Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

At the heart of midtown Manhattan, Carnegie Hall is an American ideal, what most people would imagine if asked to conjure up a musical cathedral. Built by industrialist Andrew Carnegie (whose equally epic home, the Carnegie Mansion, now houses a first-rate design museum on the Upper East Side), the legendary concert hall is thought to have the world's best acoustics, and has never hurt for performing talent. Tchaikovsky conducted at the opening, and, later, Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, and Leonard Bernstein all led the Carnegie Hall house band--the world-famous New York Philharmonic. Today, Carnegie Hall hosts an eclectic series of shows, as the recently renovated 2,804-seat main hall showcases visiting philharmonics and contemporary giants, the work of up-and-coming composers, world music icons, soloists and leading choral groups. As the famous joke goes, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice."