for
progressive and avant-garde performance, focusing on both international and community arts
presentations. Their Next Wave Festival, established in 1983, has featured such artists as Philip
Glass, Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham, Laurie Anderson, Steve Reich, Robert Wilson, and the Kirov
Opera. In addition to the opera house, the complex has grown to include a multi-plex cinema, a
café, event and rehearsal spaces, along with three additional theaters in neighboring buildings.
In 1988, The Bessie Awards were presented at BAM’s opera house. The Bessie was given out to the
members of the dance and performance community for “exceptional work.” They had been
established just a few years before by David White, Executive Director of Dance Theater Workshop.
Performances were included between the presentations of the awards and that year White invited
Watchface to be one of the performers. The group chose the section New York New York from
Septophonic to present.
Watchface performances at BAM:
Septophonic