Our Mission

Broadway for Arts Education (BAE) is a nonprofit organization that partners with the Broadway community to expand access to the arts in underserved communities. Through classes and workshops, Broadway artists work with schools to equip young people with the skills they need to be successful on or off the stage.

Our Story
Our Founders

Our Story

In 2015, cofounders Katy Pfaffl and Ben Houghton met teaching music at the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project in Tamil Nadu, India. Both accomplished musicians, educators, and performers, they were inspired by the school's philosophy that one underserved child, given the same opportunities as other children, can break the cycle of systemic, generational poverty for themselves and many others. That belief pushed them to reimagine their own teaching: moving beyond the traditions of technical excellence in which they had been trained, and toward a pedagogy centered on the therapeutic, holistic, and transformative power of an arts education. Katy and Ben returned to New York determined to ensure that the Shanti Bhavan community would have consistent, year-round access to the arts. So they called up a few of their Broadway friends, put on a benefit concert, and launched the Shanti Bhavan Music Fellowship — and Broadway for Arts Education was born. They quickly discovered that the need for arts education wasn't only on the other side of the world; it was in their own backyard. New York City, the "cultural capital of the world," was full of public schools with little or no arts programming. With the generous support of the Dionne Foundation, BAE expanded into NYC Department of Education schools — and we haven't stopped growing since. Today, BAE serves hundreds of children each week across India, Haiti, the United States, and Morocco with classes in dance, music, theater, poetry, visual arts, and production, all grounded in a culturally responsive approach that helps young people find their creative voices and dismantle the barriers standing between them and their futures.

Supporters in New York City dancing together at Lincoln Center Plaza to advocate for arts education!

Our Founders

Katy Pfaffl
Cofounder/Board President

Katy Pfaffl, voice/music teacher, multi-instrumentalist, and composer, attended the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM) for musical theater. Upon moving to NYC, she toured the US while releasing six albums of original music as multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter Mighty Kate (and with her duo, Daughter & Son), in addition to performing on Broadway, where she originated the role of Song Woman in the celebrated production of War Horse at Lincoln Center. Katy has also been a private voice teacher/vocal coach to the Broadway community for the past 15 years, with students appearing in over 30 Broadway shows.

Benjamin Houghton
Cofounder/Executive Director

As an actor, singer, dancer, and pianist, Ben Houghton has performed around the world in venues including The Metropolitan Opera House, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Opera Bastille de Paris, the Emirates Palace, the Segerstrom Performing Arts Center, the Guggenheim Museum, and many more. Formerly a company pianist for American Ballet Theater and staff accompanist for the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, he quit his job in 2015 and moved to India for four months to teach music at the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project, where he met Katy and BAE was born! He holds degrees in musical theater and piano pedagogy from Westminster Choir College and is currently pursing his Masters at Teachers College, Columbia University.