reviews & press

• “It’s the End of an Era for Brooklyn’s Bargemusic: The Floating Music Hall Begins ‘Chapter Two’,” by Mary Frost, Brooklyn Daily Eagle
• “Swansong: Bargemusic, one of New York City’s most beloved venues, sails into the sunset,” by Steve Smith, Night after Night on Substack

“In a city full of unlikely marvels, Bargemusic is among the foremost treasures any music lover could hope to know. Housed on a converted coffee barge moored at Fulton Ferry Landing just below the Brooklyn Bridge, the floating concert hall welcomed chamber-music cognoscenti and curiosity seekers alike since Olga Bloom, a violinist and violist, launched the venue in 1977…As [Artistic Director Mark] Peskanov stated in his note to supporters, concerts under the Bargemusic banner will continue at a new site: specifically, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse, where programming is planned to resume on April 5. ‘To have this new, incredible place for the musicians and the whole community, it’s a great miracle and evolution,’ Peskanov wrote in a message. ‘We are very grateful to Eric Landau, the President of Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, and his great team at the Brooklyn Bridge Park…'”

• “Live from New York: Small Concert Promoters Salvage the Future,” Van, May 7, 2020

“If we can bring in any people, even at six feet apart, we want to put on concerts,” [Artistic Director Mark Peskanov] continued. “If we have to be exact [about capacity and stage space] we can do that, we’ve been planning that. We are ready at the drop of a hat!” 

•  “Brooklyn Bridge, Star of the City: Here’s a Tour,” New York Times, May 6, 2020

“Weiss: We love Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is so democratic and lively. But we loved the […] charm of the waterfront before the park was built.  The River Café and Bargemusic, the concert venue, are left from the old days. Manfredi: We were married at the Barge. We still go to concerts there.”

• “20 Best Things To Do In Dumbo, Brooklyn,” Vacationidea.com, November 4, 2023
• “Eastern Music Festival Orchestra’s ‘Fanfares and Flourishes’ brings audience to its feet at Dana Auditorium,” News and Record (Greensboro, NC), July 7, 2019 
• “Eastern Music Festival Presents Khachaturian and Shostakovich Rarities,” CVNC: An Online Arts Journal in North Carolina, July 6, 2019
• “Uncompromising Music Survives on the Brooklyn Waterfront,” New York Times, June 5, 2017
• “Review: Donald Berman Balances Fire and Rhapsody at Bargemusic,” New York Times, May 31, 2015
• “Deviating From the Modern, to Fresh Effect,” New York Times, January 12, 2015
• “Still Music to the Ears, but From Odd Sources,” New York Times, January 5, 2015
• “From Liszt’s Soliloquies to Labor Blues,” New York Times, April 20, 2014
• “A Middle East Mourned and Celebrated in Suites,” New York Times, September 22, 2013
• “Riding the Waves of a Memorial,” New York Times, September 12, 2013
• “An Epitaph for Summer, Etched in the Senses,” New York Times, September 9, 2013
• “Bargemusic’s Labor Day Celebration” on NY1, Sept. 6, 2013
• “Violin and Bass Trombone Finally Meet, and It’s Love,” New York Times, August 30, 2013
• “Bassoon Solos on the Water,” New York Times, August 23, 2013
• “New Music, Defined by Time and Tide,” New York Times, July 15, 2013
• “Where Better to Play a Theremin Than on a Boat?” New York Times, May 27, 2013
• “With Spirit and Variety, a Festival Unfolds Anew,” New York Times, August 30, 2012
• “Music to Rock the Boat Fails to Disturb a Barge,” New York Times, July 9, 2012
• “Bach to Brooklyn” Editorial/Appreciation of Bargemusic founder Olga Bloom, in the New York Times, December 1, 2011
• “Standard Fare Upended, to Reinvent and Explore,” New York Times review, September 4, 2011
• “At Concert Tributes, a Mournful Undercurrent,” New York Times review, September 12, 2010
• “A Music Hall Sways to Its Own Beat,” New York Times, May 20, 2010