Carnegie Hall#Carnegie Hall joke

Carnegie Hall is on the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street and 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.{{Cite web|title=NYCityMap|url=http://maps.nyc.gov/|access-date=March 20, 2020|website=NYC.gov|publisher=New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications|archive-date=February 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219214900/http://maps.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/|url-status=live}} The site covers {{convert|27,618|ft2||abbr=}}. Its lot is {{Convert|200|ft||abbr=}} wide, covering the entire width of the block between 56th Street to the south and 57th Street to the north, and extends {{Convert|150|ft||abbr=}} eastward from Seventh Avenue.{{Cite web|title=881 7 Avenue, 10019|url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1009/1#16.59/40.765008/-73.978097|access-date=September 8, 2020|publisher=New York City Department of City Planning|archive-date=June 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626153842/https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1009/1#16.59/40.765008/-73.978097|url-status=live}}

Carnegie Hall shares the city block with the Carnegie Hall Tower, Russian Tea Room, and Metropolitan Tower to the east. It is cater-corner from the Osborne apartment building. It also faces the Rodin Studios and 888 Seventh Avenue to the west; Alwyn Court, The Briarcliffe, the Louis H. Chalif Normal School of Dancing, and One57 to the north; the Park Central Hotel to the southwest; and CitySpire and New York City Center to the southeast. Right outside the hall is an entrance to the New York City Subway's 57th Street–Seventh Avenue station, served by the {{NYCS trains|Broadway}}.{{cite web|date=2018|title=MTA Neighborhood Maps: 57 St 7 Av (N)(Q)(R)(W)|url=https://new.mta.info/document/2001|access-date=September 13, 2018|website=mta.info|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224211132/https://new.mta.info/document/2001|url-status=live}}

Carnegie Hall is part of a former artistic hub around a two-block section of West 57th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway. The hub had been developed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its opening in 1891 directly contributed to the development of the hub.{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=May 9, 1999|title=Streetscapes /57th Street Between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue; High and Low Notes of a Block With a Musical Bent|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/09/realestate/streetscapes-57th-street-between-avenue-americas-seventh-avenue-high-low-notes.html|access-date=November 18, 2020|archive-date=November 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127115151/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/09/realestate/streetscapes-57th-street-between-avenue-americas-seventh-avenue-high-low-notes.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|date=November 13, 2001|title=Steinway Hall|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2100.pdf|access-date=November 12, 2020|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|pages=6–7|archive-date=November 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109230241/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2100.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite fednyc|page=232}} The area contains several buildings constructed as residences for artists and musicians, such as 130 and 140 West 57th Street, the Osborne, and the Rodin Studios. In addition, the area contained the headquarters of organizations such as the American Fine Arts Society, the Lotos Club, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.{{cite web|date=December 16, 2008|title=Society House of the American Society of Civil Engineers|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2297.pdf|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|page=2|access-date=December 4, 2020|archive-date=August 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823005513/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2297.pdf|url-status=live}} By the 21st century, the artistic hub had largely been replaced with Billionaires' Row, a series of luxury skyscrapers around the southern end of Central Park.{{cite web | last=Scher | first=Robin | title='Round 57th Street: New York's First Gallery District Continues (for Now) to Weather Endless Changes in the Art World | website=ARTnews | date=July 19, 2016 | url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/round-57th-street-new-yorks-first-gallery-district-continues-for-now-to-weather-endless-changes-in-the-art-world-6685/ | access-date=June 13, 2024}}

File:Carnegie Hall at night.jpg

Carnegie Hall was designed by William Tuthill along with Richard Morris Hunt and Adler & Sullivan. While the 34-year-old Tuthill was relatively unknown as an architect, he was an amateur cellist and a singer, which may have led to him getting the commission. Dankmar Adler of Adler & Sullivan, on the other hand, was an experienced designer of music halls and theaters; he served as the acoustical consultant. Carnegie Hall was constructed with heavy masonry bearing walls, as lighter structural steel framework was not widely used when the building was completed.{{cite web|date=May 28, 2016|title=1891 Andrew Carnegie's new Music Hall opens – Carnegie Hall|url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/History/Timeline/Timeline.aspx?id=4294968416|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528220247/http://www.carnegiehall.org/History/Timeline/Timeline.aspx?id=4294968416|archive-date=May 28, 2016|access-date=August 18, 2021|website=carnegiehall.org}} The building was designed in a modified Italian Renaissance style.{{cite web|date=May 10, 1966|title=Carnegie Hall|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0278.pdf|access-date=March 13, 2020|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|archive-date=July 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727090801/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0278.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|date=December 27, 1890|title=The Carnegie Music Hall|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_006&page=ldpd_7031148_006_00001013|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=46|pages=867–868|via=columbia.edu|number=1189|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818212044/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_006&page=ldpd_7031148_006_00001013|url-status=live}}{{cite nycland|page=126}}

Carnegie Hall is composed of three structures arranged in an "L" shape; each structure contains one of the hall's performance spaces. The original building, which houses the Isaac Stern Auditorium, is an eight-story rectangular building at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 57th Street, measuring {{Convert|150|ft}} along the street and {{Convert|175|ft}} along the avenue.{{harvnb|Tauranac|1985|ps=.|page=145}} The 16-story eastern wing contains the Weill Recital Hall and is located along 57th Street. The 13-story southern wing, at Seventh Avenue and 56th Street, contains Zankel Hall. Except at the eighth floor, all three structures have floor levels at different heights.{{harvnb|National Park Service|1962|ps=.|p=2}}

Carnegie Hall was designed from the outset with a facade of Roman brick. The facade was decorated with a large amount of Renaissance details. Most of the exterior walls are covered in reddish brown brick, though decorative elements such as band courses, pilasters, and arches are made of architectural terracotta originally by the New York Architectural Terra-Cotta Company. As originally designed, the terracotta and brick were both brown, and the pitched roof was made of corrugated black tile, but this was later replaced with the eighth floor.File:Carnegie Hall - Entrance (48155558951).jpg

The original section of the building is divided into three horizontal sections. The lowest section of the building comprises the first floor and the first-floor mezzanine, above which is a heavy cornice with modillions. The main entrance of Carnegie Hall is placed in what was originally the center of the primary facade on 57th Street. It consists of an arcade with five large arches, originally separated by granite pilasters.{{cite news|date=May 6, 1891|title=It Stood the Test Well: the First Concert in the New Music Hall. Its Acoustic Properties Found to Be Adequate – a Russian Composer Warmly Greeted – Bishop Potter as a Lover of Music|page=5|newspaper=The New York Times|id={{ProQuest|94939305}}}} An entablature, with the words "Music Hall Founded by Andrew Carnegie", runs across the loggia at the springing of the arches. The center three arches lead directly to the Stern Auditorium's lobby, while the two outer arches lead to staircases to upper floors. On either side of the main entrance are smaller doorways (one on the west and two on the east), topped by blank panels at the mezzanine. There are five similar doorways on Seventh Avenue. The original backstage entrance is on 161 West 56th Street.{{Cite news|last=Kraus|first=Lucy|date=August 31, 1986|title=The Carnegie Hall of the Future|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/31/arts/the-carnegie-hall-of-the-future.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820015008/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/31/arts/the-carnegie-hall-of-the-future.html|url-status=live}}

On the third and fourth floors, above the main entrance, is a two-and-a-half story arcade on 57th Street with five round-headed arches. A balcony with a balustrade is carried on console brackets in front of this arcade. Each arch has a horizontal terracotta transom bar above the third floor; two third-floor windows separated by a Corinthian column; and two fourth-floor windows separated by a pilaster. A broad terracotta frieze runs above the fourth floor, at the springing of the arches. To either side of the arcade, there are two tall round-arched windows on the second floor; those on the east flank a blind arch. There are pairs of pilasters on the fourth-floor mezzanine, above which is a string course. The Seventh Avenue facade is similar in design, but instead of window openings, there are blind openings filled with brick. Additionally, the arcade at the center of the Seventh Avenue facade has four arches instead of five.

The sixth floor, at the center of the 57th Street facade, contains five square openings, each with a pair of round-arched windows. On either side of these five openings, there are round-arched windows, arranged as in a shallow loggia. There are four arched windows on the eastern portion of the sixth floor, as well as two arches on the west portion, which flank a blind arch. A frieze and cornice run above this floor. The seventh floor was originally a mansard roof. As part of an 1890s alteration, the mansard was replaced with a vertical wall resembling a continuous arcade. The seventh floor is topped by balustrades with decorated columns. The flat roof was converted into a roof garden with kitchen and service rooms.{{cite news|date=December 28, 1892|title=For a Bigger Music Hall: Elaborate Plans of Reconstruction There Will Be High Tower and Other Changes Will Be Made|page=7|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573728011}}}}{{Cite news|date=December 28, 1892|title=Addition to Music Hall; Work Planned That Will Make a Great Improvement. Better Exterior Appearance Promised and Much More Room – a Lofty Tower of Unique Design – Garden on the Roof – New Concert Room and Studios|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1892/12/28/archives/addition-to-music-hall-work-planned-that-will-make-a-great.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820013950/https://www.nytimes.com/1892/12/28/archives/addition-to-music-hall-work-planned-that-will-make-a-great.html|url-status=live}} Carnegie Hall was also extended to the corner of Seventh Avenue and 56th Street, where a 13-story addition was designed in a similar style as the original building. The top of this addition contains a main dome, as well as smaller domes at its four corners.

The Stern Auditorium is six stories high with 2,804 seats on five levels.{{cite web|date=October 15, 1966|title=Carnegie Hall|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/5b82f3e2-d183-472f-88f1-e4c82ffca307|access-date=March 13, 2020|publisher=National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service|archive-date=July 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727084027/https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/5b82f3e2-d183-472f-88f1-e4c82ffca307|url-status=live}}{{harvnb|Page|2011|p=18|ps=.}} Originally known as the main auditorium, it was renamed after violinist Isaac Stern in 1997 to recognize his efforts to save the hall from demolition in the 1960s.{{cite web|date=September 23, 2013|title=The A to Z of Carnegie Hall: S is for Stern|url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/BlogPost.aspx?id=4294989134|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709115621/https://www.carnegiehall.org/BlogPost.aspx?id=4294989134|archive-date=July 9, 2017|access-date=November 14, 2014|publisher=Carnegie Hall}} The main auditorium was originally planned to fit 3,300 guests, including two tiers of boxes, two balconies, and a parquet seating 1,200.{{cite magazine|date=July 20, 1889|title=Men and Things|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_004&page=ldpd_7031148_004_00000118|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=44|page=1017|via=columbia.edu|number=1114|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818152705/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_004&page=ldpd_7031148_004_00000118|url-status=live}} The main hall accommodated the performances of the New York Philharmonic from 1892 to 1962, when the Philharmonic moved to Lincoln Center.{{Cite news|date=May 21, 1962|title=Philharmonic Cheered In Carnegie Hall Finale|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/05/21/archives/philharmonic-cheered-in-carnegie-hall-finale.html|access-date=April 23, 2023}}

Its entrance is through the Box Office Lobby on 57th Street near Seventh Avenue.{{cite web|title=Parking & Directions|url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/Visit/Directions-and-Parking|access-date=August 18, 2021|website=Carnegie Hall|archive-date=October 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005021520/https://www.carnegiehall.org/Visit/Directions-and-Parking|url-status=live}} When planned in 1889, this entrance was designed with a marble and mosaic vestibule measuring {{Convert|25|ft}} high and {{Convert|70|ft}} long. The entrance lobby is three stories high and had an organ loft at the top, which was converted into a lounge area by the mid-20th century. The lobby ceiling was designed as a barrel vault, containing soffits with heavy coffers and cross-arches, and was painted white with gold decorations. At either end of the barrel vault were lunettes. The walls were painted salmon and had pairs of gray-marble pilasters supporting an entablature. The cross-arches had decorated cream-colored tympana. The lobby was originally several feet above street level, but it was lowered to street level in the 1980s.{{cite magazine|date=Mar 1986|title=Carnegie Hall's New Lobby|url=https://usmodernist.org/AIANY/AIANY-1986-03.pdf|journal=Oculus|volume=48|pages=3–11|number=7|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=January 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130215841/https://usmodernist.org/AIANY/AIANY-1986-03.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Shepard|first=Joan|date=December 15, 1986|title=Encore for Carnegie Hall|page=101|newspaper=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83713265/encore-for-carnegie-hall/|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819012949/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83713265/encore-for-carnegie-hall/|url-status=live}} The rebuilt lobby contains geometric decorations evocative by the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, as well as Corinthian-style capitals with lighting fixtures.{{Cite news|last=Goldberger|first=Paul|date=September 8, 1983|title=Architecture: Carnegie Hall Restoration, Phase 1|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/08/arts/architecture-carnegie-hall-restoration-phase-1.html|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821151425/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/08/arts/architecture-carnegie-hall-restoration-phase-1.html|url-status=live}} The design also includes ticket windows on the south wall of the lobby. Past that, stairs on either side lead to the auditorium's parquet level; previously, stairs continued straight from the lobby to the parquet level.

File:Carnegie-hall-isaac-stern.jpg

All but the top level can be reached by elevator; the top balcony is 137 steps above parquet level.{{cite web|title=Information: Accessibility|url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/Information/Accessibility/|access-date=November 14, 2014|publisher=Carnegie Hall|archive-date=September 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916154355/https://www.carnegiehall.org/Information/Accessibility/|url-status=live}}{{harvnb|Page|2011|p=20|ps=.}} The lowest level is the parquet level, which has twenty-five full rows of thirty-eight seats and four partial rows at stage level, for a total of 1,021 seats. The parquet was designed with eleven exits to a corridor that entirely surrounded it; the corridor, in turn, led to the main entrance vestibule on 57th Street.{{cite news|date=September 10, 1889|title=The New Music Hall Plans: a Fine Building to Be Erected It Will Be Ready for the World's Fair—architectural Features and Interior Arrangements|page=7|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573484756}}}} The first and second tiers consist of sixty-five boxes; the first tier has 264 seats, eight per box, and the second tier has 238 seats, six to eight per box. As designed, the first tier of boxes was entirely open, while the second tier was partially enclosed, with open boxes on either end. The third tier above the parquet is the Dress Circle, seating 444 in six rows; the first two rows form an almost-complete semicircle. The fourth and the highest tier, the balcony, seats 837. Although seats with obstructed views exist throughout the auditorium, only the Dress Circle level has structural columns.{{cite web|last1=Carnegie Hall|title=Stern Auditorium-Perelman Stage Rentals|url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/Rentals/Stern-Auditorium-Perelman-Stage-Rentals/|access-date=May 5, 2015|ref=rentals|archive-date=March 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321150319/http://www.carnegiehall.org/Rentals/Stern-Auditorium-Perelman-Stage-Rentals/|url-status=live}} An elliptic arch rises from the Dress Circle level; along with a corresponding arch at the rear of the auditorium, it supports the ceiling.

