From the last quarter of the nineteenth century, he used his wealth to promote public interest in symphonic and "semi-classical" music by helping to form and establish the Oratorio Society of New York and funding construction of the Naumburg Bandshell, which honors his name, on the Concert Ground of the Central Park Mall.
[1] Naumburg was born to a Jewish family in Treuchtlingen, Bavaria, in 1835, and emigrated with his parents to the United States at age 15 to escape the growing anti-Semitism of his native land.
An amateur pianist with no formal training, he was unable at that time to afford purchasing concert tickets for famous performers like Vieuxtemps and Thalberg.
[4] The parlor of his Manhattan townhouse hosted pianists, opera singers and string quartets, and soon became a forum for celebrities of the music field.
Elkan's own connection to the Oratorio Society of New York likely constituted some specific help as they went on to form the group, and he then served briefly on its board, when it first began.
[8] With Andrew Carnegie, E. Francis Hyde and James Loeb, Naumburg also defrayed the expense of bringing several European conductors to New York for the Philharmonic concerts, among them Tiedler and Baumgartner, Vassily Ilich Safonof and Édouard Colonne, Walter Wood and Willem Mengelberg, none of whom had ever previously appeared before American audiences.
For most of this time she was program director of the station and is as much responsible for the growth and accomplishments of WQXR as anyone....it was her enthusiasm and belief in our ultimate success that kept all of us determined to win out.
[19] Subsequently, the hall was saved by Isaac Stern and his colleagues on the Citizens Committee with the cooperation and understanding of Robert E. Simon Jr..