This Month, The Grand Ole Opry Brings Country to Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall’s United in Sound: America at 250 is a multifaceted reflection of the country 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The festival highlights the extraordinary musical riches that have flourished in the US, exploring the endlessly diverse voices and influences that have shaped—and continue to shape—American identity.

At first glance, New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Nashville’s country music mecca the Grand Ole Opry may not seem related. But a look at their respective legacies reveals the renowned concert stages have a lot in common. Steve Buchanan, producer and former president of Opry Entertainment Group, even calls them kin.

“I would say they’re cousins who don’t get to see each other as often as they should,” he says with a chuckle. “But they are family. The Opry and Carnegie Hall both serve similar missions and have common goals to present diverse entertainment and artistry, and to encourage the discovery of new genres, new artists, and new music.” 

Since country is a cornerstone of this country’s collective music culture, the curators of Carnegie Hall’s expansive United in Sound: America at 250—a six-month festival that commemorates our nation’s semiquincentennial—invited the Opry to create a special event on March 20 to showcase its signature Southern style.

The Opry is not usually a touring entity, yet this marks the fourth time it’s presenting at the Hall, underscoring the meaningful relationship between the institutions. Country pioneer Ernest Tubb and various Opry stars—including Hee Haw favorite Minnie Pearl—played a two-night engagement in 1947, followed by a one-off in 1961 that featured the first and only Carnegie Hall appearance by beloved vocalist Patsy Cline. In 2005, the Opry celebrated its 80th anniversary at the Hall with a lineup led by Grammy winners Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, Brad Paisley, and Alison Krauss. 

The upcoming performance illustrates how varied the show’s acts are, encompassing bluegrass, rockabilly, honky-tonk, and folk, in addition to artists who represent numerous other styles. “It’s really. about trying to give audiences at Carnegie Hall a taste of what it would be like if they were in Nashville with us on a Saturday night,” explains Dan Rogers, affectionately known as “Opry Dan,” who started out as an intern and is now senior vice president and executive producer of theGrand Ole Opry.

There’s American Idol winner Scotty McCreery, whose style is influenced by the icons he idolized, such as Hank Williams and Conway Twitty. Husband-and-wife duo The War and Treaty is known for fusing country with blues, gospel, and soul. Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rhonda Vincent won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2017 for All the Rage. There’s also Wyatt Flores, an acclaimed singer-songwriter, who is one of country music’s newest voices. And stand-up comedian Henry Cho, who’s long joked about growing up Korean in Knoxville, is the first Asian American to become a member of the Opry. “I love that we can truly showcase so many styles of American music and entertainment within the context of an Opry show,” Rogers says.

On the air since 1925, the Opry is marking its centennial season, and Rogers and his colleagues were looking to take the celebration beyond Nashville. “We wanted to stage the show in a very special place in the United States,” he recalls. “As we were thinking through possibilities, our friends at Carnegie Hall reached out and we loved the thought of marrying the 100th anniversary of the show that made country music famous with the 250th anniversary of the country in which we’re living. The Opry has only left Nashville a handful of times, and most of those have been to Carnegie Hall. I feel like we bring out something special in each other.”

The Opry’s appearances are part of a rich if under-sung history of country at the Hall, which also includes concerts by legends like Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Tammy Wynette, Emmylou Harris, and Lyle Lovett. “I think audiences get a real kick out of these truly incredible musicians coming to play Carnegie Hall—different from the musicians you often hear on that stage, but great nonetheless,” Rogers says. “Many country music shows at the Hall have had a huge impact, like when Flatt and Scruggs played in the early ’60s,” the latter bringing his singular three-finger banjo-picking style to New York. “That was the beginning of bluegrass being accepted in prestigious venues across the country. Same with Buck Owens and The Buckaroos,” with their fiddle and pedal steel guitar sound. The Opry’s 1947 debut—the first major country concert at the Hall—paved the way for all those artists who came after.

While Rogers acknowledges there were some “raised eyebrows” about that inaugural Opry performance, it proved hugely popular—an early sign that country music’s appeal extended far past the rural Southern communities where the genre was born. All these decades later, he’s thrilled to be bringing the Opry back to the stage of that milestone concert. 

“We’re coming to celebrate the past, present, and future of country music, just as we do every night the curtain goes up at the Opry,” Rogers says. “We’re also coming to celebrate America’s 250th through this uniquely American show emanating out of Nashville. It’s a real honor and just a lot of fun to be able to take our style of entertainment and our part of American history and share it with the folks at Carnegie Hall.”

Visit CarnegieHall.org.