The Ronald O. Perelman Stage is {{Convert|42|ft}} deep. It was originally designed with six tiers that could be raised and lowered hydraulically. The walls around the stage contain pilasters. The ceiling above the stage was designed as an ellipse, and the soffits of the ceiling were originally outfitted with lights. Originally, there were no stage wings; the backstage entrance from 56th Street led directly to a small landing just below the stage, while the dressing room was above the stage. During a 1980s renovation, a stage wing, orchestra room, and dressing rooms were added and the access to the stage was reconfigured.

Zankel Hall, on the Seventh Avenue side of the building, is named after Judy and Arthur Zankel, who funded a renovation of the venue.{{cite news|last=Dunlap|first=David W.|author-link=David W. Dunlap|date=January 30, 2000|title=Carnegie Hall Grows the Only Way It Can; Burrowing Into Bedrock, Crews Carve Out a New Auditorium|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/30/nyregion/carnegie-hall-grows-only-way-it-can-burrowing-into-bedrock-crews-carve-new.html|access-date=November 14, 2014|archive-date=November 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120115032/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/30/nyregion/carnegie-hall-grows-only-way-it-can-burrowing-into-bedrock-crews-carve-new.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Kinneberg|first=Caroline|title=Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall|url=https://nymag.com/listings/attraction/Zankel-Hall/|access-date=August 18, 2021|website=NYMag.com|archive-date=March 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306090014/https://nymag.com/listings/attraction/Zankel-Hall/|url-status=live}} Originally called simply Recital Hall, this was the first auditorium to open to the public in April 1891. It had a balcony, elevated side galleries, a beamed ceiling, and removable seats.{{Cite news|last=Blumenthal|first=Ralph|author-link=Ralph Blumenthal|date=January 3, 1998|title=In the Offing, Another Hall In Carnegie's Basement|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/03/arts/in-the-offing-another-hall-in-carnegie-s-basement.html|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819182657/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/03/arts/in-the-offing-another-hall-in-carnegie-s-basement.html|url-status=live}} The space was an oratorio hall capable of accommodating over 1,000 people, and it could double as a banquet hall. There was a full kitchen service, as well as a dais on either side. The space was originally designed with dimensions of {{Convert|90|by|96|ft}}. Following renovations made in 1896, it was renamed Carnegie Lyceum. It was leased to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1896, then converted into the Carnegie Hall Cinema in May 1961. The venue became a performance space in 1997.{{cite web|date=September 15, 2003|title=At Carnegie Hall, music goes underground|url=https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2003/09/15/At-Carnegie-Hall-music-goes-underground/48201063666309/|access-date=August 21, 2021|website=UPI|archive-date=January 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109212923/http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2003/09/15/At-Carnegie-Hall-music-goes-underground/48201063666309/|url-status=live}}

The completely reconstructed Zankel Hall opened in September 2003.{{cite news|last=Muschamp|first=Herbert|author-link=Herbert Muschamp|title=Architecture Review; Zankel Hall, Carnegie's Buried Treasure|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 12, 2003|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/12/movies/architecture-review-zankel-hall-carnegie-s-buried-treasure.html|access-date=November 14, 2014|archive-date=November 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120063142/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/12/movies/architecture-review-zankel-hall-carnegie-s-buried-treasure.html|url-status=live}} It is accessed from Seventh Avenue, where there is a marquee.{{Cite news|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|author-link=Allan Kozinn|date=January 12, 1999|title=A New Stage and Lineup for Concerts at Carnegie|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/12/arts/a-new-stage-and-lineup-for-concerts-at-carnegie.html|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819182701/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/12/arts/a-new-stage-and-lineup-for-concerts-at-carnegie.html|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|last=Weathersby| first=William Jr. |date=Jan 2005|title=Zankel Hall, New York City|url=https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-2005-01.pdf|journal=Architectural Record|volume=193|pages=157–161|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=November 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127195114/https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-2005-01.pdf|url-status=live}} Two escalators lead to the balcony and orchestra levels. The venue could be arranged with either a center stage, an end stage, or no stage.{{cite magazine|last=Lewis|first=Julia Einspruch|date=Mar 1999|title=A new stage for a hallowed hall|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013161651&view=1up&seq=8|journal=Interior Design|volume=70|issue=4|page=35|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819182521/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013161651&view=1up&seq=8|url-status=live}} This is accomplished through the division of the floor into nine sections, each {{Convert|45|ft}} wide with a separate lift underneath. There are 599 seats in Zankel Hall, spread across two levels. The parterre level seats a total of 463 and the mezzanine level seats 136. Each level has several boxes perpendicular to the stage; there are 54 seats in six boxes on the parterre level and 48 seats in four boxes on the mezzanine level. The boxes on the parterre level are raised above the level of the stage. Zankel Hall is wheelchair-accessible. Its stage is {{convert|44|ft}} wide and {{convert|25|ft}} deep.{{cite web|last1=Carnegie Hall|title=Zankel Hall Rental|url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/Rentals/Hall-Rentals/|access-date=May 5, 2015|ref=zankelrental|archive-date=September 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916075449/https://www.carnegiehall.org/Rentals/Hall-Rentals/|url-status=live}}

Due to the limited space available on the land lot, the construction of Zankel Hall required excavating {{Convert|8,000|ft3}} of additional basement space, at some points only {{Convert|10|ft}} under the Stern Auditorium's parquet level. The excavations descended up to {{Convert|22|ft}} below the original space's floor and came as close as {{Convert|9|ft}} to the adjacent subway tunnel. This also required the removal of twelve cast-iron columns holding up the Main Hall. In its place, a temporary framework of steel pipe columns, supporting I-beam girders and thick Neoprene insulation pads, was installed.{{harvnb|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|ps=.|p=733}} JaffeHolden Acoustics installed the soundproofing, which filters out noise from both the street and the subway.{{Cite news|last=Pogrebin|first=Robin|author-link=Robin Pogrebin|date=April 3, 2003|title=A New Underground at Carnegie, in More Ways Than One|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/03/arts/a-new-underground-at-carnegie-in-more-ways-than-one.html|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819212817/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/03/arts/a-new-underground-at-carnegie-in-more-ways-than-one.html|url-status=live}} An elliptical concrete wall, measuring {{Convert|12|in}} wide, surrounds Zankel Hall and supports the Stern Auditorium. The elliptical enclosure measures {{Convert|114|ft}} long and {{Convert|76|ft}} wide.{{Cite news|last=Dunlap|first=David W.|author-link=David W. Dunlap|date=May 5, 2002|title=When Expansion Leads to Inner Space|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/05/realestate/when-expansion-leads-to-inner-space.html|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819212819/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/05/realestate/when-expansion-leads-to-inner-space.html|url-status=live}} The walls are sloped at a 7-degree angle and contain sycamore paneling. The lighting and sound equipment is mounted from twenty-one trusses.

The Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall is named after Sanford I. Weill, a former chairman of Carnegie Hall's board, as well as his wife Joan.{{cite web|title=Weill Recital Hall|url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/Building-Overview/Weill-Recital-Hall|access-date=August 18, 2021|website=Carnegie Hall|archive-date=July 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709103819/https://www.carnegiehall.org/Information/Weill-Recital-Hall/|url-status=live}} This auditorium, in use since the hall opened in 1891, was originally called Chamber Music Hall{{Cite news|last=Rockwell|first=John|author-link=John Rockwell|date=January 6, 1987|title=Weill Recital Hall Opens at Carnegie|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/06/arts/weill-recital-hall-opens-at-carnegie.html|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818152704/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/06/arts/weill-recital-hall-opens-at-carnegie.html|url-status=live}} and was placed in the "lateral building" east of the main hall. The space later became the Carnegie Chamber Music Hall, and the name was changed to Carnegie Recital Hall in the late 1940s. The venue was renamed after Joan and Sanford I. Weill in 1986,{{Cite news |last=Holland |first=Bernard|author-link=Bernard Holland|date=November 6, 1986 |title=Carnegie Recital Hall to Be Renamed|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/06/arts/carnegie-recital-hall-to-be-renamed.html |url-status=live |access-date=September 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821151421/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/06/arts/carnegie-recital-hall-to-be-renamed.html |archive-date=August 21, 2021}}{{Cite news |last=Nash |first=Dawn |date=November 6, 1986 |title=Carnegie renames recital hall |page=137|newspaper=New York Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110349671/carnegie-renames-recital-halldawn-nash/ |access-date=September 28, 2022}} reopening in January 1987.

The recital hall is served by its own lobby, which contains a pale color palette with red geometric metalwork. Prior to a 1980s renovation, it shared a lobby with the main auditorium.{{cite news|last=Goldberger|first=Paul|date=September 8, 1983|title=Architecture: Carnegie Hall Restoration, Phase 1|page=C16|newspaper=The New York Times|id={{ProQuest|424782471}}}} The Weill Recital Hall is the smallest of the three performance spaces, with a total of 268 seats.{{harvnb|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|ps=.|pp=732–733}} The orchestra level contains 196 seats in fourteen rows, while the balcony level contains 72 seats in five rows.{{cite web|last1=Carnegie Hall|title=Weill Recital Hall|url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/Information/Weill-Recital-Hall/|access-date=May 5, 2015|ref=weillhall|archive-date=July 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709103819/https://www.carnegiehall.org/Information/Weill-Recital-Hall/|url-status=live}} The modern-day recital hall contains off-white walls and blue seats. In the mid-20th century, the recital hall was decorated with red and gold, which was replaced in the 1980s with Palladian arches similar to those in the hall's original design. A proscenium arch made of plywood, as well as a paneled wall behind the stage, were installed after the recital hall's completion but were removed in the 1980s to improve acoustics. The room has three chandeliers, which also amplify the room's acoustics.

A boiler room was placed under the sidewalk on Seventh Avenue. A small electric generation plant for 5,300 lamps was also planned. At the ground level of the main hall was a lobby with gray marble pilasters and salmon-colored walls. Stores were added to the lobby in the 1940s.{{harvnb|National Park Service|1962|ps=.|p=3}} The storefronts, as well as a restaurant at the corner of 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, were removed in a 1980s renovation. Originally, there was a 150-seat dining room on the ground level below the Chamber Music Hall. Above the dining room, but below the venue itself, were parlors, cloak rooms, and restrooms.

Above the Chamber Music Hall was a large chapter-room, a meeting room, a gymnasium, and twelve short-term "lodge rooms" in the roof. The 56th Street side of Carnegie Hall was designed with rooms for the choruses, soloists, and conductors, as well as offices and lodge rooms. On the roof of the 56th Street section were janitors' apartments. Three elevators, two on the 57th Street side and one on the 56th Street side, originally served the building. The addition at the corner of 56th Street and Seventh Avenue was arranged with offices, studios, and private music rooms.

The eighth floor of the main hall, which contained studios, was installed after the complex was completed. There were a total of 133{{Cite news |last=Phelps |first=Timothy M. |date=January 18, 1981 |title=Carnegie Hall and Tenants Wrangle Over Rent Rises|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/18/nyregion/carnegie-hall-and-tenants-wrangle-over-rent-rises.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}} or 150 studios, many of which doubled as living quarters.{{harvnb|Page|2011|p=19|ps=.}} Over the years, personalities such as Leonard Bernstein, Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and Norman Mailer lived in the studios.{{Cite news |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=January 11, 1978 |title=Notes of Protest Sound in Aria of Carnegie Hall |page=184|newspaper=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110355510/notes-of-protest-sound-in-aria-of/ |access-date=September 28, 2022}} The spaces were designed for artistic work, with very high ceilings, skylights and large windows for natural light. Documents showed that Andrew Carnegie had always considered the spaces as a source of income to support the hall and its activities. After 1999, the space was re-purposed for music education and corporate offices. In 2007, the Carnegie Hall Corporation announced plans to evict the 33 remaining studio residents, including celebrity portrait photographer Editta Sherman and fashion photographer Bill Cunningham.{{cite magazine|first=Wendy|last=Goodman|title=Great Rooms: Bohemia in Midtown|url=http://nymag.com/homedesign/greatrooms/42385/|magazine=New York|date=December 30, 2007|access-date=November 14, 2014|archive-date=January 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125204454/http://nymag.com/homedesign/greatrooms/42385/|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|first=Jessica|last=Pressler|title=Editta Sherman, 96-Year-Old Squatter|url=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/10/editta_sherman_96-year-old_squ.html|magazine=New York|date=October 20, 2008|access-date=November 14, 2014|archive-date=October 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014183126/http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/10/editta_sherman_96-year-old_squ.html|url-status=live}} The last resident, poet Elizabeth Sargent, moved out during 2010.{{Cite news |last=Slotnik |first=Daniel E. |date=April 22, 2017 |title=Elizabeth Sargent, 96, Poet and Last Tenant Above Carnegie Hall, Dies|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/21/nyregion/elizabeth-sargent-dead-last-resident-of-carnegie-hall.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}}

The building also contains the Carnegie Hall Archives, established in 1986, and the Rose Museum, which opened in 1991. The Rose Museum is east of the first balcony of the Stern Auditorium and has dark makore and light anigre paneling with brass edges, as well as columns with brass capitals, supporting a coffered ceiling. The Rose Museum space is separated from two adjacent rooms by sliding panels.{{cite magazine|last=Stephens|first=Suzanne|date=Mar 1992|title=Architectural Ethics|url=https://usmodernist.org/AJ/A-1992-03.pdf|journal=Architecture|page=75|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821000546/https://usmodernist.org/AJ/A-1992-03.pdf|url-status=live}}

