BAM to Stage Five Stevie Wonder Albums Across a Three-Night Live Celebration in Brooklyn

Brooklyn Academy of Music will present 'Stevie: A Life in the Key of Songs' at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House from May 14 to May 16, 2026 — a three-night live event featuring complete performances of five Stevie Wonder albums. The run coincides with Wonder's 76th birthday and marks the 50th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life, according to BAM.

The Details

The program, according to BAM, spans five albums performed in full: Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life. All five will be presented live across the three consecutive nights at the Howard Gilman Opera House. The final night, May 16, is dedicated entirely to Songs in the Key of Life — the only record in the series to receive a stand-alone evening.

The event is presented by PoetWarrior Productions and the Black Rock Coalition. The BRC Orchestra will perform across all three nights under the shared music direction of Darrell M. McNeill and LaFrae Sci, according to BAM's official event listing.

A roster of guest artists will appear throughout the run. BK Reader reports the lineup includes Corey Glover, Vernon Reid, Ray Angry, David Ryan Harris, Sandra St. Victor, Peter Lord, Gregoire Maret, and Mark Whitfield. The artists bring a wide range of backgrounds across rock, jazz, R&B, and classical performance, matching the stylistic breadth of the five albums being staged.

Tickets are available through the BAM event page at bam.org/stevie. According to BAM, pricing starts at $25. The Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM's primary indoor venue at its Fort Greene campus in Brooklyn, will serve as the performance space for all three nights.

BAM frames the three-night event as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life and the creative run of albums that preceded it, according to its official listing. The five records in the program were produced across a four-year window from 1972 to 1976, and Songs in the Key of Life — the last of the five to be released — stands as the culminating work of that era.

The scheduling structure reinforces that framing. By splitting the four earlier albums across the first two nights and reserving May 16 for Songs in the Key of Life alone, BAM has organized the event as a sequential arc. Audiences who attend the full run follow the albums in rough chronological order, building through the earlier records before arriving at the 1976 album on the final night.

Context

BAM's framing connects the three-night series to the 50th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life, originally released in 1976. The four albums preceding it in the program — Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, and Fulfillingness' First Finale — were released in rapid succession between 1972 and 1974. Together, they form the creative run that BAM's listing describes as the foundation for the anniversary celebration.

The Black Rock Coalition is one of two presenting organizations behind the event. The BRC Orchestra, which will perform on all three nights, operates under the Coalition's umbrella. Darrell M. McNeill and LaFrae Sci share music direction duties across the run, according to BAM.

The guest artist roster reported by BK Reader spans multiple genres. Corey Glover, Vernon Reid, Ray Angry, David Ryan Harris, Sandra St. Victor, Peter Lord, Gregoire Maret, and Mark Whitfield represent rock, jazz, R&B, and classical backgrounds respectively. Their combined presence positions the performances as multi-genre live renderings of the material rather than conventional tribute sets.

What's Next

The three-night program is scheduled for May 14, 15, and 16 at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn. According to BAM, the four earlier albums will be divided across the first two nights, with Songs in the Key of Life taking the full final evening on May 16. The run is timed to coincide with Wonder's 76th birthday.

Tickets start at $25 and are on sale now through bam.org/stevie. BAM has not announced additional dates, touring stops, or any extension of the program beyond the three scheduled nights at the Howard Gilman Opera House. Prospective attendees can confirm availability and pricing through the official BAM listing.