SPEAKERS

  • Mayor Fiorello La Guardia sold War Bonds there during the Second World War

  • Mayor Jimmy Walker

  • Fidel Castro (April 24, 1959) Click here for a photo of Castro in the Naumburg Bandshell with a crowd of 16,000

  • The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. (1960’s in conjunction with the Hospital Workers Union [1199SEIU] at one time run by Dennis Rivera. Mr. Rivera also spoke there.)

  • Mrs. Coretta Scott King spoke at the Naumburg Bandshell on April 27, 1968, as did The Reverend Ralph Abernathy, on May 12 1968.

  • Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney

SERVICES

  • John Lennon Memorial Service (Candlelight vigil on December 14, 1980)

  • US Postal Service launched John Lennon’s stamp at the Bandshell – 7 September 2018.
    Yahoo News - ABC News

NOTABLE MUSICIANS & COMPOSERS

  • Julius Baker (Flute; 1963)

  • Irving Berlin (Composer/Conductor)

  • Leonard Bernstein (Composer/Conductor)

  • Ellabelle Davis (Vocalist; 1940) NY premiere

  • Duke Ellington (May 1, 1943) War Bond rally broadcast on WEAF and recorded

  • Johnny Gandelsman (2009-14), soloist 2013 (MacArthur Fellowship 2024)

  • Edwin Franko Goldman (Composer/Conductor and Bandleader; 1928-1956) The concerts continued every summer until 1970 and returned in 1998. The Goldman Band no longer exists.

  • Benny Goodman (Clarinet; 1972)

  • Percy Grainger (Composer/Conductor)

  • Grateful Dead (several performances in the 1970’s)

  • Imani Winds (2006 & 2009)

  • B.B. King (1970’s)

  • Igor Kipnis (Harpsichord; 1969)

  • Jaime Laredo (Violinist; 1976)

  • Julius Rudel (Conductor; 1953)

  • Joseph Silverstein (Violinist; 1973)

  • John Philip Sousa (Composer/Bandleader) Film at Library of Congress of his 1920’s Performance.

  • Benita Valente (Soprano; 1976 & 1978)

PRESENTED BY NAUMBURG ORCHESTRAL CONCERTS

Music Composed or Arranged for a first recital at the Naumburg Bandshell

  • J. S. Bach: Fantasia in G Major for Organ BWV 572, Transcription by Leist/Goldman arranged for & premiered at the Naumburg Bandshell, by Goldman Band (1997)

  • Henry Brant: “Festive 80”, premiered by Goldman Band (1998)

  • Anthony Davis: ‘If a Fish Kept His Mouth Shut, He Wouldn't Get Caught!’ (July 11, 2023) Bandshell’s 100th Anniversary year celebration

  • David Handler: Solstice (June 30, 2015)

  • Edwin Franko Goldman: “On the Mall”, premiered at the Naumburg Bandshell opening concert, Sept. 26, 1923

  • Lukas Foss: Suite ‘Salmon Rossi’ (1994)

  • Colin Jacobsen: ‘Bethesda Bliss’ (June 27, 2023) Bandshell’s 100th Anniversary year celebration

  • Martin Kennedy: ‘Bandshell Fanfare’ (June 13, 2023) Bandshell’s 100th Anniversary year celebration

  • Brian Raphael Nabors: ‘Fanfare for a New Era’ (July 25, 2023) Bandshell’s 100th Anniversary year celebration

  • Jens Nygaard: Naumburg Fanfare (1985)

  • Milica Paranosic: ‘Tiha Voda Breg Roni, ‘Quiet water wears down a shore’, (Serbian Proverb)’ (August 1, 2023) Bandshell’s 100th Anniversary year celebration

World Premiere Performance

  • Lisa Bielawa, (1968-): Tempelhof Etude, (June 20, 2011)

  • Shawn Conley, (1983-) Yann’s Flight, [as arranged], (July 19, 2016)

  • Judd Greenstein, (1979-), New Work for Flute and Orchestra, (World Premiere co-commissioned by Naumburg & The Knights), (July 11, 2017)

  • David Handler, (1980-): Solstice, (World Premiere), (June 30, 2015)

  • David Handler, (b.1980), Fanfare & Fugue (for a Fish), (World Premiere), (June 12, 2018)

  • The Knights, Keeping On, (World Premiere), (July 26, 2022)

  • Theodore Antoniou, (1935-2018), Kommos B - Morton Gould in Memoriam, World Premiere (July 11, 1996)

  • Darius Milhaud, (1892-1974): Suite Francaise, – Normandie, Bretagne, Ile de France, Alsace-Lorraine, Provence, (June 13th 1945)

U.S. Premiere Performance

  • Avner Dorman, (b.1975), Nigunim (Violin Concerto No. 2), (2017), NYC premiere, on (July 26, 2022)

  • Judd Greenstein, Four on the Floor (2006), [as arranged, and composer in attendance], (August 4, 2015)

  • Matthew Hindson, (b.1968), Maralinga on (June 27, 2017)

  • Jessie Montgomery, (b. 1981), L.E.S. Characters, (composed 2021, NYC premiere, June 27, 2023)

  • Thea Musgrave, (b.1928), Aurora, (1999), (East Coast premiere), on (June 12, 2018)

  • Othmar Schoeck, (1886-1957), Summer Night, Pastoral Intermezzo for Strings, Op. 58, (1945), NY Premiere on (June 26, 2018)

  • Leó Weiner, (1885-1960), Carnival Humoresque (Fasching), Op. 5, on (July 1, 2003)

  • Sufjan Stevens, (b.1975), Run Rabbit Run, on (July 22, 2014)

Operas And Operettas

  • Béatrice et Bénédict (1972)

  • Count Ory (1974)

  • Don Pasquale (1964)

  • L’Elisir d’Amore (1965)

  • H.M.S. Pinafore (1976)

  • Herodiade (1971)

  • The Italian Girl in Algiers (1966)

  • Faust & Mefistofele – selected arias (1970)

  • The Merry Widow (1978)

  • Mignon (1963) First opera performance in Central Park

  • The Pearl Fishers (1967)

  • The Pirates of Penzance (1977)

  • Werther (1969)

Featured Performers in Naumburg Orchestral Concerts (1905-2022)

Conductors

Vocalists, Female

Vocalists, Male

Violin

Viola

Cello

Bass Viol

  • Murray Shapinsky (1952)

Piano

  • Timo Andres (2014), Elise L. Stoeger Prizewinner, 2025

  • Mitchell Andrews (1966)

  • Andrew Armstrong (2006)

  • Dickran Atamian (1980, 1987)*

  • Chester Barris (1936)

  • Stephen Beus (2010)

  • Alice de Cevee (1937)

  • Simone Dinnerstein (2015, 2017)

  • Marc André Hamelin (2020)

  • Matt Herskowitz (2011, 2012)

  • Stephen Hough (1985)*

  • Jeffrey Kahane (1983)

  • Ruth Laredo (1982, 1986)

  • Eunmi Lee Moon (2000)

  • Christina & Michelle Naughton -Duo- (2014)

  • Linda Osborn-Blaschke (2001)

  • Steven Osborne (2000)*

  • Lois Phelps (1935)

  • Ann Schein (1991)

  • Andre Michel Schub (2006)

  • Nobuyuki Tsujii (2016)

  • Hana Vered (1984)

  • Shai Wosner (2021)

  • William Wolfram (1988)* Silver Medalist

Harpsichord

  • Igor Kipnis (1969)

  • Mary Alderdice (1984)

Harp

  • Asunta Dell’ Aquila (1960)

  • Mario de Stefano (1956)

Guitar

Flute

  • Julius Baker (1963, 1981)

  • Frances Blaisdell (1953)

  • Katherine Fink (1983)

  • Andrea Griminelli (2009)

  • Lisa Hansen (1988)

  • Laura Gilbert (1984)

  • Sato Moughalian (1988)

  • Alex Sopp (2017, & prior)

Clarinet

  • Vasko Dukovski (2016)

  • David Glazer (1961)

  • Benny Goodman (1972)

  • Stanley Drucker (1981)

  • Alexander Fiterstein (2009)

  • Vadim Lando (2009)

  • Charles Neidich (2003, 2005)*

  • Robert Ingliss (1988)

French Horn

  • Joseph Eger (1960)

  • Michael P. Atkinson (2013)

  • David Jolley (1983)

  • Philip Myers (1990)

  • Robert Routch (1984)

Oboe

  • Adam Hollander (2013)

  • Robert Ingliss (1988)

  • Debra Nagy (2024)

ORGAN

  • Ian Watson (2024)

recorder

  • Anna Fusek (2019)

Saxophone

  • John Kelly (2005)

Trombone

  • Ashu (2008)

  • Sy Shaffer (1935, 1955)

  • Scott Hartman (2006)

Trumpet

  • Melvin Broiles (1963)

  • Philip Smith (1980)

  • Raymond Mase (1981, 1984)

  • New York Chamber Symphony Players (1999)

  • Michael Mossman (1986)

Tuba

  • Fritz Geib (1939)

bandoneon

  • J P Jofre (2019)

narrator

  • Zero Mostel (1964; Aaron Copland pieces)

  • Robert Sherman (1985; Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf”)

Wind Ensembles

  • Imani Winds (2006, 2009)

Brass Ensembles

Instrumental Ensembles

  • A Far Cry (2018-2019, 2021-2024)

  • Aulos Ensemble & Friends (2006)

  • Boston Symphony Chamber Players (2015)

  • Brooklyn Philharmonic (2007, 2008)

  • Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (2013, 2014)

  • ECCO, East Coast Chamber Orchestra (2015-19, 2021-23)

  • Ensemble LPR (2015-18)

  • Handel & Haydn Society (2022, 2024)

  • Havana Lyceum Orchestra (2017)

  • Matt Herskowitz (2011)

  • Imani Winds (2006 & 2009)

  • Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players (2008-11)

  • The Knights (2009-19, 2021-4)

  • Melody of the Dragon – Chen Tao (2007)

  • Naumburg Orchestra (various years)

  • Nosky’s Baroque Band (2023-24)

  • Orchestra of St. Luke’s (2018-19)

  • Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (2012-13, 2015-16, 2017-19)

  • Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (2021)

  • Time for Three (2010)

  • Pablo Ziegler, Lara St. John w/ Andrew Roitstein, Claudio Ragazzi and Hector Del Cuerto Celebrate 25th Anniversary of Astor Piazzolla’s 1987 Concert (2012)

  • Ulysses & Emerson String Quartets (2021)

  • Ulysses String Quartet (2020)

  • Venice Baroque Orchestra (2019)

Flamenco

  • Duquende w/Andrés Peña Morón, dancer (2000)

  • Juan Diego & Mateos Reina, guitar (2000)

  • Flamenco Mystico w/Sandra Rivera, dancer; (2002)

  • Flamenco San Juan w/Sandra Rivera, dancer; (2008)

  • Alfonso Cid, cantaor;

  • Arturo Martinez & Carlos Revollar, guitar (2002)

  • La Pasion w/Sandra Rivera, dancer; (2004)

  • Domingo Alvarado, cantaor;

  • Arturo Martinez & Jose Ramos, guitar;

  • Barbara Martinez, cantaora;

  • Tony de Vivo, percussion (2004)

Pipe Music

  • Rumillajata – Music of the Americas

*Walter W. Naumburg International Competition Prize Winner.

**The earliest historical records for the concerts seem to be poorly documented. Yet, this conductor appears to have formed an early and lasting relationship with Elkan Naumburg. That connection is sketchily documented by the NY Times for the earlier Naumburg dates, but in later years he clearly performed for Naumburg, citing the relationship.