The idea for what is now Carnegie Hall came from Leopold Damrosch, the conductor of Oratorio Society of New York and the New York Symphony Society.{{cite NY1880|page=691}}{{harvnb|Page|2011|pp=17–18|ps=.}} The Oratorio Society had been looking for a permanent performance venue ever since it was founded in 1873.{{harvnb|Tauranac|1985|ps=.|pages=144–145}} Though Leopold died in 1885,{{Cite news|date=February 16, 1885|title=Death of Dr. Damrosch.; Fatal Result of a Brief Illness|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1885/02/16/archives/death-of-dr-damrosch-fatal-result-of-a-brief-illness-end-of-a-busy.html|access-date=August 17, 2021|archive-date=August 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817224720/https://www.nytimes.com/1885/02/16/archives/death-of-dr-damrosch-fatal-result-of-a-brief-illness-end-of-a-busy.html|url-status=live}} his son Walter Johannes Damrosch pursued his father's vision for a new music hall. While studying music in Germany in 1887, the younger Damrosch was introduced to the businessman Andrew Carnegie, who served on the board of not only the Oratorio Society but also the New York Symphony.{{cite book|last=Shanor|first=Rebecca|title=The City That Never Was : Two Hundred Years of Fantastic and Fascinating Plans That Might Have Changed the Face of New York City|publisher=Viking|year=1988|isbn=978-0-670-80558-7|publication-place=New York|page=77|oclc=17510109}} Carnegie was originally uninterested in funding a music hall in Manhattan, but he agreed to give $2 million after discussions with Damrosch. According to architectural writer Robert A. M. Stern, the Music Hall was "unique in that it was free of commercial sponsorship and exclusively dedicated to musical performance". At the time, New York City's performance halls were mainly clustered around 14th Street, as well as around Union Square and Herald Square.{{harvnb|Tauranac|1985|ps=.|page=144}} The area around 57th Street was still mostly residential.{{harvnb|Page|2011|p=17|ps=.}}

File:Andrew Carnegie, three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing slightly left, 1913.jpg

In early March 1889, Morris Reno, director of the Oratorio and New York Symphony societies acquired nine lots on and around the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and 57th Street.{{Cite news|date=March 15, 1889|title=A New Music Hall; Carnegie Takes Hold of the Project and a Site Is Bought|page=4|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/03/15/106205420.pdf|access-date=August 17, 2021|archive-date=January 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130215818/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/03/15/106205420.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=March 15, 1889|title=To Build a Music Hall: Plans for a Magnificent Building|page=1|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573444377}}}} William Tuthill had been hired to design a "great music hall" on the site. The Music Hall, as it was called, would be a five-story brick and limestone building, containing a 3,000-seat main hall with and several smaller rooms for rehearsals, lectures, concerts, and art exhibitions.{{cite magazine|date=March 23, 1889|title=Out Among the Builders|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_003&page=ldpd_7031148_003_00000434|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=43|pages=392–393|via=columbia.edu|number=1097|access-date=August 17, 2021|archive-date=August 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817224723/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_003&page=ldpd_7031148_003_00000434|url-status=live}} The New York Times said "The location for the music hall is perhaps rather far uptown, but it is easily accessible from the 'living' part of the city." The Music Hall Company was incorporated on March 27, 1889, with Carnegie, Damrosch, Reno, Tuthill, and Stephen M. Kneval as trustees.{{Cite news|date=March 28, 1889|title=The New Music Hall Company|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1889/03/28/archives/the-new-music-hall-company.html|access-date=August 17, 2021|archive-date=August 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817224720/https://www.nytimes.com/1889/03/28/archives/the-new-music-hall-company.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=March 28, 1889|title=Incorporating a Music Hall Company|page=1|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573489130}}}} Originally, the Music Hall Company intended to limit its capital stock to $300,000, but this was increased before the end of 1889 to $600,000, of which Carnegie held five-sixths. The cost of the building was then projected to be $1.1 million, including the land.{{Cite news|date=December 15, 1889|title=Some Fine New Buildings; Grand Edifices Now Going Up in This City. The Carnegie Music Hall, Century, Republican, and Athletic Club Houses, and Lenox Lyceum|page=11|newspaper=The New York Times|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/12/15/100981377.pdf|access-date=August 17, 2021|archive-date=January 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131162044/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/12/15/100981377.pdf|url-status=live}}

By July 1889, Carnegie's company had acquired additional land, with frontage of {{Convert|175|ft}} on 57th Street. The architectural drawings were nearly completed and excavations for the music hall had been completed.{{Cite news|date=July 19, 1889|title=Carnegie Music Hall; the Work of Construction Is Expected to Begin Soon|page=8|newspaper=The New York Times|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/07/19/106356928.pdf|access-date=August 17, 2021|archive-date=January 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130215826/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/07/19/106356928.pdf|url-status=live}} The Henry Elias Brewery owned the corner of Seventh Avenue and 56th Street and originally would not sell the land, as its proprietor believed the site had a good water source. Plans for the Music Hall were filed in November 1889.{{cite news|date=November 21, 1889|title=Plans for a Big Building Filed: the Music Hall Company Getting Ready to Begin Work—expectations of the Stockholders|page=7|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573493968}}}} Carnegie's wife Louise laid the cornerstone for the Music Hall on May 13, 1890.{{Cite news|date=May 14, 1890|title=A New Home for Music|page=7|newspaper=The Sun|location=New York City|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23665310/carnegie-music-hall-5th-7th-1890/|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818152705/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23665310/carnegie-music-hall-5th-7th-1890/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=May 14, 1890|title=A Great Home of Music: Mrs. Carnegie Lays the Cornerstone of the Building Addresses by Morris Reno, E. Francis Hyde and Andrew Carnegie|page=7|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573539715}}}}{{cite magazine|year=1890|title=The New Music Hall|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yikxAQAAMAAJ|journal=Architecture and Building: A Journal of Investment and Construction|publisher=W. T. Comstock|volume=12|page=234|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818212042/https://books.google.com/books?id=yikxAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}} Andrew Carnegie said at the time that the venue was to not only be "a shrine of the goddess of music" but also a gathering hall. Isaac A. Hopper and Company was the contractor in charge of building the Music Hall.{{Cite news|date=January 1, 1893|title=Isaac A. Hopper's Record; Some Notable Achievements in His Line as a Builder|page=9|newspaper=The New York Times|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/01/01/106858697.pdf|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=June 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626153857/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/01/01/106858697.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|date=January 5, 1895|title=A Busy Life|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_015&page=ldpd_7031148_015_00000037&no=2|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=55|page=7|via=columbia.edu|number=1399|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818212044/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_015&page=ldpd_7031148_015_00000037&no=2|url-status=live}} The Real Estate Record and Guide praised the building's design as "harmonious, animated without restlessness, and quiet without dullness." In February 1891, Damrosch announced that he had created a subscription fund for a "permanent orchestra" that would perform mainly in the new Music Hall.{{Cite news|date=February 6, 1891|title=Damrosch's Liberal Backers|page=4|newspaper=The Evening World|location=New York City|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83698532/damroschs-liberal-backers/|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818221448/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83698532/damroschs-liberal-backers/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|date=February 6, 1891|title=Our Permanent Orchestra|page=1|newspaper=The Sun|location=New York City|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83698800/our-permanent-orchestra/|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818221453/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83698800/our-permanent-orchestra/|url-status=live}}

The Recital Hall opened in March 1891 for recitals of the New York Oratorio Society.{{Cite news|date=March 13, 1891|title=A New Concert Room|page=3|newspaper=The Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83699497/a-new-concert-room/|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818221452/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83699497/a-new-concert-room/|url-status=live}} It was around this time that tickets for the official opening of the Music Hall were being sold.{{cite news|date=March 22, 1891|title=To Open the New Music Hall: the Amended Programme—many Eminent Performers|page=24|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573653596}}}} The oratorio hall in the basement opened on April 1, 1891, with a performance by Franz Rummel.{{cite news|date=April 2, 1891|title=Amusements|page=4|newspaper=The New York Times|id={{ProQuest|94850411}}}} The Music Hall officially opened on May 5, 1891, with a rendition of the Old 100th hymn, a speech by Episcopal bishop Henry C. Potter, and a concert conducted by Walter Damrosch and Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.{{Cite news|date=May 6, 1891|title=The Music Hall Opened|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83701940/music-hall-opened/ 7]|newspaper=New-York Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83701889/the-music-hall-opened/|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818221447/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83701889/the-music-hall-opened/|url-status=live}} During the performance, Tuthill looked at the crowds on the auditorium's top tiers and reportedly left the hall to consult his drawings. He was uncertain that the supporting columns would withstand the weight of the crowd in attendance, but the dimensions turned out to be sufficient to support the weight of the crowd.{{Cite news|last=Schonberg|first=Harold C.|author-link=Harold C. Schonberg|date=June 29, 1980|title=Carnegie Hall, at 90, Is Thinking Young; Music View Carnegie Hall, Approaching 90, Is Thinking Young|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/29/archives/carnegie-hall-at-90-is-thinking-young-music-view-carnegie-hall.html|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818224625/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/29/archives/carnegie-hall-at-90-is-thinking-young-music-view-carnegie-hall.html|url-status=live}} Tchaikovsky considered the auditorium "unusually impressive and grand" when "illuminated and filled with an audience".{{cite book|last=Yoffe|first=Elkhonon|title=Tchaikovsky in America : the composer's visit in 1891|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0-19-504117-0|publication-place=New York|pages=83–84|oclc=13498952}} The New York Herald praised the auditorium's acoustical qualities, saying "each note was heard".{{Cite news|date=May 6, 1891|title=Music Crowd in Its New Home|page=7|newspaper=New York Herald}} The Music Hall had cost $1.25 million to construct{{Cite news |last=Schonberg |first=Harold C.|author-link=Harold C. Schonberg|date=May 5, 1991 |title=Extra! Read All About It – Carnegie's $1.25 Million Hall|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/05/arts/classical-music-extra-read-all-about-it-carnegie-s-1.25-million-hall.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}} and was the second major performance hall in New York City, after the Metropolitan Opera House.{{Cite news |date=May 6, 1891 |title=Carnegie Music Hall Dedicated |page=1 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110350207/carnegie-music-hall-dedicated/ |access-date=September 28, 2022}}

File:Carnegie Hall in 1895.jpg

Almost from the outset, scalpers resold tickets to the Music Hall's shows at greatly inflated prices, and ushers began selling off tickets to unoccupied seats at the start of each concert. For an inflated fee, the ushers allowed latecomers to sit down during the middle of a show, to the consternation of existing ticket holders. In May 1892, the stockholders of the Music Hall Company of New York discussed expanding the Music Hall into the site of a brewery at Seventh Avenue and 56th Street, which they had purchased about three months previously. The Music Hall Company also discussed enlarging the main auditorium's stage so it could accommodate operas.{{cite news|date=May 12, 1892|title=Changes at the Music Hall: Plans Which May Change the Place Into an Opera House|page=7|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573781812}}}}

By September 1892, the Music Hall's stockholders planned to enlarge the hall to accommodate operatic performances, following a fire that severely damaged the Metropolitan Opera House.{{Cite news|date=September 5, 1892|title=A Home for Grand Opera; Plans for Transforming Music Hall Into an Opera House|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1892/09/05/archives/a-home-for-grand-opera-plans-for-transforming-music-hall-into-an.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820013952/https://www.nytimes.com/1892/09/05/archives/a-home-for-grand-opera-plans-for-transforming-music-hall-into-an.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |date=September 6, 1892 |title=Grand Opera Need Not Be Given Up |page=7|newspaper=The Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110352614/grand-opera-need-not-be-given-up/ |access-date=September 28, 2022}} At the time, Morris Reno said the stage could not be modified until at least early 1893.{{Cite news|date=September 19, 1892|title=No Grand Opera This Season.; the Carnegie Music Hall Stage Cannot Be Rebuilt for It|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1892/09/19/archives/no-grand-opera-this-season-the-carnegie-music-hall-stage-cannot-be.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820013953/https://www.nytimes.com/1892/09/19/archives/no-grand-opera-this-season-the-carnegie-music-hall-stage-cannot-be.html|url-status=live}} The Music Hall Company filed plans for alterations in December 1892. The plans called a tower of about {{Convert|240|ft}} at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 56th Street. In addition, the original building's mansard roof would become a flat roof, and the seventh story would be converted into a full story. The Philharmonic Society moved into the Music Hall in November 1892, drawing further crowds. The studios atop the building were constructed shortly afterward, from 1894 to 1896.

