PHOTOS: Inside Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 2026 BAM Ball

Talib Kweli at the BAM Ball after-party. Getty Images for BAM

The Brooklyn Academy of Music has never been more traditional, and the same goes for its much-anticipated spring gala, the annual BAM Ball. Earlier this week, a culturally knowledgeable crowd gathered in the cavernous Adam E. Max Gathering Space for a monochromatic evening that moved from cocktails and footsteps to a seated dinner, speeches, and finally the New York premiere of Robert Wilson’s acclaimed film. Moby Dick– A production that transforms Herman Melville’s saga of obsession and revenge through searing dialogue and popular songs by British singer-songwriter Anna Calvi.

The evening provided more than its fair share of memorable highlights, including a tribute to the honoree Gabriele Pizziwho was honored for his leadership of the BAM Endowment Fund and received a standing ovation. But the most poignant moment of the evening came when the choreographer Lucinda Childs She accepted on behalf of the late artistic visionary Robert Wilson, and recalled in her notes how Wilson would write thank-you notes to artists and collaborators after attending opening nights. The dinner hour ended with the Watermill board chair William Campbell He leads the concertgoers in a collective chant: “We miss you, Bob. We love you, Bob!”

2026 BAM Ball honoring Robert Wilson and Gabriele Pizzi — William Campbell on the stand. Getty Images for BAM

The guest list was an accurate distillation of the BAM world, which was intellectually serious, artistically enthusiastic, and incapable of boring conversation. Political strategist Huma Abedinfounder of St. Anne’s Warehouse Susan Feldmanstructural engineer Charles Renfrew The producer and philanthropist Fabiola Berakasa Beckmann Share a room with the Grammy-nominated composer and songwriter Clyde Lawrencepoet and cultural critic Hanif Abdul Raqeeb And a multidisciplinary artist Helga Davis. From the world of theater came the opera director Julie TaymorAnd choreographers Lucinda Childs and Annie B. Parsonexit Annie Dorsenactor and director Paul Lazar And the Tony-nominated director, actor and musician Whitney White. The screen set was equally well cast: to cut actor John Turturro, game of thrones The graduate Robert Aramayo Comedian and actor Jabuki Young White They kept themselves in a place where the competition for the most interesting person was delightfully intense. Fashion entrepreneur Cynthia Rowley Rounding out this crowd are high heels.

By the time D.J Miss Hap The after-party began (with a surprise blast from… Talib Kweli The audience went crazy), and the evening raised more than $1.25 million to support BAM’s mission. Not a bad night’s work.