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Our Story

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A landmark public-private-nonprofit partnership bringing together Berklee, the City of New York, musician/investor Pete Muller, and members of the Founder’s Advisory Board formed to revitalize the historic Power Station Studios on West 53rd Street. The building was originally built as a Con-Edison power relay station, which provided power to Manhattan’s elevated train, which has since been converted into the High Line. 

The recording studios—where Nile Rodgers, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Madonna, Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding, Lady Gaga, Bob Dylan, the cast of Hamilton, and many others recorded iconic albums— has been transformed into a state-of-the-art recording and video production facility for the city’s music, theater, television, and film industries, as well as a campus for Berklee to provide music and performing arts education just blocks from Broadway. 

In addition to the studio renovations, the building’s lower level now houses a flexible-use black-box theatre, featuring state-of-the-art sound, lighting, and LED screen XR technology. The adjacent video control room captures video from 26 PTZ cameras facilities-wide, and a green room, dressing rooms, writing rooms and an additional performance space fill out the lower level. 

The third floor contains additional Music Technology, Virtual Reality and DJ Labs, as well as a flagship classroom/rehearsal space called “The Arch.”

Overseeing the project is Stephen Webber, Executive Director of BerkleeNYC and Dean of Strategic initiatives for Berklee. The daily operations of the space have been taken on by Janice Brown, who joins Power Station at BerkleeNYC as its director of operations.

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Our History

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Power Station Studios was founded and designed by Tony Bongiovi with business partners in 1977. Located in an old Con Edison power relay station—which also once served as home to the popular TV show Let’s Make a Deal with Monty Hall—the studio quickly became a huge success due to Bongiovi’s now legendary acoustical design, with rooms developed specifically for multitrack recording to achieve a live sound. This groundbreaking design helped Power Station Studios win Mix Magazine’s prestigious TEC Award (Technical Excellence and Creativity) as Studio of the Year for an unprecedented six years, the maximum number permitted. In 1991, Power Station Studios became the first recipient of the Les Paul Award from Mix Magazine for audio excellence and creativity.

Power Station Studios is one of the most awarded and decorated recording studios in the world, with hundreds of gold platinum records. The world-renowned studio is where artists including Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, David Bowie, Madonna, Bob Dylan, the Clash, John Lennon, Pat Metheny, Sting, Joan Jett, Chic, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Aerosmith, George Michael, Duran Duran, Bon Jovi, the Kinks, Billy Joel, and many others recorded iconic albums.

In 1996, Chieko and Kirk Imamura purchased and operated the facility as Avatar Studios. During that time, they built additional studios, integrated modern digital audio capabilities, and hosted clients including Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Herbie Hancock, Sheryl Crow, Muse, Norah Jones, Bruno Mars, and Berklee alumni John Mayer, Diana Krall, and Esperanza Spalding.

After major renovations and upgrades, the studio has reopened under Berklee’s leadership as Power Station at BerkleeNYC, continuing its legacy as New York’s premier recording facility.