The American Academy of Dramatic Arts moved into the basement recital hall in 1896, leasing the basement recital hall for the next fifty-four years. Also during the mid-1890s, the Music Hall was renamed Carnegie Hall for its main benefactor. According to Carnegie Hall archivist Gino Francesconi, the renaming occurred "so that it shouldn't be confused by European artists with a vulgar music hall".{{Cite news|last=Shepard|first=Richard F.|date=May 12, 1988|title=Carnegie Hall Marks a Milestone for a Cornerstone|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/12/arts/carnegie-hall-marks-a-milestone-for-a-cornerstone.html|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818224625/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/12/arts/carnegie-hall-marks-a-milestone-for-a-cornerstone.html|url-status=live}} During the early 20th century, Carnegie Hall accommodated many recitals and concerts because of its acoustic qualities.{{harvnb|Page|2011|pp=19–20|ps=.}}

File:Carnegiehall 1910.jpg

Carnegie Hall officials renovated the building in 1920, replacing its porte-cochère, overhauling the Philharmonic Society's office, and removing staircases for about $70,000.{{Cite news |date=July 4, 1920 |title=Change in Carnegie Hall; Substantial Steps to Provide New York's Temple of Music with a New Stoop Line|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/07/04/archives/change-in-carnegie-hall-substantial-steps-to-providle-new-yorks.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}} By late 1924, the Carnegie Foundation was considering selling the hall to a private developer because of increasing financial deficits, which amounted to $15,000 a year.{{Cite news |date=January 31, 1925 |title=Musical Centre is Likely to Shift; Approaching Sale of Carnegie Hall Will Compel Building in Another District|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/01/31/archives/musical-centre-is-likely-to-shift-approaching-sale-of-carnegie-hall.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}} At the time, the site was valued at $2.5 million,{{cite news |date=September 12, 1924 |title=Carnegie Hall To Be Razed for Office Building: Famous Structure Will Be Put on Market Soon as Result of Its Deficits; Price Around $2,500,000 |page=1|newspaper=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1113115352}}}} and another performance venue in midtown, Aeolian Hall, had been sold for redevelopment. In February 1925, Carnegie's widow sold the hall to a real estate developer, Robert E. Simon.{{Cite news|date=February 1, 1925|title=New Leader Rises in City Real Estate; Carnegie Hall Deal Discloses Robert E. Simon as a Manipulator of Millions|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/02/01/archives/new-leader-rises-in-city-real-estate-carnegie-hall-deal-discloses.html|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=August 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814231114/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/02/01/archives/new-leader-rises-in-city-real-estate-carnegie-hall-deal-discloses.html|url-status=live}} The sale agreement included a clause requiring that either Carnegie Hall would continue to operate as a performance venue for at least the next five years, or another performance venue would be erected on the site.{{cite news|date=January 30, 1925|title=Carnegie Hall Sold, but Wins 5 Years' Grace: R. E. Simon Buys Historic Music Center, Agreeing to Time Clause Unless New Auditorium Is Built Sooner|page=11|newspaper=The New York Herald, New York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|1112791299}}}}{{Cite news|date=January 30, 1925|title=Carnegie Hall Is About to Be Sold, but Won't Close Yet; Clause in Sale Contract Safeguards Concerts There for the Next Five Years|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/01/30/archives/carnegie-hall-is-about-to-be-sold-but-wont-close-yet-clause-in-sale.html|access-date=August 24, 2021|archive-date=August 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824143937/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/01/30/archives/carnegie-hall-is-about-to-be-sold-but-wont-close-yet-clause-in-sale.html|url-status=live}} Simon said the hall would continue to operate for as long as it was profitable,{{Cite news |date=February 6, 1925 |title=Carnegie Hall Sale is Now Complete; But R.E. Simon Says Buildings Will Stand Indefinitely if Income Warrants|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/02/06/archives/carnegie-hall-sale-is-now-complete-but-re-simon-says-buildings-will.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}} and he wished to restore the basement recital hall as well.{{cite news |date=February 6, 1925 |title=Carnegie Hall Has Passed from Iron Master's Estate |page=26|newspaper=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1113011924}}}}

Under Simon's ownership, a new organ was installed in Carnegie Hall{{cite news|date=June 2, 1929|title=A New Organ To Be Installed In Carnegie Hall: Preliminary Work for Placing the Instrument Will Be Started Tomorrow|page=F9|newspaper=New York Herald Tribune|id={{ProQuest|1111977225}}}} and dedicated in December 1929.{{Cite news|date=December 28, 1929|title=Oratorio Society Gives Messiah; Stoessel Leads Chorus of 250 Voices Augmented by New Organ of Carnegie Hall|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/12/28/archives/oratorio-society-gives-messiah-stoessel-leads-chorus-of-250-voices.html|access-date=August 24, 2021|archive-date=August 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824143940/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/12/28/archives/oratorio-society-gives-messiah-stoessel-leads-chorus-of-250-voices.html|url-status=live}} Robert Simon died in 1935.{{cite news|date=September 8, 1935|title=Robert E. Simon Dies at 58; Kin of Morgenthau|page=23|newspaper=New York Herald Tribune|id={{ProQuest|1317982631}}}} Murray Weisman succeeded Simon as president of Carnegie Hall's board of directors, while the late owner's son Robert E. Simon Jr. became the vice president.{{Cite news|date=September 29, 1935|title=Weisman Is Head of Carnegie Hall; Elected President to Succeed Late Robert E. Simon, Whose Son Is Made an Officer|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/09/29/archives/weisman-is-head-of-carnegie-hall-elected-president-to-succeed-late.html|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=May 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530193208/https://www.nytimes.com/1935/09/29/archives/weisman-is-head-of-carnegie-hall-elected-president-to-succeed-late.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=September 29, 1935|title=M. Murray Weisman Carnegie Hall President: Managing Director Succeeds Late Robert E. Simon|page=24|newspaper=New York Herald Tribune|id={{ProQuest|1237352810}}}} A bust of the senior Simon was installed in the lobby in 1936.{{cite news|date=May 6, 1936|title=Robert E. Simon Bust Unveiled In Carnegie Hall|page=16|newspaper=New York Herald Tribune|id={{ProQuest|1237393750}}}}{{Cite news|date=May 6, 1936|title=R. E. Simon Lauded at Bust Unveiling; Tributes Paid to His Idealism in Preserving Carnegie Hall for Community Use|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/06/archives/re-simon-lauded-at-bust-unveiling-tributes-paid-to-his-idealism-in.html|access-date=August 24, 2021|archive-date=August 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824143937/https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/06/archives/re-simon-lauded-at-bust-unveiling-tributes-paid-to-his-idealism-in.html|url-status=live}}

The main hall was modified around 1946 during filming for the movie Carnegie Hall. A hole was made in the stage's ceiling to allow the installation of ventilation and lights for the film. Canvas panels and curtains were placed over the hole, but the acoustics in the front rows became noticeably different.{{cite magazine|last=Walsh|first=Michael|date=February 16, 1987|title=Sounds in the night|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963548-1,00.html|url-status=dead|magazine=Time|volume=129|issue=7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930122117/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963548-1,00.html|archive-date=September 30, 2007}} In 1947, Robert E. Simon Jr. renovated the hall to designs by Kahn and Jacobs.{{cite web|last1=Stratigakos|first1=Despina|title=Elsa Mandelstamm Gidoni|url=https://pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/elsa-mandelstamm-gidoni|access-date=September 25, 2020|website=Pioneering Women of American Architecture|publisher=Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation|archive-date=August 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830104728/https://pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/elsa-mandelstamm-gidoni/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Carnegie Hall History Timeline|url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/History/Timeline|website=CarnegieHall.org|publisher=The Carnegie Hall Corporation|access-date=September 25, 2020|archive-date=October 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004234550/https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/History/Timeline|url-status=live}}

By the 1950s, changes in the music business prompted Simon to sell the hall. In April 1955, Simon negotiated with the New York Philharmonic, which booked a majority of the hall's concerts each year.{{Cite news|last=Taubman|first=Howard|author-link=Howard Taubman|date=April 28, 1955|title=Orchestra to Bid on Carnegie Hall; Philharmonic May Lose Old Home Unless It Buys|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/04/28/archives/orchestra-to-bid-on-carnegie-hall-philharmonic-may-lose-old-home.html|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=May 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530193337/https://www.nytimes.com/1955/04/28/archives/orchestra-to-bid-on-carnegie-hall-philharmonic-may-lose-old-home.html|url-status=live}} The orchestra intended to move to Lincoln Center once it had been built (at the time, plans to build it were still at an early stage).{{cite NY1960|pages=1112–1113}} Simon notified the Philharmonic that he would terminate the lease by 1959 if it did not purchase Carnegie Hall.{{Cite news|date=September 18, 1955|title=World of Music: Philharmonic Problem; Termination of the Carnegie Lease May Force Orchestra to Vacate in 1959|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/09/18/archives/world-of-music-philharmonic-problem-termination-of-the-carnegie.html|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=June 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626153841/https://www.nytimes.com/1955/09/18/archives/world-of-music-philharmonic-problem-termination-of-the-carnegie.html|url-status=live}} In mid-1955, longtime employee John Totten organized a fundraising drive to prevent the demolition of Carnegie Hall.{{Cite news|date=June 2, 1955|title=Drive Set to Bar Sale of Carnegie; Hall's Superintendent Seeks Aid of Public to Prevent Destruction of Building|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/06/02/archives/drive-set-to-bar-sale-of-carnegie-halls-superintendent-seeks-aid-of.html|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819182524/https://www.nytimes.com/1955/06/02/archives/drive-set-to-bar-sale-of-carnegie-halls-superintendent-seeks-aid-of.html|url-status=live}} Meanwhile, the Academy of Dramatic Arts had moved out of the basement recital hall in 1954. The Academy's former space was rented for the time being to other tenants.

Simon sold the entire stock of Carnegie Hall, Inc., the venue's legal owner, to a commercial developer, the Glickman Corporation, in July 1956 for $5 million.{{Cite news|last=Fowler|first=Glenn|date=July 25, 1956|title=Music Landmark Brings 5 Million; Buyer of Carnegie Hall Offers to Resell to Orchestra but May Tear It Down Society Hopes to Move|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/07/25/archives/music-landmark-brings-5-million-buyer-of-carnegie-hall-offers-to.html|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=June 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626153841/https://www.nytimes.com/1956/07/25/archives/music-landmark-brings-5-million-buyer-of-carnegie-hall-offers-to.html|url-status=live}} With the Philharmonic ready to move to Lincoln Center, the building was slated to be replaced by a 44-story skyscraper designed by Pomerance and Breines. The replacement tower would have had a red facade and would have been constructed on stilts, with art exhibits and other cultural facilities at the base.{{cite magazine|title=A red tower replacing Carnegie Hall|magazine=Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UT8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA91|date=September 9, 1957|page=91|access-date=September 23, 2019|archive-date=July 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727174348/https://books.google.com/books?id=UT8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA91|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Callahan|first=John P.|date=August 8, 1957|title=Red Tower Is Set for Carnegie Site; a Forty-four-story Office Building Is to Be Built Where Carnegie Hall Now Stands|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/08/08/archives/red-tower-is-set-for-carnegie-site-a-fortyfourstory-office-building.html|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=March 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331164000/https://www.nytimes.com/1957/08/08/archives/red-tower-is-set-for-carnegie-site-a-fortyfourstory-office-building.html|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|date=September 1957|title=Red-and-gold Checks|url=https://usmodernist.org/AF/AF-1957-09.pdf|journal=Architectural Forum|volume=107|page=43|access-date=December 17, 2020|archive-date=February 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227120503/https://usmodernist.org/AF/AF-1957-09.pdf|url-status=live}} However, Glickman was unable to come up with the $22 million that the construction budget for the skyscraper called for. This, combined with delays in Lincoln Center's construction, prompted Glickman to decline an option to buy the building itself in July 1958.{{Cite news|last=Schonberg|first=Harold C.|author-link=Harold C. Schonberg|date=July 4, 1958|title=Longer Life Won by Carnegie Hall; Glickman Drops Plan to Buy Building as the Site for Big Red Skyscraper Property Off Market Decision Is Due on Whether Philharmonic Will Stay Till New Home Is Ready|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/07/04/archives/longer-life-won-by-carnegie-hall-glickman-drops-plan-to-buy.html|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=June 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626153842/https://www.nytimes.com/1958/07/04/archives/longer-life-won-by-carnegie-hall-glickman-drops-plan-to-buy.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=July 21, 1958|title=Plan to Raze Old Carnegie Hall Is Off: Realtor Drops Option on Landmark in New York|page=3|newspaper=The Sun|id={{ProQuest|540427905}}}}

Meanwhile, soon after the sale, Simon started planning how to preserve the hall, and approached some of its resident artists-in-residence for help. Violinist Isaac Stern enlisted his friends Jacob M. and Alice Kaplan, as well as J. M. Kaplan Fund administrator Raymond S. Rubinow, for assistance in saving the hall. In 1959, two hundred residents of Carnegie Hall's studios were asked if they wanted to buy the building.{{cite news|last=Molleson|first=John|date=June 17, 1959|title=Bids Residents Buy Carnegie Hall: Studio Tenant Urges 200 to Gel Together to Avert Demolition|page=12|newspaper=New York Herald Tribune|id={{ProQuest|1323977017}}}} Stern, the Kaplans, and Rubinow ultimately decided that the best move would be for the city government to become involved. The move gained support from mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr., who created a taskforce to save Carnegie Hall in early 1960,{{Cite news|date=March 31, 1960|title=New Unit Formed to Save Carnegie; Society Would Lease Hall if City Can Acquire It|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/03/31/archives/new-unit-formed-to-save-carnegie-society-would-lease-hall-if-city.html|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=August 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814231126/https://www.nytimes.com/1960/03/31/archives/new-unit-formed-to-save-carnegie-society-would-lease-hall-if-city.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Molleson|first=John|date=March 31, 1960|title=Mayor Aids Plan to Save Carnegie Hall: Pledges 'Fast Work' To Back Committee|page=19|newspaper=New York Herald Tribune|id={{ProQuest|1325120353}}}} but Simon and his co-owners still filed eviction notices against some studio tenants.{{Cite news|last=Talese|first=Gay|author-link=Gay Talese|date=April 30, 1960|title=Evictions Fought at Carnegie Hall; Landlord Presses Cases Despite City Plan to Save Famous Music House|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/04/30/archives/evictions-fought-at-carnegie-hall-landlord-presses-cases-despite.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820145555/https://www.nytimes.com/1960/04/30/archives/evictions-fought-at-carnegie-hall-landlord-presses-cases-despite.html|url-status=live}} The same year, special legislation was passed allowing the city government to buy the site from Simon for $5 million, and Simon used the money to establish Reston, Virginia.{{Cite news|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|date=September 21, 2015|title=Robert E. Simon Jr., Who Created a Town, Reston, Va., Dies at 101|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/realestate/communities/robert-e-simon-jr-founder-of-reston-va-dies-at-101.html|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=May 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524030217/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/realestate/communities/robert-e-simon-jr-founder-of-reston-va-dies-at-101.html|url-status=live}}

