Carnegie Hall
overview
One of the premiere centers of American musical life and history, Carnegie Hall has continually featured the work and performances of countless LGBT artists since its opening in 1891.
See Studio Towers for the LGBT history of the former apartments above the Hall, which have since been converted to rehearsal and classroom space after the last tenants were evicted in 2010.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Photographer and source unknown.
Rendering of Carnegie Hall Opening, May 5, 1891, from Harper’s Magazine.
Carnegie Hall, opening night ticket. Source: Carnegie Hall Archives.
Poster of Isadora Duncan at Carnegie Hall, c. 1909.
Lauritz Melchior, album cover. Columbia Records.
Leonard Bernstein, 1943, with inscription to the New York Philharmonic Symphony Society, 1944. Source: Carnegie Hall Archives.
Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland in Bernardsville, New Jersey, August 1945. Photographer unknown. Source: Leonard Bernstein Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.
Front page article announcing Leonard Bernstein's debut as conductor of the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Source: The New York Times, November 15, 1943.
Dimitri Mitropoulos, c. 1947. RCA Victor.
Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti. Source: Limelight Magazine.
Composer and pianist Don Shirley in his Carnegie Hall apartment, 1979. Photo by Fred R. Conrad. Source: The New York Times.
Carnegie Hall debut of the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, December 8, 1981. Photo by and courtesy of David Jarrett.
Carnegie Hall debut of the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, December 8, 1981. Photo by and courtesy of David Jarrett.
Carnegie Hall, 1891. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.
Carnegie Hall, 1895. Photo by Byron Co. Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York. 93.1.1.18078
Postcard of Carnegie Hall, c. 1905. Source: Rotograph Co.
Carnegie Hall, c. 1910. Photo by Wurts Bros. Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York. X2010.7.1.1370
History
Completed in 1891, Andrew Carnegie’s Music Hall was opened as the new home for the Oratorio Society of New York, with a five-day musical festival during which Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one of the world’s foremost composers of the day, conducted several of his own works.
Often considered one of the premiere centers of American musical life and history, Carnegie Hall has continually featured the work and performances of countless LGBT artists. Few had as close an association with the Hall as Leonard Bernstein, who appeared more than 430 times between 1943 and 1990, as conductor, pianist, composer, and educator. He was the music director of the New York Philharmonic from 1958 to 1969. Dimitri Mitropoulos was the music director of the Philharmonic between 1949 and 1958, until he became the victim of McCarthy-era homophobia. Other conductors here included Thomas Schippers, Jeffrey Tate, and Michael Tilson Thomas.
Premieres of classical works by LGBT composers Samuel Barber, Benjamin Britten, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, David Diamond, Marc Blitzstein, Gian Carlo Menotti, Ned Rorem, and John Corigliano were conducted here. African-American composer and pianist, Don Shirley, also performed here. Innumerable LGBT performers have ranged from pianists Vladimir Horowitz and Van Cliburn, to dancer Isadora Duncan, leading Wagnerian heldentenor Lauritz Melchior, popular singers Jimmie Daniels, Chris Williamson, Meg Christian, and Rufus Wainwright, and the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus.
See Studio Towers for the LGBT history of the former apartments above the Hall, which have since been converted to rehearsal and classroom space after the last tenants were evicted in 2010.
Entry by Jay Shockley, project director (March 2017).
NOTE: Names above in bold indicate LGBT people.
Building Information
- Architect or Builder: William B. Tuthill (Carnegie Hall); Henry J. Hardenburgh (Studio Towers)
- Year Built: 1889-91 (Carnegie Hall); 1894-97 (Studio Towers)
Sources
“Performance History Search,” Carnegie Hall, bit.ly/2fu1QIM.
Daniel Hurewitz, Stepping Out: Nine Walks Through New York City’s Gay and Lesbian Past (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1997).
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