Warm sunlight spills through the windows as musical notes echo off the walls. Every day, the room radiates with energy from ensembles of students rehearsing and performing in a space that is beginning to feel too small.

One hundred years after opening, the Brookline Music School (BMS) is expanding its Bakalar Recital Hall over the summer of 2026 to accommodate growing ensembles and programming needs.

According to BMS Executive Director David Tierney, the recital hall’s 440-square-foot expansion will allow the school to develop further programming. He said that multiple ensembles already occupy the current recital hall, and that the expansion will give students more freedom to perform whenever they want.

“[The recital hall expansion] will allow us to expand and grow some programming that right now is starting to grow, but needs some elbow room,” Tierney said. “We’ve got two youth orchestras going on now; we’re hoping to start a third one in the fall. We’ve got an adult orchestra here on Tuesdays. We’re already at the capacity of [the recital hall].”

Tienerey said the limitations of the current recital hall have been obvious, and that while talking with parents and students, the idea of expanding the recital hall as a celebration of the school’s 100-year anniversary came up.

“I didn’t think it was possible: it’s a town-owned building,” Tierney said. “[But the town] thought it was terrific—that what we do here as programming was important—and wanted to make sure we could have the space that we really need to give kids, and adult students too, the opportunity to have a first-class performance place.”

Flute teacher Anthea Kechley said the recital hall’s expansion will enhance the experience of both performers and audience members.

“There’s sort of a stuffiness feeling in the way it is right now. I think this will modernize the style a little bit,” Kelchley said. “And because of the windows, the natural light, I think that will just improve the feeling of being part of something bigger as an audience member and a performer.”

Senior Neil Zhao, who has played violin at BMS for twelve years, said the expansion will open the door to more community engagement and diverse musical experiences.

“Obviously, there’s going to be a lot more space. Especially, I imagine, for community events, it gives a lot more people the opportunity to come and experience different performances. I think if there are more people, you can have more people who engage and build connections,” Zhao said.

Zhao said he hopes the increased space will bring new opportunities.

“I don’t necessarily know what they will do specifically, but I imagine having a bigger space means they can be more experimental with certain ideas, and do things that they might have not been able to do due to the limited physical space,” Zhao said.

Kechley said that because of the recital hall’s expansion, teachers at BMS will start integrating musical performance into their lessons.

“The way that we prepare students to perform can really be dictated by what our facility can offer. Giving [students] a sense of realness and a high-quality expectation of them when they perform is something we will start to build into the preparation in their lessons,” Kechley said. “When they can visualize themselves in a real performance space, it can change the way that they prepare themselves mentally and technically.”