The city leased the hall to the Carnegie Hall Corporation, a nonprofit organization formed to run the venue. For 15 years, the Carnegie Hall Corporation paid the New York City government $183,600 in cash. Afterward, the corporation started paying the city through benefit concerts and outreach programs. Carnegie Hall was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962.{{cite web|last=Greenwood|first=Richard|date=May 30, 1975|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory: Carnegie Hall|url={{NHLS url|id=66000535}}|access-date=November 14, 2014|publisher=National Park Service}}{{cite web|date=May 30, 1975|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory: Carnegie Hall—Accompanying Photos|url={{NHLS url|id=66000535|photos=y}}|access-date=November 14, 2014|publisher=National Park Service}} The landmark status was certified in 1964, and a National Historic Landmark plaque was placed on the building.{{Cite news|date=November 7, 1964|title=Carnegie Hall Designated as a 'National Landmark'|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/11/07/archives/carnegie-hall-designated-as-a-national-landmark.html|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819014455/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/11/07/archives/carnegie-hall-designated-as-a-national-landmark.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|date=November 7, 1964|title=Carnegie Hall Made National Landmark|page=9|newspaper=Democrat and Chronicle|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83713903/carnegie-hall-made-national-landmark/|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819012954/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83713903/carnegie-hall-made-national-landmark/|url-status=live}} The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission also designated Carnegie Hall as a city landmark in September 1967.{{Cite news|last=Callahan|first=John P.|date=August 7, 1967|title=Old Water Tower Now a Landmark; City Commission Designates Pillar on Harlem River and 10 Other Structures|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/07/archives/old-water-tower-now-a-landmark-city-commission-designates-pillar-on.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820144213/https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/07/archives/old-water-tower-now-a-landmark-city-commission-designates-pillar-on.html|url-status=live}}

A minor renovation of Carnegie Hall's interior, as well as a steam-cleaning of the facade, took place in mid-1960.{{Cite news |last=Hughes |first=Allen|author-link=Allen Hughes|date=July 22, 1960 |title=Carnegie Hall Getting New Paint and Upholstery for Fall Season|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/07/22/archives/carnegie-hall-getting-new-paint-and-upholstery-for-fall-season.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819182659/https://www.nytimes.com/1960/07/22/archives/carnegie-hall-getting-new-paint-and-upholstery-for-fall-season.html |archive-date=August 19, 2021}} The basement recital hall became a movie theater called the Carnegie Playhouse. A screen was installed at the front of the former stage, while the balconies and side galleries were sealed. The Carnegie Hall Cinema opened in May 1961 with a showing of the film White Nights by Luchino Visconti.{{cite news |date=May 29, 1961 |title=Film Notes |page=4|newspaper=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1326941243}}}}{{Cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley|author-link=Bosley Crowther|date=May 29, 1961 |title=Italian Film Opens New Carnegie Hall Cinema|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/05/29/archives/italian-film-opens-new-carnegie-hall-cinema.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819182526/https://www.nytimes.com/1961/05/29/archives/italian-film-opens-new-carnegie-hall-cinema.html |archive-date=August 19, 2021}} Carnegie Hall received a concert organ from the Netherlands in 1965, although the stage had to be renovated before the organ could be installed.{{Cite news |last=Strongin |first=Theodore|author-link=Theodore Strongin|date=June 30, 1965 |title=A $125,000 Organ Given to Carnegie; Installation Requires Major Alterations to Stage|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/06/30/archives/a-125000-organ-given-to-carnegie-installation-requires-major.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}} The installation of the organ was delayed several times, as opponents feared that the changes would damage the hall's acoustics.{{Cite news |last=Henahan |first=Donal|author-link=Donal Henahan|date=March 20, 1969 |title=At Carnegie Hall: 'No Serious Problems'|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/03/20/archives/at-carnegie-hall-no-serious-problems.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}} Meanwhile, Carnegie Hall was profitable by the late 1960s, having consistently hosted about 350 shows a year during that decade.

Carnegie Hall became a more popular destination in the 1960s and 1970s, in part because of complaints over acoustics in the new Philharmonic Hall.{{harvnb|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|ps=.|p=731}} The deficiencies with Carnegie Hall's facilities became more prominent after the latter's renovation. Carnegie Hall began to deteriorate due to neglect, and the corporation faced fiscal deficits. By the mid-1970s, the venue suffered from burst pipes and falling sections of the ceiling, and there were large holes in the balconies that patrons could put their feet through. At the same time, operating costs had increased from $3.5 million in 1977 to $10.3 million in 1984, and the deficits had also risen accordingly.{{cite news|last=Cox|first=Meg|date=May 17, 1985|title=Fabled Carnegie Hall, Often Close to Death, Will Receive Surgery: But the Challenge to Restorers Of New York Auditorium Is to Avoid Harming It Fabled Carnegie Hall in New York Will Soon Receive Major Surgery|page=1|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|id={{ProQuest|135117567}}}} Carnegie Hall's equipment included a rundown air-conditioning system that did not work in the summer.{{harvnb|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|ps=.|pp=731–732}}

In 1977, the Carnegie Hall Corporation decided to stop allowing new residents for its upper-story studios; existing residents were allowed to continue living there.{{Cite news |last=Schumach |first=Murray |date=November 14, 1977 |title=Carnegie Hall to End Its Live-In Studios for Artists|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/14/archives/carnegie-hall-to-end-its-livein-studios-for-artists-carnegie-hall.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820144537/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/14/archives/carnegie-hall-to-end-its-livein-studios-for-artists-carnegie-hall.html |archive-date=August 20, 2021}} The studios were instead offered mainly to commercial tenants, who could afford to pay higher rents.{{Cite news |last=Herman |first=Robin |date=February 26, 1979 |title=City Studies Artists' Protests Over Rents at Carnegie Hall|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/26/archives/city-studies-artists-protests-over-rents-at-carnegie-hall-250000.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}} This prompted protests from the existing tenants. In 1979, the board of Carnegie Hall Corporation hired James Stewart Polshek and his firm, Polshek Partnership, to create a master plan for Carnegie Hall's renovation and expansion. Polshek found that Carnegie Hall's electrical systems, exits, fire alarms, and other systems were not up to modern building codes. The next year, the Carnegie Hall Corporation and the New York City government signed a memorandum of understanding, which would permit the development of the adjacent site to the east, a parking lot.{{Cite news|last=Shipp|first=E. R.|author-link=E. R. Shipp|date=October 21, 1980|title=Carnegie Hall and City Negotiating on Renovation and Air-Rights Use|page=B3|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/10/21/archives/carnegie-hall-and-city-negotiating-on-renovation-and-airrights-use.html|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819000418/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/10/21/archives/carnegie-hall-and-city-negotiating-on-renovation-and-airrights-use.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Smith|first=Randy|date=October 21, 1980|title=Mull sale of air rights over Carnegie Hall|page=65|newspaper=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83767827/mull-sale-of-air-rights-over-carnegie/|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819224128/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83767827/mull-sale-of-air-rights-over-carnegie/|url-status=live}} In 1981, the federal government gave Carnegie Hall $1.8 million for the renovation; the city and Astor Foundation had previously given $450,000.{{Cite news|date=January 21, 1981|title=U.S. Gives $1.8 Million For Carnegie Renovation|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/21/arts/us-gives-1.8-million-for-carnegie-renovation.html|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821151423/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/21/arts/us-gives-1.8-million-for-carnegie-renovation.html|url-status=live}}

The first renovations started in February 1982 with the restoration and reconstruction of the recital hall and studio entrance.{{Cite news|last=Rockwell|first=John|author-link=John Rockwell|date=February 21, 1982|title=Carnegie Hall Begins $20 Million Renovation|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/21/arts/carnegie-hall-begins-20-million-renovation.html|access-date=December 18, 2020|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819002354/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/21/arts/carnegie-hall-begins-20-million-renovation.html|url-status=live}} The lobby was lowered to street level, the box office was relocated behind the main auditorium, and two archways were added to the 57th Street facade.{{cite news|last=Goldberger|first=Paul|date=March 7, 1982|title=A Superb Scheme for the Renovation of Carnegie Hall|page=D27|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/07/arts/architecture-view-superb-scheme-for-renovation-carnagie-hall-paul-goldberg.html|access-date=August 21, 2021|id={{ProQuest|121888912}}|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821151430/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/07/arts/architecture-view-superb-scheme-for-renovation-carnagie-hall-paul-goldberg.html|url-status=live}} A new lobby and dedicated elevator for the recital hall was also created.{{Cite news|date=July 4, 1982|first=Peter|last=Goodman|title=A building boom for the arts|page=117|newspaper=Newsday|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83763694/a-building-boom-for-the-arts/|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819213805/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83763694/a-building-boom-for-the-arts/|url-status=live}} The Carnegie Hall Corporation was also looking to develop a vacant lot immediately east of Carnegie Hall. The renovation was complicated by the fact that some parts of the original plans had been lost. A controversy also emerged when the Carnegie Hall Corporation started evicting longtime tenants of the upper-story studios, particularly those who refused to pay steeply increased rents.{{Cite news|last=Phelps|first=Timothy M.|date=January 18, 1981|title=Carnegie Hall and Tenants Wrangle Over Rent Rises|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/18/nyregion/carnegie-hall-and-tenants-wrangle-over-rent-rises.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820144536/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/18/nyregion/carnegie-hall-and-tenants-wrangle-over-rent-rises.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=King|first=Martin|date=April 2, 1982|title=Tenants: Carnegie Hall is giving us the hook|page=94|newspaper=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83713538/tenants-carnegie-hall-is-giving-us-the/|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819012947/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83713538/tenants-carnegie-hall-is-giving-us-the/|url-status=live}} The first phase of the renovation was completed in September 1983 for $20 million. A second phase included upgrades to mechanical systems, such as air-conditioning and elevators.{{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Joan |date=July 28, 1986 |title=Carnegie crescendoing |page=93|newspaper=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110354481/carnegie-crescendoingjoan-shepard/ |access-date=September 28, 2022}}{{Cite news |last=Goodman |first=Peter |date=December 16, 1985 |title=Carnegie gets $3.7 Million gifts |page=123|newspaper=Newsday|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110355099/carnegie-gets-37-million-giftspeter/ |access-date=September 28, 2022}}

File:Carnegie Hall Tower.JPG next to Carnegie Hall]]

As part of the third phase of renovations, a recording studio called the Alice and Jacob M. Kaplan Space was built within the old chapter room on the fifth floor, directly above the main hall. The Kaplan Space opened in March 1985.{{Cite news |date=April 4, 1985 |title=Carnegie Hall Opens Studio for Rehearsal and Recording|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/04/arts/carnegie-hall-opens-studio-for-rehearsal-and-recording.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}} The corporation announced in May 1985 that the main hall and recital hall would be closed for several months. The corporation also started a fundraising drive to raise the $50 million needed to fund the renovation; more than half of the funding had already been raised at the time. A new structure designed by César Pelli, later to become the Carnegie Hall Tower, was planned for the lot immediately east of Carnegie Hall.{{Cite news|last=Rockwell|first=John|author-link=John Rockwell|date=May 17, 1985|title=Carnegie Hall to Close for 7 Months Next Year|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/17/arts/carnegie-hall-to-close-for-7-months-next-year.html|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819000419/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/17/arts/carnegie-hall-to-close-for-7-months-next-year.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|date=May 20, 1985|title=Carnegie Hall renovations|page=118|newspaper=Newsday|first=Peter|last=Goodman|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83806992/carnegie-hall-renovations/|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820173056/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83806992/carnegie-hall-renovations/|url-status=live}} Further upgrades, which required the main and recital halls' closure, included upgrades to both halls, the lobby, the facade, backstage areas, and offices. The lobby was lowered to street level and doubled in size.{{Cite news|last=Rockwell|first=John|author-link=John Rockwell|date=April 16, 1986|title=Carnegie Hall's Plans|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/16/arts/carnegie-hall-s-plans.html|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819000421/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/16/arts/carnegie-hall-s-plans.html|url-status=live}}

The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the proposed renovation in July 1985.{{Cite news|date=July 25, 1985|title=Landmarks Panel Backs Carnegie Hall Project|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/25/arts/landmarks-panel-backs-carnegie-hall-project.html|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821151423/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/25/arts/landmarks-panel-backs-carnegie-hall-project.html|url-status=live}} Renovation work began afterward. The project was complicated by the need to schedule construction around performances, the lack of a freight elevator, and the requirement that materials be replaced with close or exact replacements.{{Cite news|last=Purdum|first=Todd S.|date=January 5, 1986|title=Art Slows Carnegie's Rebuilding|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/05/nyregion/art-slows-carnegie-s-rebuilding.html|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821151421/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/05/nyregion/art-slows-carnegie-s-rebuilding.html|url-status=live}} In April 1986, Carnegie officials announced their intent to sublease the vacant lot to Rockrose Development for the construction of Carnegie Hall Tower.{{Cite news|last=Goldberger|first=Paul|date=April 30, 1986|title=Carnegie Hall Details Plans for Office Tower|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/30/arts/carnegie-hall-details-plans-for-office-tower.html|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=May 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524194608/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/30/arts/carnegie-hall-details-plans-for-office-tower.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Flynn|first=Kevin|date=April 30, 1986|title=Carnegie Plans For Office Tower|page=21|newspaper=Newsday|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83772420/carnegie-plans-for-office-tower/|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820000649/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83772420/carnegie-plans-for-office-tower/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Shepard|first=Joan|date=April 30, 1986|title=Deal will make Carnegie tall|page=103|newspaper=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83772217/deal-will-make-carnegie-tall/|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820000649/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83772217/deal-will-make-carnegie-tall/|url-status=live}} The following month, the hall closed completely for a seven-month renovation.{{Cite news|last=Larkin|first=Kathy|date=May 15, 1986|title=They shutter to think of the future for hall|page=157|newspaper=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83807252/they-shutter-to-think-of-the-future-for/|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820173057/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83807252/they-shutter-to-think-of-the-future-for/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Goodman|first=Peter|date=May 8, 1986|title=Restoring Carnegie Hall to Its Glory|page=199|newspaper=Newsday|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83807475/restoring-carnegie-hall-to-its-glory/|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820173057/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83807475/restoring-carnegie-hall-to-its-glory/|url-status=live}} The hall's plaster decorations were restored, although the carpeting and seats were replaced. That November, Carnegie Hall announced it would rename the recital hall after Joan and Sanford I. Weill, who not only were major donors to the renovation but also enlisted other donors to fund the project. The Weill family had donated $2.5 million, more than any other donor in the hall's history.

