BAM’s 2023 gala honorees Spike Lee, David Byrne have special meaning for new org president

Gina Duncan has been president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music for a little over a year and she’s already making great strides.

As the first Black head of the 162-year-old arts and cultural institution, the New York native has already infused new life in the programming with the racially-charged classical music show “Everything Rises” and last month’s acclaimed star-studded gospel concert curated by Solange.

BAM’s 2023 gala will honor Spike Lee and David Byrne, alongside real estate attorney Claire Wood. Duncan, who previously served as BAM’s first vice president of film and strategic programming, said it was such a big deal to recognize individuals “who have built community around their work.”

“I wouldn’t be in the arts if it wasn’t for Spike Lee and his films,” Duncan, 42, said of the Academy Award-winning auteur, whose prolific works include the Brooklyn-based “Do The Right Thing” and “She’s Gotta Have It.”

“His work really inspired me to pursue a path in film and I think at one point, I thought I wanted to be a filmmaker. And at some point, it just turned into I wanted to be in a role that could help artists really create their work and connect it with audiences. I couldn’t have imagined running an arts institution, but I know I would not be in here if Spike’s work hadn’t set me on the path.”

“I think Spike has done an amazing job of celebrating Brooklyn, and really shining a light on communities that are not always visible in film,” she added. “And so I think that he’s just the champion of Brooklyn.”

Duncan has been a fan of Byrne since she was a kid. The Talking Heads performer, also an avid cyclist, designed two sets of bike racks for BAM, located in front of the Peter Jay Sharp Building.

The Scotland-born musician worked with the non-profit landmark to produce the “Contemporary Color” concert, pairing musicians with high school color squad teams, in 2015.

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“David Byrne has been a big part of our history … but I also love how [he] is just an incredible artist who’s always curious, always exploring, always trying new things, and also really thinking about how to use his work, his curiosity and his platform, to build communities that think about how we can solve some of the problems that are really plaguing the world and company, environment, etc.”

Wood has served as a BAM board of trustees member since 2005. The New Orleans native welcomed Duncan with open arms during the start of her first stint with the organization. “When I started in 2017, Claire was one of the first board members to call me and say, ‘I have your back. If you ever just need to come over, have a place to come to and have a good bowl of gumbo, you can come here.’”

“She’s not just been a great support to me, but a real great support to this institution and all the artists that have come through here and also the people, the people of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.”

Duncan, who was raised in Delaware by Jamaican parents, described her position helming BAM as serendipitous.

The Northwestern University alum’s first experience with the Brooklyn landmark dates back to her first concert: Questlove’s “Shuffle Culture,” where The Roots frontman commandeered an eclectic mixture of live music that could be found in the then-popular Apple Ipod device.

“Back then, it was one of the first art institutions I went to for a program…and I just loved the space,” Duncan reminisced. “I loved the show, I loved the crowd, I was in the community that that institution was in. It just felt like home.”

“So because this was one of my first artistic homes as an audience member, to be here now running it, it’s just like I could never have imagined.”