If This Hall Could Talk

Famed pianist Vladimir Horowitz was a wonderful eccentric: He was incredibly prolific, practiced assiduously, and played at all hours of the night — leading him to purchase the two houses on either side of him in Manhattan. He often experimented to determine the perfect onstage position for his piano to take full advantage of Carnegie Hall’s legendary acoustics. Horowitz was a frequent recitalist at the Hall, and stagehands knew they would need to locate this precise spot each time he returned. They drove three screws into the stage 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 comprising everyday objects now represents the story of a great artist, his pursuit of excellence, and a career intimately intertwined with the history of Carnegie Hall.  

Guests this episode include classical pianist Gary Graffman, a student of Horowitz’s and now a prominent teacher himself; David Dubal, pianist, teacher, author, and host of WQXR’s Reflections from the Keyboard; and Yulianna Avdeeva, celebrated Russian pianist and winner of the 2010 International Chopin Piano Competition. Members of Carnegie Hall’s Rose Archives and Museum team — including Director Kathleen Sabogal, Assistant Director Rob Hudson, and Founding Archivist and Historian Emeritus Gino Francesconi — are also featured.

If This Hall Could Talk is available wherever you get podcasts. New episodes are released every other week.

Inspired by a booklet and button from a 1910 Woman Suffrage Party Convention, this episode explores how a series of meetings at Carnegie Hall contributed to the evolving national dialogue on women’s rights across the United States. It’s a chapter that illustrates Carnegie Hall’s legacy 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 both the 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.” Members of Carnegie Hall’s Rose Archives and Museum team—including director Kathleen Sabogal, assistant director Rob Hudson, and founding archivist Gino Francesconi — are also featured. 

If This Hall Could Talk is available wherever you get podcasts. New episodes are released every other week.

Benny Goodman’s clarinet is one of the most iconic objects in the Rose Archives and Museum — and possibly the most poignant. When Goodman made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1938, it was a moment that changed both jazz and American culture forever. Not only did Goodman lead one of the first racially integrated groups to perform at Carnegie Hall for a paying audience, but his debut was among the very first times that swing music — often found only in nightclubs and dance halls — was presented in a seated concert hall.  

This setting enabled audiences to engage with the music in a whole new way and granted it greater social and critical acceptance as an art form. The Goodman family donated one of his clarinets to the Hall many years later, and it was this instrument that provided the initial inspiration for Carnegie Hall’s Rose Museum in 1991. 

Guests in this episode include Rachel Edelson, 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 Goodman’s clarinet; and Paquito D’Rivera, Grammy Award-winning clarinetist and bandleader. Members of Carnegie Hall’s Rose Archives and Museum team, including assistant director Rob Hudson and founding archivist Gino Francesconi, are also featured. 

If This Hall Could Talk is available wherever you get podcasts. New episodes are released every other week.

From The Beatles to Chicago, Pink Floyd to Joni Mitchell, Carnegie Hall’s stage has hosted the best of the best when it comes to rock and popular music, especially during the early 1970s. This episode tells the story of how some of the most famous acts of the day shaped the identity of the hall and revolutionized how and where rock music could be heard. We also explore the creation of Carnegie Hall’s special T-shirts for ushers, which better fit the vibe, energy, and milieu of these concerts. 

Guests featured on this episode include legendary concert promoter and New York treasure Ron Delsener, one of the era’s top producers; Lee Loughnane, trumpeter and founding member of the rock band Chicago; and Alan Light, former editor-in-chief of magazines Vibe and Spin and former senior writer for Rolling Stone. Also featured is Gino Francesconi, the founding archivist of Carnegie Hall’s Rose Archives and Museum. 

If This Hall Could Talk is available wherever you get podcasts. New episodes are released every other week.