The main hall (including the Stern Auditorium) was reopened on December 15, 1986, with a gala featuring Zubin Mehta, Frank Sinatra, Vladimir Horowitz, and the New York Philharmonic.{{Cite news|last=Rockwell|first=John|author-link=John Rockwell|date=December 16, 1986|title=Rejuvenated Carnegie Is Again Premier Hall|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/16/arts/rejuvenated-carnegie-is-again-premier-hall.html|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819012948/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/16/arts/rejuvenated-carnegie-is-again-premier-hall.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Whitaker|first=Barbara|date=December 16, 1986|title=Reborn Splendor on 57th Street|page=4|newspaper=Newsday|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83713663/reborn-splendor-on-57th-street/|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819012953/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83713663/reborn-splendor-on-57th-street/|url-status=live}} The Kaplan Rehearsal Space was also created in 1986,{{cite web|title=History of the Hall: Timeline – 1986 Full interior renovation completed|url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/History/Timeline/Timeline.aspx?id=4294968843|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095338/http://www.carnegiehall.org/History/Timeline/Timeline.aspx?id=4294968843|archive-date=March 4, 2016|access-date=November 14, 2014|publisher=Carnegie Hall}} and the Weill Recital Hall opened in January 1987.{{Cite news|date=January 3, 1987|title=Weill Recital Hall to Open With Festival|page=45|newspaper=Newsday|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83833266/weill-recital-hall-to-open-with-festival/|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821000546/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83833266/weill-recital-hall-to-open-with-festival/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Rockwell|first=John|author-link=John Rockwell|date=January 6, 1987|title=Weill Recital Hall Opens at Carnegie|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/06/arts/weill-recital-hall-opens-at-carnegie.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818152704/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/06/arts/weill-recital-hall-opens-at-carnegie.html|url-status=live}} A month after the main hall reopened, New York Times music critic Bernard Holland criticized its acoustics, saying: "The acoustics of this magnificent space are not the same."{{harvnb|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|ps=.|p=732}}{{Cite news|last=Holland|first=Bernard|author-link=Bernard Holland|date=January 29, 1987|title=Critic's Notebook; Setting the Right Tone for 'new' Carnegie Hall|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/29/arts/critic-s-notebook-setting-the-right-tone-for-new-carnegie-hall.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820173056/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/29/arts/critic-s-notebook-setting-the-right-tone-for-new-carnegie-hall.html|url-status=live}} The Weill Recital Hall also received complaints about its acoustics, prompting Carnegie Hall officials to test out noise-absorbing panels in that space.{{Cite news |last=Holland |first=Bernard|author-link=Bernard Holland|date=April 16, 1987 |title=New Season for Carnegie and New Sound for Weill|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/16/arts/new-season-for-carnegie-and-new-sound-for-weill.html |access-date=September 28, 2022 }} Several noise-absorbing panels were installed in the main hall in 1988,{{Cite news|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|author-link=Allan Kozinn|date=September 22, 1988|title=Critic's Notebook; Seeking a Consensus on Carnegie|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/22/arts/critic-s-notebook-seeking-a-consensus-on-carnegie.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820173058/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/22/arts/critic-s-notebook-seeking-a-consensus-on-carnegie.html|url-status=live}} but complaints continued for several years. Critics alleged there was concrete underneath the stage, but Carnegie Hall officials denied the allegations. Isaac Stern offered to disassemble the stage on the condition that the critics pay for the repairs if no concrete was found.{{cite news|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|author-link=Allan Kozinn|date=September 14, 1995|title=A Phantom Exposed: Concrete at Carnegie|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/14/us/a-phantom-exposed-concrete-at-carnegie.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=November 14, 2014|archive-date=November 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119062208/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/14/us/a-phantom-exposed-concrete-at-carnegie.html?pagewanted=all|url-status=live}} Polshek Partners won the American Institute of Architects' Honor Award in 1988 for its renovation of the hall.

During the late 1980s, Carnegie Hall had begun collecting items for the opening of a museum in the under-construction Carnegie Hall Tower.{{Cite news|last=Shepard|first=Richard F.|date=May 12, 1988|title=Carnegie Hall Marks a Milestone for a Cornerstone|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/12/arts/carnegie-hall-marks-a-milestone-for-a-cornerstone.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818224625/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/12/arts/carnegie-hall-marks-a-milestone-for-a-cornerstone.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Soble|first=Ronald L.|date=May 13, 1989|title=Carnegie Hall Seeks Mementos as 100th Birthday Approaches Musical, Cultural and Political History Taking Shape at Venerable N.Y. Site|page=14|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|id={{ProQuest|280806961}}}} The Rose Museum was founded in April 1991,{{Cite news|last=Koenenn|first=Joseph C.|date=April 23, 1991|title=History From the Pockets of Tchiakovsky|page=60|newspaper=Newsday|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83839111/history-from-the-pockets-of-tchiakovsky/|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821012930/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83839111/history-from-the-pockets-of-tchiakovsky/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Zakariasen|first=Bill|date=April 23, 1991|title=Carnegie halls out its history|page=31|newspaper=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83839140/carnegie-halls-out-its-history/|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821012930/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83839140/carnegie-halls-out-its-history/|url-status=live}} with its own entrance at 154 West 57th Street.{{Cite news|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|author-link=Allan Kozinn|date=February 8, 1992|title=Music Notes; Composers Orchestra Defies the Conventional|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/08/arts/music-notes-composers-orchestra-defies-the-conventional.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820003328/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/08/arts/music-notes-composers-orchestra-defies-the-conventional.html|url-status=live}} The East Room and Club Room (later renamed Rohatyn Room and Shorin Club Room, respectively{{cite web|date=April 3, 2020|title=Rent the Shorin Club Room and Rohatyn Room|url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/Rentals/Event-Spaces/Shorin-Club-Room-and-Rohatyn-Room|access-date=August 20, 2021|website=Carnegie Hall|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820004724/https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/Rentals/Event-Spaces/Shorin-Club-Room-and-Rohatyn-Room|url-status=live}}) were created the same year. Though the East and Club rooms were in Carnegie Hall Tower, they were connected to the original Carnegie Hall.{{Cite news|last=Deutsch|first=Claudia H.|date=October 11, 1992|title=Commercial Property: Carnegie Hall; What's Playing? Maybe a Rousing Business Meeting|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/11/realestate/commercial-property-carnegie-hall-what-s-playing-maybe-rousing-business-meeting.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820004703/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/11/realestate/commercial-property-carnegie-hall-what-s-playing-maybe-rousing-business-meeting.html|url-status=live}} This represented the first new space added to Carnegie Hall since the studios were added in the late 1890s.{{Cite news|last=Mangaliman|first=Jessie|date=November 21, 1987|title=Expanding Carnegie Hall|page=15|newspaper=Newsday|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83776361/expanding-carnegie-hall/|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820010635/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83776361/expanding-carnegie-hall/|url-status=live}} At the parquet level, Cafe Carnegie was also renovated.

The stage of the main hall had begun to warp by the early 1990s, and officials disassembled the stage in 1995, where they discovered a slab of concrete. John L. Tishman, president of Tishman Realty & Construction, which had renovated the stage in 1986, alleged that the concrete was there before the renovation.{{Cite news|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|author-link=Allan Kozinn|date=September 20, 1995|title=Case of the Carnegie Concrete, Chapter II|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/20/arts/case-of-the-carnegie-concrete-chapter-ii.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820173058/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/20/arts/case-of-the-carnegie-concrete-chapter-ii.html|url-status=live}} The concrete was removed in mid-1995 while Carnegie Hall was closed for the summer;{{Cite news|last=Page|first=Tim|date=September 14, 1995|title=Carnegie Hall Hopes New Floor Is a Sound One|page=8|newspaper=Newsday|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83808803/carnegie-hall-hopes-new-floor-is-a/|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820173056/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83808803/carnegie-hall-hopes-new-floor-is-a/|url-status=live}} soon afterward, critics described a noticeable change in the acoustics.{{Cite news|last=Oestreich|first=James R.|author-link=James R. Oestreich|date=March 5, 1996|title=Assessing Carnegie Hall Without the Concrete|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/05/arts/assessing-carnegie-hall-without-the-concrete.html|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820173056/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/05/arts/assessing-carnegie-hall-without-the-concrete.html|url-status=live}}

In the basement, the Carnegie Hall Cinema operated separately from the rest of Carnegie Hall until 1997, when the hall's management closed the cinema, along with two shops on Seventh Avenue. In late 1998, Carnegie Hall announced that it would turn the basement recital hall into another performance venue, designed by Polshek Associates. The project was to cost $50 million; the high cost was attributed to the fact that the work would require excavations under the basement while concerts and other events were ongoing.{{Cite news|last=Blumenthal|first=Ralph|author-link=Ralph Blumenthal|date=December 14, 1998|title=Carnegie Hall Expanding, Using Underground Space|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/14/arts/carnegie-hall-expanding-using-underground-space.html|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819182525/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/14/arts/carnegie-hall-expanding-using-underground-space.html|url-status=live}} In recognition of a $10 million grant from Arthur and Judy Zankel, the new space was renamed after the Zankels in January 1999; the auditorium proper was named after Judith Arron, who donated $5 million. Construction took place without disrupting performances or the nearby subway tunnel. Zankel Hall had been planned to open in early 2003, but the opening date was postponed due to the city's economic difficulties after the September 11 attacks in 2001. The excavations also raised the budget to $69 million.{{Cite news|date=November 1, 2001|title=Carnegie Delays Opening of Additional Hall|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/01/arts/carnegie-delays-opening-of-additional-hall.html|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819212820/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/01/arts/carnegie-delays-opening-of-additional-hall.html|url-status=live}}

In June 2003, tentative plans were made for the Philharmonic to return to Carnegie Hall beginning in 2006, and for the orchestra to merge its business operations with those of the venue. However, the two groups abandoned these plans later that year.{{cite magazine |title=N.Y. Philharmonic, Carnegie Merger Off |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/ny-philharmonic-carnegie-merger-off-68748/|date=October 8, 2003 |magazine=Billboard|access-date=May 10, 2024|archive-date=December 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206141659/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/68748/ny-philharmonic-carnegie-merger-off |url-status=live}} Zankel Hall opened in September 2003.{{Cite news |last=Kozinn |first=Allan|author-link=Allan Kozinn|date=September 12, 2003 |title=A Three-Ring House of Music, Willing and Able to Surprise|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/12/movies/a-three-ring-house-of-music-willing-and-able-to-surprise.html |access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819212822/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/12/movies/a-three-ring-house-of-music-willing-and-able-to-surprise.html |url-status=live}} Music critic Anthony Tommasini praised Zankel Hall's flexibility, though he said "the builders did not quite succeed in insulating the auditorium from the sounds of passing trains".{{Cite news |last=Tommasini |first=Anthony|author-link=Anthony Tommasini|date=September 15, 2003 |title=Music Review: Opening Weekend at Zankel Hall; Trash Cans on the Stage, a Subway Underfoot|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/15/arts/music-review-opening-weekend-zankel-hall-trash-cans-stage-subway-underfoot.html |access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819214321/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/15/arts/music-review-opening-weekend-zankel-hall-trash-cans-stage-subway-underfoot.html |url-status=live}} Architecturally, the space was described by critic Herbert Muschamp as "a luxury version of a black-box theater, the hall has the feel of a broadcasting studio, which it partly is". Though Zankel Hall's large capacity was highly publicized, it was only reconfigured once in its first two and a half years of operation.{{Cite news |last=Wakin |first=Daniel J. |date=November 25, 2005 |title=At Eclectic Zankel Hall, One Thing Rarely Varies|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/25/arts/music/at-eclectic-zankel-hall-one-thing-rarely-varies.html |access-date=August 19, 2021 |archive-date=August 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819212824/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/25/arts/music/at-eclectic-zankel-hall-one-thing-rarely-varies.html |url-status=live}} The Stern Auditorium's stage was renamed in March 2006 after Ronald Perelman, who had donated $20 million to Carnegie Hall.{{Cite news |last=Gelder |first=Lawrence Van|author-link=Lawrence Van Gelder|date=March 4, 2006 |title=Arts, Briefly|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/arts/arts-briefly.html |access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820003328/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/arts/arts-briefly.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Frank |first=Robert |date=March 3, 2006 |title=Perelman's New Platform|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB114134291021688065 |access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820003329/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB114134291021688065 |url-status=live}}

At the end of 2005, Carnegie Hall formed a partnership with the neighboring City Center.{{Cite news |last=Dobnik |first=Verena |date=December 3, 2005 |title=Carnegie Hall, City Center forge artistic partnership |page=20|newspaper=The Journal News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120243767/carnegie-hall-city-center-forge/ |access-date=March 5, 2023}}{{Cite news |last=Wakin |first=Daniel J. |date=December 3, 2005 |title=Two Halls Will Share Theaters and Funds|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/03/arts/music/two-halls-will-share-theaters-and-funds.html |access-date=March 5, 2023}} The agreement would have allowed the venues to host each other's dance, music, and theater programs; however, the partnership was canceled in early 2007.{{Cite news |last=Wakin |first=Daniel J. |date=September 1, 2007 |title=As Merger with Carnegie Crumbles, City Center Will Delay Its Renovation|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/arts/music/01carn.html |access-date=March 5, 2023}} Carnegie Hall Corporation announced later in 2007 that it would evict all the remaining tenants of its upper-story studios so the corporation could convert the space into offices.{{Cite news |last=Dwyer |first=Jim|author-link=Jim Dwyer (journalist)|date=August 1, 2007 |title=A Requiem for Tenants of Carnegie|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/nyregion/01about.html |access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820144538/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/nyregion/01about.html |url-status=live}}{{cite web |date=August 12, 2007 |title=Carnegie Artist Tenants Fight Eviction |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12721925 |access-date=August 20, 2021 |website=NPR.org |archive-date=August 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820144538/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12721925 |url-status=live}} By 2010, the last tenant had moved out.{{Cite news |last=Robbins |first=Liz |date=August 28, 2010 |title=In Apartments Above Carnegie Hall, a Coda for Longtime Residents|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/28/nyregion/28carnegie.html |access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=August 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820144539/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/28/nyregion/28carnegie.html |url-status=live}} In 2014, Carnegie Hall opened its Judith and Burton Resnick Education Wing. The new wing houses 24 music rooms, one of which is large enough to hold an orchestra or a chorus. The $230 million project was funded with gifts from Joan and Sanford I. Weill and the Weill Family Fund, Judith and Burton Resnick, Lily Safra and other donors, as well as $52.2 million from the city, $11 million from the state, and $56.5 million from bonds issued through the Trust for Cultural Resources of the City of New York.{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Cooper |date=September 12, 2014 |title=Carnegie Hall Makes Room for Future Stars: Resnick Education Wing Prepares to Open at Carnegie Hall |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/arts/music/resnick-education-wing-prepares-to-open.html|newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=November 14, 2014|archive-date=July 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706163106/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/arts/music/resnick-education-wing-prepares-to-open.html |url-status=live}} The American Institute of Architects gave an architectural award to the project in 2017.{{cite web |url=https://www.aia.org/showcases/25541-carnegie-hall-studio-towers-renovation-proje |title=Carnegie Hall Studio Towers Renovation Project |publisher=American Institute of Architects |date=2017 |access-date=June 9, 2022 |archive-date=December 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214170534/https://www.aia.org/showcases/25541-carnegie-hall-studio-towers-renovation-proje |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Warerkar |first=Tanay |title=4 NYC buildings are among AIA's best projects by U.S. architects |website=Curbed NY |date=January 17, 2017 |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2017/1/17/14296618/best-nyc-architecture-aia-carnegie-hall-rainbow-room |access-date=June 9, 2022 |archive-date=January 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120161257/http://ny.curbed.com/2017/1/17/14296618/best-nyc-architecture-aia-carnegie-hall-rainbow-room |url-status=live}}

