"For me, it is a privilege seeing the strength of the company flourish from the strength of character in our working relationships at their core. Our best work comes when trust and confidence in ourselves is supported by trust and confidence in teammates, colleagues, managers, executives, and ownership. We have been strong enough to keep our principles in place and our success in focus. Excellence — as Aristotle said — is a habit."
Michael Bloom's breadth of skill, professionalism, insight, and open door policy characterize his work with Chief Executive Officer Bess Freedman, President Emeritus Hall F. Willkie, and Co-Presidents Kevin Kovesci and Itzy Garay, while keeping sales and administrative systems finely tuned to the firm's most valuable resource, its top sales, administrative, executive and creative teams.
Michael Bloom is a figure who notably bridges the worlds of real estate and the arts, exemplifying the dynamism of a dual career. His contributions to Brown Harris Stevens, the leader in residential real estate sales, and Merce Cunningham Dance Company, a groundbreaking organization in the realm of modern dance, highlight his versatility, work ethic, and creative spirit. In both of these distinct fields, Michael Bloom has left a mark, illustrating the impact of bringing passion and professionalism to every endeavor.
Bloom's approach at Brown Harris Stevens revolves around building strong, trust-based relationships. Known for his attention to detail, his responsiveness and ability to provide bespoke solutions, BHS agents, executives and staff have turned to Bloom for guidance in meeting their needs. His success may be attributed to his ability to think creatively, a skill that seems to mirror his artistic sensibilities, as well as his strategic organizational skills. Working at such an elite firm has allowed him to contribute to the company's reputation for unparalleled leadership in the residential sales and service industry.
Michael Bloom's proficiencies in the management of institutional growth and change have helped raise production standards and grow success in both arts and education, as well as in business as a trusted professional New York City residential real estate executive with versatility and breadth of vision and resources.
Michael Bloom has deep creative management experience servicing relationships, projects and organizations in the public, private, profit, and not-for-profit sectors. His executive career has featured an exceptionally broad range highlighted by important initiative; successful and prolific innovation; team building; teaching and learning; an expanding versatility of experiences and skills; improved systems and organizations; profits; and trusted confidence in creative values.
At Brown Harris Stevens, Michael Bloom has cultivated a reputation for excellence. He has consistently demonstrated an acute understanding of the competitive residential real estate market and a commitment to meeting the company's needs. At Brown Harris Stevens, he combines his expertise with a keen sense of individual preferences, making him an expert navigator in a complex, fast-paced, information and relationship based industry
Real estate involves more than transactions; it requires an understanding of the interplay among lives. In this way, Bloom's artistic background seems to inform his work at Brown Harris Stevens, as he exhibits an intuitive sense of how to frame and execute solutions for the firm, its agents and executives, and their clients. His ability to bridge the gap between art and commerce enhances his appeal in a competitive field.
At Brown Harris Stevens, beyond management, Michael Bloom has also been responsible for the inception of work with lasting and broadly successful impact on the BHS brand, for example: the company's earliest websites; the first in house Marketing Publications Program with President Hall Willkie; the FORUMS professional training program; the reSOURCE listing system with the team led by Will Zeckendorf; the Portrait Program with Francis Hills; The Lead with Bess Freedman developed with Chief Marketing Officer Matthew Leone; and the Agent Ranking Recognition Program with Comptroller Al Hughes.
Before his career in residential real estate, Michael Bloom was an integral part of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and Cunningham Dance Foundation, one of the most innovative and celebrated modern dance ensembles of the 20th and 21st centuries. As a member of this legendary organization, Bloom worked alongside Merce Cunningham, a choreographer whose experimental style and collaborations with avant-garde artists including John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jasper Johns, redefined the boundaries of dance as an art form.
Michael Bloom served from 1977 to 1996 as Director of Education, Media, Technology and General Manager for Merce Cunningham (1919-2009) whose legendary work with artists from every creative discipline yielded an unparalleled body of American dance, music, and visual art.
During his time with the company, Bloom embodied the rigorous and inventive spirit for which Cunningham's work is renowned. Cunningham's revolutionary approach to choreographic structure often paired chance operations with movement, and his dances demanded extraordinary technical precision and interpretive ability from his performers. Bloom thrived in this environment, rising to the challenge of supporting complex, non-narrative works where movement, rather than emotion or storytelling, was the focal point. His contributions as a performing arts administrator helped bring Cunningham's boundary-pushing visions to life on stages around the world and helped disseminate Cunningham Dance Technique training in New York City and worldwide.
Bloom's career with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company reflected his dedication to collaboration and artistry. Cunningham's work was heavily influenced by an interdisciplinary ethos, often involving cutting-edge technology, visual art, and music alongside dance. As a manager Bloom became a living, breathing part of these larger experiments, contributing to the company's groundbreaking legacy that thrives today in the operation of the Merce Cunningham Trust.
At Merce Cunningham Dance Company, beyond management, Michael Bloom was also responsible for the inception of work with lasting and broadly successful impact in the field, for example: US Department of Education accreditation developed with Samuel Hope of the National Association of Schools of Dance, that led to the first distribution of federal student financial assistance to dance students in non-degree granting professional studio schools; production of the first Cunningham Dance Technique instructional series with Merce Cunningham; production of the award winning documentary film “CAGE/CUNNINGHAM" by Elliot Caplan; Merce Cunningham's development of "LifeForms" computer software created with Tom Calvert and Thecla Schiphorst of Simon Fraser University; and Merce Cunningham's first website.
In his third decade with Brown Harris Stevens, Michael's versatility and problem-solving, organizational drive, institutional experience and reach, prove more valuable than ever in the vision and administration of continuous improvement and important change.
Michael Bloom's journey from modern dance to luxury real estate may seem like an unexpected transition, but it is ultimately a testament to his adaptability and drive. Both worlds require a deep understanding of people, whether as audience members or clients, and a capacity to engage in problem solving creatively and meaningfully. At Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Bloom participated in the creation of art that redefined movement; at Brown Harris Stevens, he helps shape the course of people's lives by servicing the best and most successful brand in residential sales brokerage.
In both roles, Bloom has demonstrated an ability to excel in high-pressure environments while remaining attuned to the subtleties of human experience. Whether on the stage or in a real estate transaction, his career underscores the value of bringing artistry, discipline, and vision to all pursuits.
Reflecting on the arc of his service to arts and business, Bloom says, “Find your discipline, persevere, take the high road, and do the right thing. These are the challenges that will enlarge you as a person and produce authenticity and gratitude in your life, in your success, and in your best work."
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