Power Station Studios was founded and designed by Tony Bongiovi with business partners in 1977. Located in a former Con Edison power relay station, 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.
Power Station Studios is one of the most awarded and decorated recording studios in the world, with hundreds of gold platinum records. Bongiovi’s 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.
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.
In 2017, a landmark public-private-nonprofit partnership bringing together Berklee, the City of New York, musician/investor Pete Muller, and members of Berklee’s Founder’s Advisory Board formed to revitalize the historic studios, eventually renovating and relaunching in 2021 with the name “Power Station” returned, by special arrangement with BerkleeNYC.
While preserving the acoustic design and layout of the original recording studios, Berklee transformed the complex into a state-of-the-art music and video production facility for the city’s music, theater, television, and film industries, as well as a campus 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 three writing/production rooms and an additional studio classroom space fill out the lower level. The third floor contains four additional AV-enabled multi-use classroom spaces.
