Carnegie Hall
Legendary concert hall where the world’s leading orchestras and soloists have performed since 1891.
Carnegie Hall was built by the industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie at the corner of Seventh Avenue and West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Designed by the architect and amateur cellist William Burnet Tuthill in an Italian Renaissance Revival style, with brick and terracotta facades, it opened in May 1891 with a festival at which Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky conducted. Studio towers were added in the 1890s, and for decades they housed working artists, musicians and teachers.
The building contains three performance spaces. The main hall, Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, seats about 2,800 people across five levels and is known for its acoustics. Zankel Hall, below street level, was rebuilt as a flexible modern venue and reopened in 2003, while the smaller Weill Recital Hall is used for chamber music and debut recitals. The Rose Museum displays archival material on the hall's history, and a Resnick Education Wing opened in 2014.
In the late 1950s the hall faced demolition after the New York Philharmonic announced its move to Lincoln Center. A campaign led by the violinist Isaac Stern persuaded New York City to buy the building in 1960, and a non-profit corporation was created to run it. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 and underwent a major restoration in 1986. Today Carnegie Hall presents its own concert season alongside performances by visiting orchestras, soloists, jazz and popular musicians.
Highlights
- Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, a five-level main hall seating about 2,800
- Opening festival in 1891 featured Tchaikovsky conducting his own works
- Saved from demolition in 1960 by a campaign led by violinist Isaac Stern
- Rose Museum with archival material on the hall's history
- Guided tours of the auditorium and historic spaces on selected days
