IF THIS HALL COULD TALK
CARNEGIE HALL in partnership with WQXR presents new eight-episode podcast series that takes listeners on a fascinating tour through history
Each installment focused on a unique artifact from Carnegie Hall’s Rose Archives, connected to a landmark event
Hosted by Broadway’s Jessica Vosk, new series debuts today, May 2
Listen to the first episode here
(NEW YORK, NY; May 2, 2024)— Today, Carnegie Hall in partnership with WQXR is excited to launch If This Hall Could Talk, a new eight-episode podcast series that delves into stories of great performances and the shaping of American culture as witnessed at one iconic venue: New York City’s Carnegie Hall.
Carnegie Hall has long been the destination for the world’s top musical talents, speakers, activists, world figures, and notable personalities with a history spanning more than 130 years. Each podcast episode in this series will center on a unique object drawn from the collection of Carnegie Hall’s Rose Archives. These featured artifacts illuminate the rich and sometimes quirky history of the Hall while also serving as the starting point for fascinating stories of broader musical, cultural, and political significance.
Hosted by celebrated Broadway actress/vocalist Jessica Vosk, each episode incorporates voices ranging from marquee musical talent to history experts, including members of Carnegie Hall’s own Rose Archives team, inviting listeners to relive incredible moments that have helped shape the culture that we live in today.
The series’ debut episode focuses on one of Carnegie Hall’s most prized possessions—a signed album cover from Judy Garland’s groundbreaking 1961 comeback concert at Carnegie Hall—taking listeners back to what has been described as perhaps “the greatest night in show business history.”
Other archival items featured on the podcast include a ticket from Carnegie Hall’s opening night in 1891; a booklet and button from a Women’s Suffrage Party Convention in 1910; a clarinet played by Benny Goodman, renowned for his history-making swing concert in 1938; a program from the legendary 1961 concert paying tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., featuring members of the Rat Pack plus an array of other artists; the glasses worn by Ella Fitzgerald on her 1973 Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall album cover; nails pounded into Carnegie Hall’s main stage so that stagehands would always remember the exact spot to place Vladimir Horowitz’s piano; plus a custom t-shirt worn by ushers for rock concerts in the 1970s when the Hall hosted the Beach Boys, Chicago, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, and others.
“For performers, the name ‘Carnegie Hall’ is synonymous with ‘making it,” said Jessica Vosk. “When I made my Carnegie Hall debut, it was thrilling! I kept thinking about the incredible history that came before me, and how that stage has welcomed some of the most important cultural figures of the last century. That’s why I’m so excited to be hosting this new podcast, taking a closer look at the many special stories found at the Hall and sharing them with people who love music, history, and all the great things that make New York, New York.”
“Since the day Carnegie Hall opened its doors, it has been the destination for the best in music from around the world and a place that has played a central role in the development of American culture,” said Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall. “The many amazing people who have graced the stage have each helped to shape this Hall’s singular legacy. We are delighted to partner with WQXR to shine a light on a few of our favorite chapters of Carnegie Hall’s extraordinary history, telling these stories in refreshingly new ways and sharing them broadly with new audiences.”
“WQXR is thrilled to share the legacy of Carnegie Hall with audiences around the globe,” said Ed Yim, Chief Content Officer, WQXR. “The stories in this podcast capture the sense of joy and discovery that continues to infuse this beloved New York institution. It’s an honor and pleasure to expand our partnership with Carnegie Hall with this project.”
Beginning today, listeners can find If This Hall Could Talk at ifthishallcouldtalkpodcast.org and on all platforms where podcasts are available. New episodes will be released on a biweekly basis. If This Hall Could Talk is produced by Carnegie Hall with SOUND MADE PUBLIC and distributed by WQXR.
Episode descriptions are as follows:
Episode 1: Judy Garland’s Autographed Album Cover
This opening episode takes a close look at Judy Garland: her magnificent and complex character, her public persona that was quite distinct from her private one and, of course, her landmark 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall which captured her vivacity in the face of personal adversity. The album recorded during her two nights at Carnegie Hall won five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, sat at the top of the charts for weeks, and inspired several tribute performances over the decades, including one at the Hall by host Jessica Vosk in 2022.
Among the featured voices in this episode is John Fricke, the author of Judy Garland: World’s Greatest Entertainer. He is a two-time Emmy Award-winning producer for PBS’ American Masters and A&E biography documentaries about Judy Garland.
Episode 2: Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night Ticket
More than 100 years after Carnegie Hall opened, a ticket from its inaugural concert on May 5, 1891 made its way back into its archival collection, later to be put on display in its Rose Museum. This episode travels back to that historic concert, entering the world of Andrew Carnegie and Gilded Age New York to explore what made Carnegie Hall unlike any concert hall built before or since.
