Carnegie Hall will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its Concert of the Century with another convening of musical all-stars on May 5.

Organized by famed violinist Isaac Stern, the original 1976 concert brought together some of the world’s greatest musicians for a now-legendary celebration that commemorated the anniversary of the Hall’s May 5, 1891, opening. Fifty years later (and 135 years after the opening of Carnegie Hall), a new lineup of icons will come together for yet another celebration.

Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead the NYO-USA All-Stars, an ensemble of 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 will include the overture to Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, the third movement of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, 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.

Following the NYO-USA program, pianist Evgeny Kissin will perform Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2; mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato will join pianist Emanuel Ax for two of Gustav Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder; the third movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 will be performed by pianist Lang Lang; mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard will sing “Non più mesta accanto al fuoco” from Rossini’s  La Cenerentola; and the third movement of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F will be performed pianist Daniil Trifonov. 

Six-time history-making Tony winner Audra McDonald will partner with longtime music director Andy Einhorn to present songs by Ellington and Gershwin, and 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.

The May 18, 1976, original Concert of the Century featured 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 to establish
the first endowment fund for Carnegie Hall, securing the institution’s
financial future.

The upcoming performance will be available to 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.

For ticket information click here.