Inside Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night Gala Featuring Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story

At 7 p.m., every seat in the historic Stern Auditorium was filled. Harding—Music Director of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and Conductor Laureate of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra—joined the NYO-USA All-Stars on the Perelman Stage, which was adorned with bouquets of fuchsia and pink dahlias, roses, and clover. The concert began with three recognizable melodies and rhythms from Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, a continuous orchestral suite—with no pauses—that drew on key moments from the musical, including the hopeful “Somewhere,” the dreamlike “Scherzo,” and the jazzy “Mambo.”

Next, Wang graced the legendary stage for Tchaikovsky’s famous Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23, a fiery yet poignant virtuosic showpiece that she performed while simultaneously directing the orchestra from the piano. Playing for an exhilarating 32 minutes straight, she captivated the audience with her technical command and the emotional artistry the piece evokes. The plummeting fanfares and ascending piano chords that open Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto have moved audiences since its 1875 premiere, and Wang’s lively interpretation brimmed with passion, lyricism, and blazing bravura—true to the spirit of the composer’s original.

Harding returned to conclude the evening’s program with a 20-minute performance of Stravinsky’s 1919 version of The Firebird Suite, a spectacular work that quickly took the music world by storm and remains an all-time favorite for its endearing freshness and vital sense of hope and possibility. The performance received a standing ovation from a crowd that included Cynthia Rowley, Peter Gallagher, Tony winner Will Brill, Gina Gershon, Fran Lebowitz, Eva Amurri, and Steven Van Zandt.

After the rapturous applause faded, a diverse mix of Hollywood stars, philanthropists, politicians, and financiers of all ages flooded 57th Street to hail yellow cabs or locate town cars and Ubers en route to the landmark Cipriani 42nd Street for an extravagant late-night dinner. As partygoers entered the Neo-Renaissance building, they marveled at a gigantic installation fashioned to resemble sheet music, suspended from the soaring ceilings.

Around 10 p.m., guests including Jack Schlossberg, Sen. Chuck Schumer’s press secretary Angelo Roefaro, and Candace Bushnell enjoyed plates of herb-crusted rack of lamb and fresh seasonal ratatouille while listening to remarks by Carnegie Hall Chairman Robert F. Smith, who spoke about the Opening Night Gala’s transformative impact on the Hall’s artistic and educational programming serving audiences in New York City and beyond.

Since its opening in 1891, Carnegie Hall has been the top destination for the greatest artists—from Gustav Mahler and George Gershwin to Billie Holiday and The Beatles. The storied hall continues to present the world’s leading entertainers and a wide variety of programs each season. The 2025–2026 season will feature more than 170 concerts, including United in Sound: America at 250, an expansive citywide festival highlighting the musical riches that developed and flourished in the United States as the country marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“Carnegie Hall is so special in every way and it’s the most quintessential night in New York City,” Rowley said. “I remember the first time I moved to New York and my friend was like, ‘Come to Carnegie Hall. There’s no place like it.’ Since then I have been lucky enough to come periodically, and every time it’s always amazing. There’s really no other place like it here.”