Bargemusic’s new chapter in Brooklyn Bridge Park kicks off Saturday

Archduke Géza von Habsburg will be attending

April 1, 2025 Mary Frost

Bargemusic’s Mark Peskanov admires the new performance space at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse. The 2025 spring season starts April 5. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

Share this:

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Bargemusic, Brooklyn’s formerly-floating chamber music concert hall, will be kicking off the season’s concerts on dry land — for the first time — at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse on Saturday, according to Mark Peskanov, violinist and Bargemusic’s artistic director.

In January, the 50-year-old organization’s beloved but rusting barge was towed from its slip at Fulton Ferry Landing near the Brooklyn Bridge, to meet its end. Until a new boat can be found, Brooklyn Bridge Park has provided a venue in its Boathouse near Pier 5. The space is roughly the size of the barge, with the same gorgeous views of the East River and Manhattan skyline. There are also restrooms conveniently located right outside the performance area.

Peskanov recently led the Brooklyn Eagle around the musical institution’s temporary home.

The interior of the Boathouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park, where Bargemusic will begin hosting chamber music performances on April 5, 2025. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

“The piano is coming here Friday, and Monday we’re getting the chairs,” he said, enthusiastically waving his hands around the modern, L-shaped space. The park has been wonderfully helpful, he said. “And the acoustics — beautiful!”

The view reminds him of the view from the Barge, he said, “But it’s a little bit quieter. It almost reminds me of the old days on the Barge. Do you remember when it was really quiet? It’s more of that kind of peaceful feeling up here.

“The ultimate mission of Bargemusic is to serve the community,” he said. “And so we decided in this new phase, moving onto land at the Boathouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park, that all of our concerts will be admission-free. We think it’s in the spirit of Bargemusic, and in the spirit of this parkland, and we hope this partnership goes on for the next 50 years.”

The Boathouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park, near Pier 5, seen from the front. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

“Bargemusic has been a cultural gem on the Brooklyn waterfront for almost 50 years now,” Brooklyn Bridge Park President Eric Landau told the Eagle.

“While Bargemusic figures out their next steps, we are thrilled to provide a space so they can continue the wonderful tradition of providing admission-free chamber music on the waterfront,” he said.

Bargemusic founder Olga Bloom played violin and viola into her 90s. Photo by Etienne Frossard, used with permission of Bargemusic

Archduke Géza von Habsburg will be attending Saturday’s concert

The first two concerts will take place on Saturday, at 2 and 4 p.m., and two more, with a different program, take place on Sunday.

“On Saturday, we’re doing Beethoven’s ‘Archduke’ [Piano Trio in B flat major, Op. 97 ‘Archduke’], and Mendelssohn’s beautiful D minor trio [Piano Trio No.1 in D minor, Op. 49],” with musicians Edward Arron and Jeewon Park joining him, Peskanov said.

“And guess what?” he announced. “For the ‘Archduke’ on Saturday, we are going to have the actual Archduke coming — Archduke Géza von Habsburg — you know Habsburg, yes? From the family Habsburg? And he’s going to talk about the ‘Archduke’ trio, because that was one of his grand, grand, grand uncles.”

Bargemusic’s Artistic Director Mark Peskanov stands at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

It turns out that Géza Ladislaus Euseb Gerhard Rafael Albert Maria von Habsburg (Archduke of Austria), is on the board of Bargemusic. On Saturday, he will speak to the audience about Beethoven’s “Archduke” because it was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the youngest child of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, and a member of the current Archduke’s lineage. (He is the great-great grandson of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.)

Archduke Rudolph gave Beethoven “an incredible stipend, and he never had to worry about how he was going to make money,” Peskanov said. “The Archduke was a very talented composer himself, and he was a very cultural man, but unfortunately, very physically frail. But he loved Beethoven.”

The entrance to Bargemusic’s temporary performance space is at the rear of the Boathouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

Archduke Géza von Habsburg “is a very dear friend and has been a friend of Bargemusic for a very long time, and he’s going to tell those incredible stories,” Peskanov said. “He has all these letters, all these paintings, from his father, uncles, mother.”

Sunday’s concert will also be quite moving, Peskanov said.

Bargemusic at Fulton Ferry Landing before its final sail on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

“We’re doing Hayden’s beautiful ‘Gypsy’ trio [Piano Trio # 39 in G major, XV/25. ‘Gypsy’], and then Shostakovich’s beautiful war trio ‘No. 2. [Piano Trio, No 2 in E minor. Op. 67], and also ‘Archduke.’” Shostakovich’s haunting wartime-piece was created in 1943-44, during the last years of World War II.

See more details about Bargemusic’s upcoming season at bargemusic.org.