Guests for this episode include Carol Binkowski, author of Opening Carnegie Hall; Philip Lopate, author of Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan; Emanuel Ax, award-winning pianist who has performed at the Hall more than 120 times in the last 50 years; and Kent Tritle, artistic director of the Oratorio Society of New York, the choir featured on Carnegie Hall’s opening night which still performs at the Hall to this day.
Episode 3: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Concert Flyer
This episode looks at a momentous Carnegie Hall concert—the 1961 tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It highlights the roles the Rat Pack and many other artists played in supporting Dr. King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference at a pivotal moment of inflection and growth.
Featured on this episode: Jonathan Eig, author of King: A Life, a 2023 biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.; Tom Santopietro, author of Sinatra in Hollywood; Will Friedwald, author of Sinatra! The Song is You and The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums; Emilie Raymond, author of Stars for Freedom: Hollywood, Black Celebrities, and the Civil Rights Movement; and Davóne Tines, path-breaking artist and singer.
Episode 4: Ella Fitzgerald’s Glasses
Ella Fitzgerald made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1947, and returned more than 40 times through 1991. Ella was once asked if she wanted to let fans come backstage at the Hall to greet her after a performance. Aware of the fleeting nature of fame and recognition, she said, “Oh yes—you’d better let them back. Someday, they may not want to come.” Though she was self-conscious and shy, she projected an enchanting stage presence and a sense of style that became iconic—including her eyewear. The pair of glasses that she wore on her 1973 Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall album cover has since found a home in the Hall’s archives.
Among the featured guests in this episode are vocalist Samara Joy, 2023 Grammy Award winner for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album; and Fran Rosman, executive director and archivist to the Ella Fitzgerald Estate.
Episode 5: Carnegie Hall’s Rock T-Shirt
From the Beach Boys to Chicago, Pink Floyd to Joni Mitchell, Carnegie Hall’s stage has hosted the best of the best when it comes to rock, especially during the 1970s. One of the top producers behind this prolific era was Ron Delsener, a legendary concert promoter and New York treasure.
Recognizing that the formal usher attire of the day was incongruous with these more casual concerts and their audiences, Carnegie Hall created a special ushers’ t-shirt that fit with the vibe at these performances. This episode tells the story of how the most iconic rock bands shaped the identity of the Hall and revolutionized how and where rock music could be heard.
Guests joining Delsener are Lee Loughnane, trumpeter and founding member of the rock band Chicago; and Alan Light, former editor-in-chief of Vibe and Spin magazines, and former senior writer for Rolling Stone.
Episode 6: Benny Goodman’s Clarinet
Benny Goodman’s clarinet may be one of the most iconic objects in the Rose Archives, and possibly the most poetic. Goodman, a name that has now become inextricable from the history of jazz, made his debut on the Carnegie Hall stage in 1938, changing both jazz and American culture forever. It was the first time swing music, often relegated to nightclubs and dance halls, was presented in concert, conferring it with the respect associated with the concert hall. Goodman led one of the first racially integrated groups to perform in front of a paying audience, evincing a sea change in music and society. Donated to the Hall by the Goodman family many years later, his clarinet became the inspiration for Carnegie Hall’s Rose Museum in 1991.
Guests for this episode include Rachel Edelman, Benny Goodman’s daughter; Jon Hancock, author of Benny Goodman: The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert; Tomoji Hirakata, Yamaha Senior Technical Specialist and technician for Benny Goodman’s clarinet; and Paquito D’Rivera, Grammy Award-winning clarinetist and bandleader.
Episode 7: Women’s Suffrage Party Convention Booklet and Button
This episode, inspired by a booklet and button from a Women’s Suffrage Party Convention held in 1910, centers on a series of meetings at Carnegie Hall that contributed to and reflected an evolving national dialogue and changing sentiments on women’s rights across the United States. It illustrates Carnegie Hall’s legacy is not only as a music hall, but also as a center for political discourse, activism, and social change.
Guests include Marcia Chatelain, an expert on the Black suffragists movement and author of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America; Coline Jenkins, an expert on the suffragists and great-great-granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and great-granddaughter of Harriot Stanton Blatch; and Susan Ware, author of Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote.
Episode 8: Horowitz’s Nails
Famed pianist Vladimir Horowitz was a wonderful eccentric. A frequent recitalist at Carnegie Hall, he often experimented until he found the best possible position for his piano on stage to take advantage of the Hall’s renowned acoustics. Stagehands knew they would need to find this perfect spot again and again, so they drove three nails into the floor to mark the three legs of the instrument. When the Hall was renovated in 1986, those pieces of the stage were saved for the archival collection. What started as a convenient reminder now represents the story of a great artist, his pursuit of excellence, and a career intimately intertwined with the history of Carnegie Hall itself.
Guests for this episode include classical pianist Gary Graffman, a student of Horowitz and now a prominent teacher; David Dubal, pianist, teacher, author, and host of WQXR’s Reflections from the Keyboard; and Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, winner of the 2010 Chopin Competition.
