Inside a former residence in the heart of New York City, the Recording Academy's New York Chapter hosted Open House Week, a week-long event series that brought together local Academy members, artists, creators, and industry professionals to introduce them to the Academy's gorgeous, newly opened multi-level space and explore the organization's community-building initiatives and wide-spanning mission.
"It's all a long time in the making," Ruby Marchand, the Recording Academy's Chief Awards & Industry Officer, said at the opening night of Open House Week last month. "This space is for the heart and soul of New York City music creators who care about their membership, and we want them to feel appreciated by the Academy."
The organization moved into the 1920s-era Manhattan building last September after undergoing years of extensive renovations and remodeling. "We immediately saw its potential," Marchand says of the space, which has room for performances and confabs as well as meeting rooms and office space for both the Recording Academy and MusiCares. Marchand says a Steinway piano, which came with the building, came as a good omen.
"The main space is a large, beautiful cherry room, which has a magic to it," she says. "Our members should always be free to come in and feel welcome here."
@grammys 🎶 Earlier this month we kicked off the opening of our new New York office with a week-long celebration! ✨ New York Open House Week celebrated our vibrant New York member community of diverse creators as well as the legacy of the Recording Academy. The grand opening of the new office provides our New York Chapter with the chance to come together and create, collaborate, and uplift the local music community. #GRAMMYs #fyp #musicindustry #musicnews #newyorkcity #newyorkchapter #recordingacademy
According to Nick Cucci, the Senior Executive Director of the Recording Academy New York Chapter, the Open House Week series was designed to cater to a different category of Academy members each day and reach artists and professionals of all backgrounds; the kickoff event for the series, a member mix celebrating independent music makers, brought together independent labels, artists and creators in the Latin, jazz, classical, and avant-garde genres.
Along with events focused on community-building, the Open House Week series also hosted programming that explored the major topics and developments shaping the wider music industry today, including a post-graduation career development workshop with GRAMMY U students; a speed networking event for women executives in the industry; a financial wellness workshop, in partnership with MusiCares; an open, honest discussion about Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the Recording Academy and the larger music business; and much more.
"We wanted to reach as many people as possible," Cucci said of the Open House Week series. "In addition to being our week-long, grand-opening celebration, Open House Week allowed our vibrant member community to step into the Recording Academy legacy at our newly opened New York City hub. Our goal for the event was to demonstrate a genuine community by offering valuable opportunities to our members so they could see themselves within our community. Open House Week accomplished that goal successfully."
*Courtesy of the Recording Academy® / Photo by Cindy Ord for Getty Images © 2023*Â
Carlos Padron, a percussionist and audio engineer who is the mastermind behind the salsa and Latin label Chulo Records, based in New York City, attended the opening night of Open House Week. "I received the invitation and I feel very honored and glad to be here," says Padron, who, along with having his own band Peliroja, has also been featured on the soundtrack to In the Heights. "It's about meeting people and making connections. For me, we're a small Latin label, so it's amazing the Academy does events like this and lets us know."
New York Chapter member Stanley Grill, a classical composer who specializes in medieval and Renaissance music, echoed Padron's sentiments. "It's important the Academy has events like this so you don't feel totally alone and isolated out there," he said, noting there's a main delineator between him and his peers. "Whether they're writing in my genre or not, everybody here is a huge music enthusiast. Some people are obsessed with music. I'm one of them, and in this group, I find kindred spirits."
Looking ahead, Marchand plans for the Recording Academy's New York office to continue to grow alongside the city's music community itself. "Even within each genre, there are so many hybrids and new ways people are expressing themselves," she said, noting fresh events are already being planned for the future to fully utilize the new space. "We just want to continue to evolve with our members."
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