Since 1905, Naumburg Orchestral Concerts has presented free classical music in central park’s iconic Naumburg Bandshell. It is the world’s oldest continuous free outdoor classical concert series, and the 2026 season (running June 9-August 4) features pianist Simone Dinnerstein and Baroklyn, The Knights, Nosky’s Baroque Band, Delirium Musicum, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
We spoke to the NOC president Christopher London about Naumburg’s history, how he has helped bring the series into the 21st century, some highlights of his tenure, and more.
Tell us one or two gratifying moments from your own experiences of decades of Naumburg Orchestral Concerts.
Naturally, I always knew about the free concerts my family provided, and about our connection to WQXR radio’s founding and their broadcasts. But in 1993, I was asked to run the concerts and see what might be done to continue them into the next century.
To see the kindness, involvement and support that the NY community provided as I proceeded to sort out the myriad serious issues we had to continue the series was heartening, encouraging and hugely helpful.
We needed to reinvent ourselves entirely, program the series afresh, and contract all the services. The concerts also needed to sort out very serious endowment and financial issues to reach our expanded audience successfully. A series of foundations, wise counsel from soon-to-be excellent friends, and patient and watchful reactions to our changes enabled the NOC to fully refresh our series for a stronger and more engaging future.
One more gratifying moment was successful effort to save the Naumburg Bandshell from its demolition and removal from Central Park’s Concert Ground. As a great-grandson of Elkan Naumburg, who built the bandshell in 1905, and as an architectural historian with a doctorate in that field from Oxford, saving this handsome, thoughtfully sited and acoustically highly functional building was pleasing and very surprising all at once.
If you could time-travel to see any concert from the series’ storied past, what concert would you go back to see?
Three of my very favorites are The Venice Baroque Orchestra in 2019, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra & pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii from the 111th season in 2018, and our Astor Piazzola concert in 2012.
How do you think things have changed – or not! - since those first concerts in the early 20th century.
The concerts have changed quite a lot since the early 20th century.
The size of the ensembles we present has reduced considerably, and we no longer need to use risers on the stage. That is because we can now amplify our performances thoughtfully.
More changes include a wider selection of music performed. We offer a range of contemporary pieces, and twentieth century through baroque works in the broad scope of our events each summer.
In the early 20th century, the events were offered on national holidays, to catch audience with ‘time off’. But people’s habits have changed considerably since then, and so we have adapted the series accordingly. We now have concerts every other Tuesday evening throughout the summer season.
We benefit greatly from the technology of live radio broadcasts on WQXR-FM and WQXR.org once again. Broadcasting had previously occurred during the 1940’s through the 1960s at least.
Though we focus on performance excellence, we also make sure to give rising artists and young composers a chance to appear on our series.
It’s the 100th season of Walter W. Naumburg International Competition, and the concert series features a handful of past winners of this award. Could you tell us a little bit about the competition and how it is a distinct entity from Naumburg Orchestral Concerts?
My great-uncle Walter W. Naumburg conceived and founded the idea for the prize in 1926. It was his father, Elkan Naumburg, who started the Naumburg Concerts in 1905.
Walter was a very accomplished cellist with many musical friends. He determined that a prize would help young and aspiring talented musical artists grow their careers. It was his way of continuing and expanding innovatively upon a family tradition of supporting classical music in New York dating back to the 1870’s.
The Naumburg Prize provided the winners an opportunity to perform in various musical halls in Manhattan, which in those days generated numerous concert reviews. As the name and reputation of the Prize grew, through the wise selections of the jury, the award became more valued, and the musicians were more significantly honored by its receipt. One hundred years later, that is obvious by reading the extensive lists of winners, works commissioned, and careers fostered by this effort and singular idea.
NOC boasts the distinction of being the longest continuously running free outdoor series. Through wars, pandemics, good times and not-so-good times... what has kept you and your colleagues and your predecessors going for well over a century?
Classical music provides pleasure, a chance to relax and reflect, and it is an apolitical activity. Throughout the last 121 years, that must be considered a fortunate essential attribute too.
For Elkan and his wife Bertha, their active engagement started with their close friendships. They were close to the Damrosch family, famous singers, critics and many others, described in our long 100th Anniversary history: https://naumburgconcerts.org/history
As the administration of the concerts ultimately was passed down to me, a lot of thought and effort has been focused on how to revive, restore and stabilize the series for a bright future, and much of that work shows its results today.
Yet, as in past generations, the pleasure of quietly acknowledging my fortunate position in life, and my ability to devote a proper amount of time to an effort that indicates my gratitude, remains and is core to me and my family and our board [many of whom are relatives] today.
