[1] He became an orchestral violinist, playing with leading American and European orchestras; he later became the first American-born conductor to work at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Nahan Franko made his debut in 1869 at Steinway Hall, and subsequently toured with Adelina Patti as a child prodigy.

Other works Franko conducted were Roméo, Faust, Zigeunerbaron, Die Fledermaus, Hansel und Gretel, Il Trovatore, Don Giovanni, and two ballets, Coppélia and Bayer's Puppenfee, as well as numerous Sunday-evening concerts.

Married three times, Franko's first wife was Edith Edwards whom he wed and divorced at a young age.

At 68, Nahan Franko died of a blood clot at his Amityville, New York home where he was recuperating from an earlier stroke.