Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall ( KAR-nig-ee) is a concert venue at 881 Seventh Avenue, between 56th and 57th Streets, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by its namesake, industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the venue is one of the most prestigious in the world for both classical music and popular music. Carnegie Hall has its own artistic programming, development, and marketing departments and presents about 250 performances each season. It is also rented out to performing groups, though it has not had a resident company since the New York Philharmonic moved to Lincoln Center in 1962. The Carnegie Hall complex has three auditoriums. The largest one is the Stern Auditorium, a five-story auditorium with 2,790 seats. Also part of the complex are the 599-seat Zankel Hall, located below ground on Seventh Avenue, as well as the 268-seat Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall on 57th Street. Besides the auditoriums, Carnegie Hall contains offices on its top stories. Carnegie Hall, originally the Music Hall, was constructed between 1889 and 1891 as a venue shared by the Oratorio Society of New York and the New York Symphony Society. The hall was owned by the Carnegie family until 1925, after which Robert E. Simon and then his son, Robert E. Simon Jr., became owners. Carnegie Hall was renovated multiple times throughout its history, including in the 1940s and 1980s. It was proposed for demolition in the 1950s when the Philharmonic's planned relocation to Lincoln Center was announced, but was saved by a public campaign led by Isaac Stern. Carnegie Hall is a National Historic Landmark and a New York City designated landmark.