Carnegie Hall closed temporarily in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.{{Cite news |last=Hernández |first=Javier C. |date=June 8, 2021 |title=Bruised by the Pandemic, Carnegie Hall Plans a Comeback|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/arts/music/carnegie-hall-pandemic-reopening.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/arts/music/carnegie-hall-pandemic-reopening.html |archive-date=December 28, 2021 |url-access=limited |access-date=August 18, 2021}}{{cbignore}} The hall reopened on October 6, 2021, with a performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra.{{cite web |last=Simon |first=Stephanie |title=Carnegie Hall reopens to music inspired by 7 p.m. cheering |website=Spectrum News NY1 | New York City |date=October 6, 2021 |url=https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/10/06/carnegie-hall-reopens-to-music-inspired-by-7-oclock-cheering-for-first-responders-and-medical-workers |access-date=November 21, 2021 |archive-date=November 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121161635/https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/10/06/carnegie-hall-reopens-to-music-inspired-by-7-oclock-cheering-for-first-responders-and-medical-workers |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Carnegie Hall reopened Wednesday night for 1st live concert since start of pandemic |website=ABC7 New York |date=October 6, 2021 |url=https://abc7ny.com/11089319/ |access-date=November 21, 2021 |archive-date=October 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006143920/https://abc7ny.com/11089319/ |url-status=live}} Carnegie Hall returned to hosting a full schedule of programming during the 2022–2023 season.{{cite web |agency=Associated Press |title=Carnegie Hall plans return to full schedule in 2022–23 |website=amNewYork |date=April 26, 2022 |url=https://www.amny.com/entertainment/arts-entertainment/carnegie-hall-plans-return-to-full-schedule-in-2022-23/ |access-date=June 9, 2022 |archive-date=June 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609003150/https://www.amny.com/entertainment/arts-entertainment/carnegie-hall-plans-return-to-full-schedule-in-2022-23/ |url-status=live}} A new cafe at Carnegie Hall, the Weill Cafe, opened in January 2024.{{cite web | last=Orlow | first=Emma | title=Carnegie Hall Is Adding a New Restaurant | website=Eater NY | date=January 10, 2024 | url=https://ny.eater.com/2024/1/10/24029976/carnegie-hall-weill-cafe-restaurant-opening | access-date=January 10, 2024}}
{{cite web | last=Fabricant | first=Florence | title=You Don't Need a Ticket for Weill Café at Carnegie Hall | website=The New York Times | date=January 16, 2024 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/16/dining/weill-cafe-carnegie-hall.html | access-date=January 17, 2024}}

{{See also|World premieres at Carnegie Hall|Category:Albums recorded at Carnegie Hall}}

Symphony No. 9, opus 95, "From the New World" by Antonín Dvořák, performed on December 16, 1893, was the first world premiere at Carnegie Hall. By the 1900s, conductors such as Richard Strauss, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Camille Saint-Saëns, Alexander Scriabin, Edward Elgar, and Sergei Rachmaninoff were staging or performing their own music at Carnegie Hall. In its early years, Carnegie Hall hosted the New York Philharmonic and Symphony, as well as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Symphonic Orchestra, and other visiting orchestra companies. In particular, the Boston Symphony Orchestra regularly performed at Carnegie Hall after its first concert in 1893, and Leopold Stokowski of the Philadelphia Symphonic Orchestra regularly performed at the hall for six decades.

The hall also hosted recitals by solo performers such as pianists Arthur Rubinstein and Mieczysław Horszowski, who both debuted at Carnegie Hall in 1906 and continued performing there until 1976 and 1989, respectively.

The NBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, frequently recorded in the Main Hall for RCA Victor.{{Cite news|last=Gold|first=Gerald|date=1990-03-21|title=All of Toscanini's Recordings to be Issued|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/21/arts/all-of-toscanini-s-recordings-to-be-issued.html|access-date=2023-03-06}} On November 14, 1943, the 25-year-old Leonard Bernstein had his major conducting debut when he had to substitute for a suddenly ill Bruno Walter in a concert that was broadcast by CBS.{{Cite news|last=Page|first=Tim|author-link=Tim Page (music critic)|date=September 20, 1985|title=At 67, Bernstein Comes Home to Carnegie Hall|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/20/arts/at-67-bernstein-comes-home-to-carnegie-hall.html|access-date=March 6, 2023}} See also Playbill and CBS announcement, concert on November 14, 1943. In late 1950, the NBC Symphony Orchestra's weekly broadcast concerts were moved there,{{Cite news|last=Taubman|first=Howard|author-link=Howard Taubman|date=December 27, 1950|title=Toscanini to Lead N.B.C. Broadcasts; First of New Symphony Series Starting on Jan. 27 Will Be a Verdi Memorial|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/12/27/archives/toscanini-to-lead-nbc-broadcasts-first-of-new-symphony-series.html|access-date=March 6, 2023}} remaining until the orchestra disbanded following Toscanini's retirement in April 1954.{{cite magazine| last=Francesconi | first=Gino | title=The Maestro Retires |magazine=Playbill| date=April 1, 2004 | url=https://playbill.com/article/the-maestro-retires | access-date=March 6, 2023}}{{Cite news|last=Taubman|first=Howard|author-link=Howard Taubman|date=April 5, 1954|title=Toscanini Quits Symphony, May Close 68-Year Career; Announcement at the End of His Sunday Concert Comes as Surprise|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/04/05/archives/toscanini-quits-symphony-may-close-68year-career-announcement-at.html|access-date=March 6, 2023}}

Carnegie Hall was desegregated from its opening, in contrast to other music venues like the National Theatre, which remained segregated well into the 20th century.{{harvnb|Page|2011|p=21|ps=.}} Sissieretta Jones became the first African-American to sing at Carnegie Hall on June 15, 1892, less than a year after the hall opened.{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Maureen D. |title=Sissierettta Jones, "The Greatest Singer of Her Race," 1868–1933 |date=May 2012 |publisher=University of South Carolina Press}}{{cite web |last=Hudson |first=Rob |date=September 3, 2007 |title=From Opera, Minstrelsy and Ragtime to Social Justice: An Overview of African American Performers at Carnegie Hall, 1892–1943 |url=http://www.blackpast.org/?q=perspectives/opera-minstrelsy-and-ragtime-social-justice-overview-african-american-performers-carneg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916133528/http://www.blackpast.org/?q=perspectives%2Fopera-minstrelsy-and-ragtime-social-justice-overview-african-american-performers-carneg |archive-date=September 16, 2013 |access-date=November 14, 2014 |publisher=The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed}}

The hall was used for popular music as early as 1912, when James Reese Europe's Clef Club Orchestra performed a "proto-jazz" concert there. Many jazz performers have also given performances at Carnegie Hall,{{cite magazine| last=Francesconi | first=Gino | title=Jazz at Carnegie Hall |magazine=Playbill| date=June 1, 2004 | url=https://playbill.com/article/jazz-at-carnegie-hall | access-date=February 13, 2024}} including Benny Goodman,{{Cite news|date=January 18, 1938|title=Hot Music at Carnegie|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/01/18/archives/hot-music-at-carnegie.html|access-date=February 13, 2024|newspaper=The New York Times}} Fats Waller,{{Cite news|author=R.P.|date=January 15, 1942|title=Fats Waller Heard in Carnegie Recital; 2,600 Attend Event Given by Pianist, Composer and Leader|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/01/15/archives/fats-waller-heard-in-carnegie-recital-2600-attend-event-given-by.html|access-date=February 13, 2024|newspaper=The New York Times}} Duke Ellington,{{Cite news|author=N.S.|date=December 12, 1943|title=Ellington's Fans Applaud Concert; Duke Introduces 'New World A-coming' Before Capacity Throng at Carnegie Hall|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/12/12/archives/ellingtons-fans-applaud-concert-duke-introduces-new-world-acoming.html|access-date=February 13, 2024|newspaper=The New York Times}} Norman Granz,{{Cite news|date=September 17, 1956|title=Music: Intellectual Jazz; Modern Quartet Stars in Two Concerts Here by the Norman Granz Troupe|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/09/17/archives/music-intellectual-jazz-modern-quartet-stars-in-two-concerts-here.html|access-date=February 13, 2024|newspaper=The New York Times}} Louis Armstrong,{{Cite news|date=February 9, 1947|title=Louis Armstrong Heard; Trumpeter Presents Program of Jazz at Carnegie Hall|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/02/09/archives/louis-armstrong-heard-trumpeter-presents-program-of-jazz-at.html|access-date=February 13, 2024|newspaper=The New York Times}} Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Gil Evans,{{cite web | website=carnegiehall.org | date=April 25, 2023 | url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/Explore/Articles/2023/04/25/A-Snapshot-of-Jazz-at-Carnegie-Hall |title=A Snapshot of Jazz at Carnegie Hall | access-date=February 13, 2024}} Nina Simone.{{Cite news|last=Wilson|first=John S.|author-link=John S. Wilson (music critic)|date=January 8, 1968|title=Nina Simone Draws Full House To Carnegie Hall Song Session|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/01/08/archives/nina-simone-draws-full-house-to-carnegie-hall-song-session.html|access-date=February 13, 2024|newspaper=The New York Times}} Mary Lou Williams, Cecil Taylor,{{Cite news|last=Wilson|first=John S.|author-link=John S. Wilson (music critic)|date=April 19, 1977|title=Jazz: Strange Double Piano Bill|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/19/archives/jazz-strange-double-piano-bill.html|access-date=February 13, 2024|newspaper=The New York Times}} Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, and Chucho Valdés.{{Cite news|date=June 30, 1978|title=Jazz: Band From Cuba Is an Extra|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/30/archives/jazz-band-from-cuba-is-an-extra.html|access-date=February 13, 2024|newspaper=The New York Times}} The Benny Goodman Orchestra gave a sold-out swing and jazz concert on January 16, 1938, with guest performers such as Count Basie and members of Duke Ellington's orchestra.{{cite book |last=Tackley |first=C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hHESDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA168 |title=Benny Goodman's Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert |publisher=OUP USA |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-19-539830-4 |series=Oxford Studies in Recorded Jazz |page=168 |access-date=November 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121155706/https://books.google.com/books?id=hHESDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA168 |archive-date=November 21, 2021 |url-status=live}}

Rock and roll music first came to Carnegie Hall when Bill Haley & His Comets appeared in a variety benefit concert on May 6, 1955.{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1955/05/07/85693342.pdf|title=Stars assist the blind|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 7, 1955|access-date=November 14, 2014|archive-date=March 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325070325/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1955/05/07/85693342.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false|url-status=live}} Rock acts were not regularly booked at the Hall however, until February 12, 1964, when The Beatles performed two shows{{cite web|title=The Beatles at Carnegie Hall|url=http://www.itallhappened.com/the-beatles-at-carnegie-hall-1964-02-12|website=It All Happened – A Living History of Live Music|access-date=April 12, 2013|archive-date=April 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407100249/http://www.itallhappened.com/the-beatles-at-carnegie-hall-1964-02-12|url-status=live}} during their first trip to the United States.{{cite news|title=2,900-Voice Chorus Joins The Beatles|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/02/13/97379541.pdf|first=John S.|last=Wilson|author-link=John S. Wilson (music critic)|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 13, 1964|access-date=November 14, 2014|archive-date=March 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325070319/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/02/13/97379541.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false|url-status=live}} Promoter Sid Bernstein convinced Carnegie officials that allowing a Beatles concert at the venue "would further international understanding" between the United States and Great Britain.{{cite book|first=Nicholas|last=Schaffner|title=The Beatles Forever|location=New York|publisher=Fine Communications|date=July 1977|page=14|isbn=978-1-56731-008-5}} Two concerts by Led Zeppelin were performed on October 17, 1969.{{cite web|url=http://www.ledzeppelin.com/show/october-17-1969|date=October 17, 1969|title=Led Zeppelin Timeline – October 17, 1969, New York, NY US|website=ledzeppelin.com|access-date=December 25, 2015|archive-date=February 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207052403/http://www.ledzeppelin.com/show/october-17-1969|url-status=live}} Since then numerous rock, blues, jazz and country performers have appeared at the hall every season.{{cite web|url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/BlogPost.aspx?id=4294989121|date=September 22, 2012|website=The A to Z of Carnegie Hall: R is for Rock 'n' Roll|access-date=December 25, 2015|title=This installment of our A to Z of Carnegie Hall series looks at the letter R—for 'Rock'|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094901/https://www.carnegiehall.org/BlogPost.aspx?id=4294989121|archive-date=July 9, 2017|url-status=dead}} Some performers and bands had contracts that specified decibel limits for performances, an attempt to discourage rock performances at Carnegie Hall. Jethro Tull performed a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall in November 1970, which was recorded and subsequently issued in several parts.{{cite book | last=Rabey | first=B. | title=A Passion Play: The Story Of Ian Anderson & Jethro Tull | publisher=Soundcheck | year=2013 | isbn=978-0-9571442-4-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13knAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 | access-date=June 27, 2023 | page=67}} Ike & Tina Turner performed a concert April 1, 1971, which resulted in their album What You Hear is What You Get.{{cite book | last=Brackett | first=D. | title=Tumult!: The Incredible Life and Music of Tina Turner | publisher=Backbeat | year=2020 | isbn=978-1-4930-5507-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h2T5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 | access-date=June 27, 2023 | pages=89–90}} Chicago recorded its 4-LP box set Chicago at Carnegie Hall in 1971.{{cite book | last=Goldsmith | first=M.U.D. | title=Listen to Classic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre | publisher=ABC-CLIO | series=Exploring Musical Genres | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-4408-6579-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6W-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 | access-date=June 27, 2023 | page=69}}

