Keep a kid on the drumline.
In New York City, a young person can fall in love with drumline in the fifth grade and lose access to it by the sixth. For 37 years, BK Steppers has been the institution that holds the line — through schools, Saturdays, and stages, all the way to professional careers. Your gift keeps that pathway open.
Not every young person finds a place that pulls them forward.
Not every school has the arts partner they need.
Not every institution gets the proof that programs actually work.
For 37 years, BK Steppers has answered those problems with something rare — a real cultural institution built on the tradition of marching percussion. Below, the doors we open. By who you are.
The pipeline breaks at every grade transition.
In New York City, a kid can fall in love with drumline in the fifth grade and lose access to it by the sixth — because their middle school doesn't have a program. It happens again in high school. And again after graduation.
Without a cultural institution holding the line across transitions, the tradition fades and the kids drift. That's the problem we were built to solve.
No continuity between schools
A student's access to marching arts shouldn't depend on which school they were assigned. But in NYC right now, it does.
A living tradition at risk
HBCU show-style and drum corps marching arts are cultural heritage. Without an institution investing in them, they don't survive — they get watered down.
Pathways without destinations
Most youth programs end at 18. The kids need a path that reaches scholarship, career, and stage — not one that drops them off.
We're not a program.
We're a cultural institution.
We know the parent whose child found something they loved and then aged out of it with nowhere to go next. We know the principal whose arts partner vanished in the middle of a school year. We've spent 37 years catching those kids — which is why we built something that can't walk away.
We're the only organization in New York City sustaining both the HBCU show-style and drum corps marching arts traditions — across schools, communities, and professional spaces at the same time.
Thirty-seven years. Alumni on national tours. A formal relationship with the NYCPS Arts Office. A home base in Brooklyn every Saturday. A Pro Line that plays Carnegie Hall. We've built the pathway that doesn't break.
From first drumbeat
to professional stage.
Every BK Steppers student follows a documented, five-stage cultural institution pathway. A kid can walk in at six and walk out into a career. Nothing about that is accidental — it's the model.
School
K–12 entry through an in-school residency at one of 8 NYC public school sites.
Saturday
Community home at PS 139 every Saturday, open enrollment, ages 6–24.
Stage
Perform at the Next Wave Drumline Festival.
College
HBCU marching band scholarships, conservatories, and PWI programs.
Career
BK Steppers Pro Line. STOMP on tour. Disney. HBCU band directors. Teaching artists.
The same rhythm teaches and heals.
BK Steppers works across two branches united by one cultural tradition. Each serves a different population. Each is funded by different sources. Together they prove that marching percussion is both an educational vehicle and a community healing tool.
NYC Cultural Education
The K–12 pipeline. NYCPS school residencies, the Drumline Academy at PS 139, Next Wave Drumline Festival, and the BK Steppers Pro Line — a complete institution pathway from kindergarten to professional stage.
See the pathway →
Community Safety & Healing
The X-Factor Drumline in Mount Vernon, NY — violence prevention and trauma-informed wellness for 60 young people ages 10–21, in partnership with the Guidance Center of Westchester. Funded through youth-safety programming and the Westchester Community Foundation.
Partner with us →Learn the BK Steppers method — anywhere in the world.
Two branches serve NYC and Westchester. The Virtual Drum School serves everyone else. Free introductory lessons for anyone age 6 and up, plus a $97 lifetime course that includes recordings from the DCLA-backed Next Wave Percussion Summit.
Our pathway isn't a promise. It's a record.
Came through BK Steppers or X-Factor?
Whether it was last year or 30 years ago — the pathway you walked is part of the tradition we’re still building. Reconnect with us.
Reconnect with us →Three ways in. One mission.
Whether you're a family looking for the Drumline Academy, a school principal, a foundation, or an individual who simply believes the tradition should live — there's a door for you.
Join the Drumline Academy
Open enrollment for students ages 6–24, every Saturday at PS 139 in Brooklyn. No audition required. This is where the pathway begins.
Enroll your student →Bring BK Steppers to your school
School residencies, educator PD, masterclasses, and NYCPS-aligned program support. We work with public schools, independent schools, and community partners.
Explore school partnerships →Invest in the pathway
Every gift sustains the pathway a student is walking right now. Foundation partners, individual donors, and the capital campaign all move the mission forward.
Make a gift →A drumline and a lifeline.
Every year without a permanent home is another year of instability for the young people who need this program most. For 37 years, BK Steppers has kept the tradition alive in borrowed spaces — school gyms, community rooms, host sites that change without warning. That model has reached its limit. That's why we're raising funds to acquire a Brooklyn facility — a place to anchor the Drumline Academy, house the Pro Line, and give this cultural institution the permanent home it needs for the next generation.
With a growing school residency footprint across three boroughs and expanding programming from Brooklyn to Westchester County, BK Steppers is ready to plant a flag. We are actively searching for the right property in Brooklyn. When we find it, we intend to move quickly. The campaign is building that readiness now.
Acquisition target: $900,000–$1.5 million. We are actively searching for the right property in Brooklyn.
Support the Capital Campaign →Interested in a major gift or a conversation about the campaign? Contact Antonio Thompson directly at [email protected].
Every day, a place for the tradition to live — and the kids to walk in.
- A dedicated rehearsal space for the Drumline Academy and the Pro Line
- Year-round access that doesn't depend on school calendars or host-site politics
- A visible cultural home that donors, partners, and families can see and trust
- Instrument storage, teaching studios, and room to grow into indoor percussion and colorguard