<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Carnegie Hall is named after Andrew Carnegie, who funded its construction . It was intended as a venue for the Oratorio Society of New York and the New York Symphony Society, on whose boards Carnegie served . Construction began in 1890, and was carried out by Isaac A. Hopper and Company . Although the building was in use from April 1891, the official opening night was May 5, with a concert conducted by maestro Walter Damrosch and great Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky . Originally known simply as "Music Hall" (the words "Music Hall founded by Andrew Carnegie" still appear on the façade above the marquee), the hall was renamed Carnegie Hall in 1893 after board members of the Music Hall Company of New York (the hall's original governing body) persuaded Carnegie to allow the use of his name . Several alterations were made to the building between 1893 and 1896, including the addition of two towers of artists' studios, and alterations to the smaller auditorium on the building's lower level . </P> <P> The hall was owned by the Carnegie family until 1925, when Carnegie's widow sold it to a real estate developer, Robert E. Simon . When Simon died in 1935, his son, Robert E. Simon, Jr., became owner . By the mid-1950s, changes in the music business prompted Simon to offer Carnegie Hall for sale to the New York Philharmonic, which booked a majority of the hall's concert dates each year . The orchestra declined, since it planned to move to Lincoln Center, then in the early stages of planning . At the time, it was widely believed that New York City could not support two major concert venues . Facing the loss of the hall's primary tenant, Simon was forced to offer the building for sale . A deal with a commercial developer fell through, and by 1960, with the New York Philharmonic on the move to Lincoln Center, the building was slated for demolition to make way for a commercial skyscraper . Under pressure from a group led by violinist Isaac Stern and many of the artist residents, special legislation was passed that allowed the City of New York to buy the site from Simon for $5 million (which he would use to establish Reston, VA), and in May 1960 the nonprofit Carnegie Hall Corporation was created to run the venue . It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 . </P>

Who conducted the orchestra at the opening of the carnegie hall in 1891