European folk dance music first came to Carnegie Hall when Tanec performed a concert on January 27, 1956, becoming the first dance company from Yugoslavia to perform in America.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/01/28/archives/ballet-yugoslav-folk-art-tanec-dancers-appear-at-carnegie-hall-in.html|date=January 28, 1956|title=Ballet: Yugoslav Folk Art 'Tanec' Dancers Appear at Carnegie Hall in Display of Tremendous Skill|author=John Martin|author-link=John Martin (dance critic)|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=March 24, 2020|archive-date=August 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818230203/https://www.nytimes.com/1956/01/28/archives/ballet-yugoslav-folk-art-tanec-dancers-appear-at-carnegie-hall-in.html|url-status=live}} In 2024, Puerto Rican singer Ivy Queen became the first reggaeton artist to headline a concert at the Carnegie Hall.{{cite magazine | last=Lopez | first=Julyssa | title=Ivy Queen Made History at Carnegie Hall. She's Got More Surprises Coming | magazine=Rolling Stone | date=December 2, 2024 | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/ivy-queen-carnegie-hall-new-music-1235182648/ | access-date=December 31, 2024}}

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the hall, during the 2015–2016 season, Carnegie Hall officials commissioned 125 new works, with "Fifty for the Future" coming from Kronos (25 by female composers and 25 by male composers).{{cite web | title=Carnegie Hall to Mark 125th Anniversary in 2015-16 Season | website=WQXR | date=January 28, 2015 | url=https://www.wqxr.org/story/carnegie-halls-2015-16-season/ | access-date=May 10, 2024}}{{cite web | last=Kaliss | first=Jeff | title=The Kronos Quartet Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary | website=Playbill | date=November 2, 2023 | url=https://playbill.com/article/the-world-of-kronos | access-date=May 10, 2024}}

The hall has also been the site of lectures, including the Tuskegee Institute Silver Anniversary Lecture by Booker T. Washington,{{Cite news |date=January 23, 1906 |title=Choate and Twain Plead for Tuskegee; Brilliant Audience Cheers Them and Booker Washington|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1906/01/23/archives/choate-and-twain-plead-for-tuskegee-brilliant-audience-cheers-them.html |url-status=live |access-date=January 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121141948/https://www.nytimes.com/1906/01/23/archives/choate-and-twain-plead-for-tuskegee-brilliant-audience-cheers-them.html |archive-date=November 21, 2021}} and the last public lecture by Mark Twain, both in 1906.{{Cite news |date=November 22, 1906 |title=Nation's Orators Glorify Schurz; Carnegie Hall Memorial a People's Tribute|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1906/11/22/archives/nations-orators-glorify-schurz-carnegie-hall-memorial-a-peoples.html |url-status=live |access-date=November 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121141945/https://www.nytimes.com/1906/11/22/archives/nations-orators-glorify-schurz-carnegie-hall-memorial-a-peoples.html |archive-date=November 21, 2021}} The hall was also used for commencement ceremonies, including those of the City College of New York,{{Cite news |date=June 24, 1904 |title=City College Holds Its Commencement; Largest Class in Its History Graduated at Carnegie Hall|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1904/06/24/archives/city-college-holds-its-commencement-largest-class-in-its-history.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}} the New York Law School,{{Cite news |date=June 19, 1925 |title=Large Crowd Sees Law School Rites; Ex-Justice Putnam Addresses 279 Graduates of New York Institution in Carnegie Hall|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/06/19/archives/large-crowd-sees-law-school-rites-exjustice-putnam-addresses-279.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}} as well as the Juilliard School.{{Cite news |date=June 3, 1929 |title=Juilliard School to Give 73 Diplomas; Music Institution Will Hold Its Commencement Tonight in Carnegie Hall|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/06/03/archives/juilliard-school-to-give-73-diplomas-music-institution-will-hold.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}}

{{As of|2021}}, the Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall is Sir Clive Gillinson, formerly managing director of the London Symphony Orchestra.{{cite web |title=Carnegie Hall reopens in October after 19-month closure |website=ABC News |date=June 8, 2021 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/carnegie-hall-reopens-october-19-month-closure-78152439 |access-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-date=August 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819000419/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/carnegie-hall-reopens-october-19-month-closure-78152439 |url-status=live}} Gillinson started serving in that position in 2005.{{cite magazine |title=Carnegie Hall Names Executive/Artistic Director |magazine=Billboard |date=June 1, 2005 |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/1431593/carnegie-hall-names-executiveartistic-director |access-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-date=August 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819011735/https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/1431593/carnegie-hall-names-executiveartistic-director |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Clive Gillinson Biography |website=Carnegie Hall |url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/Press/Clive-Gillinson-Biography |access-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-date=August 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819000419/https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/Press/Clive-Gillinson-Biography |url-status=live}} Robert F. Smith has been the chairman of Carnegie Hall's board since 2016.{{Cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Michael |last2=Gelles |first2=David |date=June 2, 2016 |title=At Carnegie Hall, a New Leader With a Son Named Hendrix|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/03/arts/music/trustees-elect-carnegies-halls-first-african-american-chairman.html |access-date=March 6, 2023 }} As of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, the Carnegie Hall Corporation had $718,141,781 in assets, which includes about $185 million in liabilities, $112 million in net assets without donor restrictions, and $421 million in net assets with donor restrictions.{{cite web |website=Carnegie Hall |title=Audited Financial Statement for Fiscal Year 2021 |date=2021 |author=KPMG |url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/Financials-and-Policies |access-date=March 6, 2023}}{{rp|page=3}} During that year, the Carnegie Hall Corporation's total operating revenue was about $74 million, while total expenses and losses were about $62 million.{{rp|page=4}}

It emerged in 1986 that Carnegie Hall had never consistently maintained an archive. Without a central repository, a significant portion of Carnegie Hall's documented history had been dispersed. In preparation for the celebration of Carnegie Hall's centennial in 1991, the management established the Carnegie Hall Archives that year.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3zTfCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|title=Opening Carnegie Hall: The Creation and First Performances of America's Premier Concert Stage|last=Binkowski|first=C. J.|publisher=McFarland|year=2016|isbn=978-1-4766-2398-6|page=1|access-date=October 15, 2019|archive-date=July 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727174407/https://books.google.com/books?id=3zTfCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|url-status=live}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9rKsR6NeulcC&pg=PA45|title=Classical|last=Hill|first=B.|publisher=Facts On File, Incorporated|year=2005|isbn=978-0-8160-6976-7|series=American Popular Music|page=45|access-date=October 15, 2019|archive-date=July 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727175456/https://books.google.com/books?id=9rKsR6NeulcC&pg=PA45|url-status=live}} The historical archival collections were renamed the Carnegie Hall Susan W. Rose Archives in 2021, after a longtime trustee and donor to the Archives and Rose Museum.{{cite web|date=February 9, 2021|title=Carnegie Hall's Historical Archival Collections Named as Carnegie Hall Susan W. Rose Archives|url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/Press/Press-Releases/2021/02/09/Carnegie-Halls-Historical-Archival-Collections-Named-as-Carnegie-Hall-Susan-W-Rose-Archives-2-9-2021|access-date=August 20, 2021|website=Carnegie Hall|archive-date=August 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820003335/https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/Press/Press-Releases/2021/02/09/Carnegie-Halls-Historical-Archival-Collections-Named-as-Carnegie-Hall-Susan-W-Rose-Archives-2-9-2021|url-status=live}}

Rumor is that a pedestrian on Fifty-seventh Street, Manhattan, stopped Jascha Heifetz and inquired, "Could you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?" "Yes," said Heifetz. "Practice!"{{cite book|author-link=Bennett Cerf|last=Cerf|first=Bennett|title=The Life of the Party: A New Collection of Stories and Anecdotes|location=Garden City, New York|publisher=Doubleday|year=1956|page=335}}

This joke has become part of the folklore of the hall, but its origins remain a mystery.{{cite web|last1=Carlson|first1=Matt|title=The Joke|url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/Explore/Articles/2020/04/10/The-Joke|website=Carnegie Hall|access-date=August 27, 2020|date=April 10, 2020|archive-date=August 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826084106/https://www.carnegiehall.org/Explore/Articles/2020/04/10/The-Joke|url-status=live}} Although described in 1961 as an "ancient wheeze", its earliest known appearances in print date from 1955.{{cite web|last1=Popik|first1=Barry|author-link1=Barry Popik|title='How do you get to Carnegie Hall?' (joke)|url=https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/how_do_you_get_to_carnegie_hall|website=The Big Apple|access-date=August 27, 2020|date=July 5, 2004|archive-date=September 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919005540/https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/how_do_you_get_to_carnegie_hall/|url-status=live}} Attributions to Jack Benny are mistaken; it is uncertain if he ever used the joke. Alternatives to violinist Jascha Heifetz as the second party include an unnamed beatnik, bopper, or "absent-minded maestro", as well as pianist Arthur Rubinstein and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/nyregion/29fyi.html|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Michael|last=Pollak|title=The Origins of That Famous Carnegie Hall Joke|date=November 29, 2009|access-date=December 4, 2020|archive-date=August 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812235157/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/nyregion/29fyi.html|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last1=Lees|first1=Gene|title=Meet Me at Jim & Andy's: Jazz Musicians and Their World|date=1988|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-504611-3|page=16}} Carnegie Hall archivist Gino Francesconi favors a version told by the wife of violinist Mischa Elman, in which her husband makes the quip when approached by tourists while leaving the hall's backstage entrance after an unsatisfactory rehearsal. The joke is often reduced to a riddle with no framing story. According to The Washington Post, the joke "shows how firmly the building [...] has lodged itself in American folklore".{{Cite news|last=McLellan|first=Joseph|date=February 10, 1991|title=The Hall That Carnegie Built|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1991/02/10/the-hall-that-carnegie-built/76fab940-77c7-43f1-853f-579de1fc9f8a/|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=June 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626153850/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1991/02/10/the-hall-that-carnegie-built/76fab940-77c7-43f1-853f-579de1fc9f8a/|url-status=live}}

Other stories have been attributed to the folklore of Carnegie Hall. One such story concerns a performance on the unusually hot day of October 27, 1917, when Heifetz made his American debut in Carnegie Hall.{{cite book|author=Agus|first=Ayke|title=Heifetz As I Knew Him|publisher=Amadeus Press|year=2001|isbn=978-1-57467-062-2|page=4}} After Heifetz had been playing for a while, fellow violinist Mischa Elman mopped his head and asked if it was hot in there. Pianist Leopold Godowsky, in the next seat, replied, "Not for pianists."{{Cite news|last=Schonberg|first=Harold C.|author-link=Harold C. Schonberg|date=December 28, 1987|title=Critic's Notebook; Repertory of Legends Immortalizes Jascha Heifetz|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/28/arts/critic-s-notebook-repertory-of-legends-immortalizes-jascha-heifetz.html|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=December 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216014748/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/28/arts/critic-s-notebook-repertory-of-legends-immortalizes-jascha-heifetz.html|url-status=live}}

While the Elman/Godowsky anecdote was confirmed to be true, other accounts about Carnegie Hall may have been apocryphal in nature. One such story involved violinist Fritz Kreisler and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff, who were supposedly performing a Beethoven sonata when Kreisler lost track of what he was playing. After a few minutes of improvisation, Kreisler allegedly asked "For God's sake, Sergei, where am I?", to which Rachmaninoff was said to have responded, "In Carnegie Hall."{{Cite news|date=February 8, 1976|title=Music View|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/08/archives/music-view-both-great-but-greatly-different.html|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821005446/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/08/archives/music-view-both-great-but-greatly-different.html|url-status=live}}

• Alliance for the Arts, advocacy organization for Carnegie Hall
• List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City
• List of National Historic Landmarks in New York City
• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite report|date=December 29, 1962|title=Historic Structures Report: Carnegie Hall|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/5b82f3e2-d183-472f-88f1-e4c82ffca307/|publisher=National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service|ref={{harvid|National Park Service|1962}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Page |first=Tim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTYeM63rL3IC |title=Carnegie Hall Treasures |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-06-170367-6}}
• {{Cite New York 2000}}
• {{Sfn whitelist|CITEREFTauranac1985}}{{Cite Elegant New York}}

• {{cite book|last=Schickel|first=Richard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fMktAAAAMAAJ|title=The World of Carnegie Hall|publisher=Messner|year=1960|isbn=978-0-8371-6946-0|ref=none}}
• {{cite book |last1=Schickel |first1=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rJCfAAAAMAAJ |title=Carnegie Hall, the First One Hundred Years |last2=Walsh |first2=Michael |publisher=Abrams |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-8109-0773-7|ref=none}}

{{Commons category|Carnegie Hall}}

• {{Official website|https://www.carnegiehall.org/}}
• [https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/carnegie-hall Carnegie Hall at Google Cultural Institute]
• [http://www.nyc-arts.org/organizations/36/carnegie-hall Carnegie Hall and its events on NYC-ARTS.org]
• [http://honorsperformance.org/ Honors Performance Series], Carnegie Hall performance opportunity for elite student musicians

{{New York City performance spaces}}

{{Midtown North, Manhattan}}

{{New York City Historic Sites}}

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}

{{portal bar|Architecture|Music|New York City|National Register of Historic Places}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1891 establishments in New York (state)

Category:57th Street (Manhattan)

Category:Andrew Carnegie

Category:Concert halls in New York City

Category:Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City

Category:Italian Renaissance Revival architecture in the United States

Category:Midtown Manhattan

Category:Music venues completed in 1891

Category:Music venues in Manhattan

Category:National Historic Landmarks in Manhattan

Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan

Category:New York State Register of Historic Places in New York County

Category:Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)

Category:Theatres in Manhattan

Category:Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan