Seen and Heard International // Gil Shaham and The Knights open the 116th season of Naumburg Orchestral Concerts in Central Park

“It was a perfect June evening in New York, and there was much to celebrate. The Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, the world’s oldest free and continuous outdoor classical series, was launching its 116th season at the newly restored Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. If that wasn’t reason enough to celebrate, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo had announced earlier in the day that 70 percent of adults in New York State had received at least one dose of the vaccine, and virtually all restrictions on business and social gatherings were lifted. Life was returning to normal.

The Naumburg family’s love of music and their desire to share it with others has spanned over 150 years, but it was in 1905 that Elkan Naumburg envisioned presenting free symphonic concerts in Central Park. Naumburg, who was born in Bavaria in 1835, immigrated to the US when he was 15 years old and settled in New York three years later. He amassed a fortune though a career that saw him rise from merchant to banker. The bank that he founded, E. Naumburg & Co., was one of the largest commercial banks on Wall Street, rivaled at the time by Goldman Sachs.”