Host of If This Hall Could Talk, Jessica Vosk is a celebrated singer and actress known for stirring roles on the musical theater and concert stage. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in November 2021 in a sold-out solo show titled “My Golden Age,” returning in 2022 with “Get Happy,” a celebration of the life and artistry of the one-of-a-kind entertainer Judy Garland. On the Broadway stage, Vosk’s work has included an acclaimed two-year run as Elphaba in Wicked, among other roles. She had an unconventional journey to the Great White Way, starting her career on Wall Street before taking the leap of faith to pursue her dreams. Her story has been profiled on ABC’s 20/20 and on NBC’s Nightly News with Lester Holt.
Carnegie Hall’s Archives was established in 1986 in preparation for the Hall’s centennial celebrations in 1991. Since no central repository existed prior to that time, a significant portion of the Hall’s documented history had been lost, discarded, or otherwise forgotten. Over the last more than 30 years, Carnegie Hall’s Archives team—first under the leadership of Gino Francesconi who served as director of the Hall’s Archives and Rose Museum from 1986 through 2020— meticulously re-constructed the Hall’s history, frequently turning to concertgoers, artists, and music lovers across the country to collect more than 300,000 items related to more than 50,000 performances and events in its three concert halls; construction of the building and its subsequent alterations; and the many notable artists, world figures, and personalities who have graced the Hall’s stages. Many of these artifacts have been put on display to concertgoers and the public in Carnegie Hall’s Rose Museum, opened in 1991 and funded by the Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation.
In 2012, the Archives entered a new chapter launching an initiative to conserve and digitize most of its historic materials, ensuring that the Hall’s legacy is preserved and can be shared with future generations forever. In 2013, searchable program information from 1891 through the present day was made available directly to the public through the Performance History Search, continuously updated on the Carnegie Hall website. In 2019, the Hall’s new Digital Collections invited the public to search and explore select archival collections online for the very first time. In 2021, the Hall’s historical collections were named as the Carnegie Hall Susan W. Rose Archives in recognition of Mrs. Rose’s longstanding support of the archives and Rose Museum over the last 30 years.
Note to journalists: Please click here to access podcast artwork and photos of host Jessica Vosk.
Lead funding for the Digital Collections of the Carnegie Hall Susan W. Rose Archives has been generously provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York, Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation, and Mellon Foundation. Public support has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional funding has been provided for the Carnegie Hall Films Company Collection with support from the National Film Preservation Foundation, and by the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) through the New York State Regional Bibliographic Databases Program.
About Carnegie Hall
Since it opened in 1891, Carnegie Hall has set the international standard for musical excellence as the aspirational destination for the world’s finest artists. From Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, Mahler, and Bartók to George Gershwin, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Judy Garland, and The Beatles, music-making by a long list of artists representing the best of every genre has filled Carnegie Hall over the years. The Hall’s unique history has grown out of its stunning acoustics, the beauty of its three concert halls, and its location in New York City, where it has played a central role in helping to elevate the city into one of the world’s great cultural capitals.
Today, Carnegie Hall presents a wide range of performances each season on its three stages—the renowned Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, intimate Weill Recital Hall, and innovative Zankel Hall—including concert series curated by acclaimed artists and composers; citywide festivals featuring collaborations with leading NYC cultural institutions; orchestral performances, chamber music, new music concerts, and recitals; and the best in jazz, global, and popular music.
Complementing these performance activities, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute creates wide-reaching music education and social impact programs that annually serve more than 800,000 people in the New York City area, nationally, and internationally. These programs, along with a growing range of digital initiatives that extend Carnegie Hall’s reach to music lovers worldwide—play a central role in delivering on Carnegie Hall’s commitment to making great music accessible to as many people as possible.
About WQXR
WQXR is New York City’s only all-classical music station, immersing listeners in the city’s rich musical life on-air at 105.9FM, online at WQXR.org, and in the community through live events and performances. An essential partner to the city’s musical and cultural organizations, WQXR presents new and archival classical recordings and performances from New York City’s esteemed performance venues. Signature programs include Carnegie Hall Live, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcasts, New York Philharmonic This Week, New York in Concert, and the Young Artists Showcase. WQXR also produces podcasts that showcase compelling storytelling and powerful music: The Open Ears Project, Made in New York: the NY Philharmonic Story, Every Voice with Terrance McKnight, Helga, and Aria Code, a joint project with the Metropolitan Opera. As a public media station, WQXR is supported through the generosity of its members, donors, and sponsors, making classical music relevant, accessible and inspiring for all.
Leadership support for WQXR is provided by The Jerome L. Greene Foundation, the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation, and The Thompson Family Foundation. Additional support is provided in part by The Alphadyne Foundation, The Amphion Foundation, The Augustine Foundation, The Carson Family Charitable Trust, the Johnny Carson Foundation, the Edward T. Cone Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Jim Cox, Jr. Foundation, The Enoch Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Family Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council.
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