Opus Arte

11 May 1945 – debut performance of Hashkiveinu, a Hebrew vocal and organ piece by Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein’s religious piece incorporates the prayer text from the Jewish Sabbath evening service and was commissioned for inclusion in a programme of contemporary music to be performed at the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York.

© Carl Van Vechten 1944

5 May 1891 – the official opening of Carnegie Hall, New York. The inaugural concert was conducted by maestro Walter Damrosch and featured the music of composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It was named after entrepreneur and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who paid for its construction, and it was built to serve as the home for the New York Symphony Society and the Oratorio Society of New York. 

© Matchity (2005)