1967
June 20. Carnegie Hall declared a New York City Landmark
1968
Feb. 23. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and James Baldwin speak at the W.E.B. Du Bois centenary celebration – King’s last major address before his assassination
Sept. 14. Carnegie Hall recital debut of Ravi Shankar
1970
May 2. Carnegie Hall debut of B.B. King
1972
The Newport Jazz Festival moves to New York City, including Carnegie Hall as one of its venues
1973
Jan. 18. Michael Tilson Thomas and the Boston Symphony
Orchestra perform Steve Reich’s Four Organs, which is met with boos from some and cheers from others
1976
May 18. “The Concert of the Century,” a benefit marking the Hall’s 85th birthday, with Vladimir Horowitz, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, and members of the New York Philhar-
Above: Inaugural Family Day at Carnegie Hall in the Resnick Education Wing, new home of the Weill Music Institute, held on Sept. 21, 2014. Right: A practice room in the Resnick Education Wing.
established the Weill Music Institute (WMI), under which the Hall’s education and community engagement would globally expand. To help support the continuous growth of WMI, the upper floors of the building were transformed into spaces dedicated to music education. This project reached completion in 2014 with the opening of the Resnick Education Wing, creating 24 teaching studios, practice rooms, and areas for interactive events and workshops for young musicians and education professionals.
monic and the Oratorio Society of New York
1978
June 1. Carnegie Hall debut of Philip Glass
1980
June 13. Frank Sinatra sells out the first of 58 shows at the Hall throughout the decade before his final appearance in 1987
1983
April 8. Carnegie Hall debut of the
newly formed New York Pops under its founder and musical director Skitch Henderson
1986
1985
1987
The Hall launches its Link Up education program Oct. 31. Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Melle Mel take part in a benefit concert, becoming the first hip-hop artists to appear at Carnegie Hall
Full interior renovation completed Dec. 15. Reopening gala concert
May-June. Liza Minnelli sells out 17 consecutive performances – a record that still stands
1988
May 11. Bea Arthur, Tony Bennett, Leonard Bernstein, Nell Carter, Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Natalie
PHOTO BY JEFF GOLDBERG/ESTO
Left: The Carnegie Hall lobby after renovation in 1986.
PHOTO BY STEVE J. SHERMAN
persuasion paid off. The New York legislature passed a bill that enabled the City of New York to purchase the Hall and lease it to the newly formed not-for-profit Carnegie Hall Corporation, which runs it to this day. A $60 million restoration and renovation campaign brought important structural changes in 1986, including installing a much-needed elevator system, rebuilding the lobby, and restoring the Main Hall, which was rededicated Stern Auditorium in 1997 with the name of Perelman Stage being added in 2006. During the 1991 centennial year, the Rose Museum opened, showcasing the building’s history through archival material such as concert programs, photographs, record jackets, musical manuscripts, and video. The Carnegie Hall Cinema (the former Recital Hall, Carnegie Lyceum, and Carnegie Playhouse underneath the Main Hall) also underwent a major facelift 10 years before Carnegie Hall reclaimed the space for its original concert hall purpose. In order to do so, 6,300 cubic yards of bedrock had to be excavated. In September 2003, the $72 million state-of-the-art Zankel Hall opened its first season with a two-week festival. That same year, Carnegie Hall
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE BERGER
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