Renée Fleming, Audra McDonald and More to Join Carnegie Hall CONCERT OF THE CENTURY Celebration

Carnegie Hall will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its “Concert of the Century” with another once-in-a-lifetime convening of musical all-stars on Tuesday, May 5 at 7:00 p.m. Organized by famed violinist Isaac Stern, the original 1976 event brought together some of the world’s greatest musicians for a now-legendary “concert-celebration” that commemorated the anniversary of the Hall’s opening on May 5, 1891. Fifty years later—and 135 years after the opening of the Hall—a new lineup of Carnegie Hall icons comes together to honor the Hall’s legacy, telling its story to a new generation.

On May 18, 1976, Carnegie Hall celebrated its 85th anniversary with the original “Concert of the Century,” featuring performances by members of the New York Philharmonic led by Leonard Bernstein, joined by baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, pianist Vladimir Horowitz, violinists Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and the Oratorio Society of New York. Spearheaded by Stern, the benefit concert, which was recorded and released by Sony Classical, raised $1.2 million (roughly $37 million today) to establish the first endowment fund for Carnegie Hall, securing the institution’s financial future.

This May, conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the NYO-USA All-Stars, an ensemble of distinguished alumni from Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, who are now outstanding young professionals in the music field. The program opens with the overture to Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, premiered at the Hall in 1957 by the New York Philharmonic under the composer’s baton. It continues with the third movement of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6—honoring the composer who led Carnegie Hall’s inaugural concert in 1891—and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Laudate Dominum,” featuring soprano Renée Fleming with the orchestra and the Oratorio Society of New York, the same chorus for which Carnegie Hall was originally designed and built.

Highlights of this special program will also include pianist Evgeny Kissin performing Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2; mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato joining pianist Emanuel Ax for two of Gustav Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder; the third movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Lang Lang; mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard singing “Non più mesta accanto al fuoco” from Rossini’s La Cenerentola; and the third movement of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F with pianist Daniil Trifonov. Vocalist Audra McDonald will partner with longtime music director Andy Einhorn for songs by Ellington and Gershwin. Vocalist and pianist Michael Feinstein will collaborate with the orchestra on songs by Harold Arlen and Michel Legrand. The program will also feature Valerie Coleman’s Seven O’Clock Shout and Bernstein’s inspiring “Make Our Garden Grow” from Candide.

This performance will be heard live by listeners around the world, as part of the Carnegie Hall Live broadcast and digital series. Produced by WQXR and Carnegie Hall and co-hosted by WQXR’s Jeff Spurgeon and WNYC’s John Schaefer, the concert will be broadcast on WQXR 105.9 FM in New York and streamed online at wqxr.org and carnegiehall.org/wqxrhttp://carnegiehall.org/wqxr.

Elizabeth Segerstrom is the Gala Lead Chair for this black-tie gala event. Gala Chairs include Anya Gillinson, Ila and Dinesh Paliwal, and Hope and Robert F. Smith. Gala Co-Chairs are Marco Argenti and Nanyan Li, Mercedes T. Bass, Sandra Segerstrom Daniels, and Joan and Sanford I. Weill, Weill Family Foundation. South Coast Plaza is the Gala Sponsor. The gala evening benefits Carnegie Hall’s artistic, education, and social impact programs and includes a pre-concert cocktail party in Carnegie Hall’s Rohatyn Room and post-concert dinner at Waldorf Astoria New York that celebrates Executive and Artistic Director Clive Gillinson’s twenty years of visionary leadership at Carnegie Hall.

Making its own debut on May 5: Steinway & Sons has collaborated with the Hall to create the Carnegie Hall Limited Edition by Steinway & Sons, a distinctive instrument that embodies the shared commitment to quality, artistic excellence, and innovation that has defined the partnership between the two institutions for 135 years. The limited edition piano will be on display for the first time at the “Concert of the Century” gala dinner at the Waldorf Astoria. Inspired by the architectural grandeur of Carnegie Hall, it features gilded artwork adorning both sides of the piano’s lid, reflecting the intricate design of the Hall’s Dress Circle. The music desk panel is inspired by the sweeping curves of the Hall’s proscenium arch, a motif that is further reflected in the lines of the piano bench. A total of fifty Carnegie Hall Limited Editions in two colorways will be crafted in Steinway’s historic factory in Queens, New York and will be on display to the public starting May 7 at Steinway Hall, located at 1133 Avenue of the Americas.

Program Information

Tuesday, May 5, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

50th Anniversary of The Concert of the Century

NYO-USA All-Stars
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Conductor
Renée Fleming, Soprano
Joyce DiDonato, Mezzo-Soprano
Isabel Leonard, Mezzo-Soprano
Audra McDonald, Vocalist
Michael Feinstein, Vocalist and Piano
Emanuel Ax, Piano
Andy Einhorn, Piano
Evgeny Kissin, Piano
Lang Lang, Piano
Daniil Trifonov, Piano
Oratorio Society of New York
Kent Tritle, Director