Ella Fitzgerald made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1947 and returned more than 40 times before her final performance in 1991. When asked if she wanted to let a pack of fans greet her backstage after a performance at the Hall, she replied, “Oh yes, you’d better let them back. Someday, they may not want to come.” The beloved “First Lady of Song” was self-conscious and shy, hyper-aware of the fleeting nature of fame and recognition. Yet she projected an enchanting stage presence, a singular voice combined with improvisational mastery, and a signature sense of style — including her eyewear, like the pair of glasses seen on Ella’s 1973 "Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall" album cover, which are now housed in Carnegie Hall’s Rose Archives.  

Guests featured in this episode include vocalist Samara Joy (2023 Grammy Award winner for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album) and Fran Rosman, executive director of the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation and archivist of the Ella Fitzgerald estate. Members of Carnegie Hall’s Rose Archives and Museum team, including director Kathleen Sabogal, assistant director Rob Hudson, and founding archivist Gino Francesconi, are also featured. 

If This Hall Could Talk is available wherever you get podcasts. New episodes are released every other week.

This episode looks at a momentous Carnegie Hall concert — the 1961 tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — and the roles that the Rat Pack and many other artists played in supporting Dr. King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference at a pivotal moment of growth for the organization and the Civil Rights Movement. 

Guests featured in this episode include Jonathan Eig, author of “King: A Life,” a 2023 biography of Dr. King; 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. Members of Carnegie Hall’s Rose Museum and Archives team—including director Kathleen Sabogal, assistant director Rob Hudson, and founding archivist Gino Francesconi—are also featured. 

If This Hall Could Talk is available wherever you get podcasts. New episodes are released every other week.

After more than a century, an unexpected piece of ephemera from May 5, 1891 — a ticket from Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night — made its way back to the Hall and into its archival collection in the Rose Museum. This episode travels back to that historic opening concert, and the Gilded Age world of Andrew Carnegie’s New York City, exploring what made Carnegie Hall unlike any other concert hall ever built — and how it remains one of a kind today.

Guests in this episode include Carol Binkowski, author of "Opening Carnegie Hall"; Phillip Lopate, author of books including "Waterfront: A Walk Around Manhattan"; Emanuel Ax, award-winning pianist who has performed at the Hall more than 120 times over the last 50 years; and Kent Tritle, artistic director of the Oratorio Society of New York, which was featured on Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night and still performs at the hall today. Members of Carnegie Hall’s Rose Museum and Archives team—including director Kathleen Sabogal, assistant director Rob Hudson, and founding archivist Gino Francesconi—are also featured.

If This Hall Could Talk is available wherever you get podcasts. New episodes are released every other week.

This episode of If This Hall Could Talk takes a close look at a Carnegie Hall icon: Judy Garland. With her magnificent and complex character, a public persona that often differed from her private reality, and incredible vivacity in the face of personal adversity, Garland is a figure who has long inspired and fascinated fans. The album from her landmark 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall captured these dualities, winning five Grammy Awards (including Album of the Year) and spending weeks at the top of the charts. It has also inspired numerous tribute performances, including a concert celebration led by host Jessica Vosk in 2022. 

Among the featured voices in this episode is John Fricke, author of “Judy Garland: World’s Greatest Entertainer,” and Emmy Award–winning producer of documentaries about Judy Garland for the PBS series “American Masters” and A&E.  

If This Hall Could Talk is available wherever you get podcasts. New episodes are released every other week.

If This Hall Could Talk tells the story of culture in America as witnessed at one iconic venue: New York City’s Carnegie Hall. It’s long been a destination for the world’s top musical talents, speakers, activists, and with a history spanning more than 100 years.  Objects from the Carnegie Hall Rose Archives tell a complicated and quirky history of the hall showcasing the creation, development and celebration of uniquely American historical moments and music.

Each episode features an object from the collections of Carnegie Hall’s Rose Archives and uses it as the starting point for stories of broader musical, cultural, and political significance. Hosted by Broadway star Jessica Vosk, the show brings in voices ranging from marquee talent to historical experts, guiding listeners on a journey that is guaranteed to leave them with a newfound appreciation for the breadth, diversity, and endless invention of the country’s musical arts and culture.

If This Hall Could Talk is available wherever you get podcasts. New episodes are released every other week.