Audra McDonald helps Carnegie Hall celebrate its 120th birthday as part of an all-star gala benefit concert tonight featuring the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Music Director Alan Gilbert. She performs songs by Duke Ellington: "Solitude," "Sophisticated Lady," "On a Turquoise Cloud," and "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing." Pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Gil Shaham, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma join the Philharmonic as guest soloists in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, and the orchestra also performs Dvorák’s Carnival Overture and Gershwin’s An American in Paris, which had its premiere at Carnegie Hall in 1928. Carnegie Hall first opened its doors on this day in 1891.

The Carnegie Hall 120th Anniversary Gala Concert will be recorded for nationwide broadcast on PBS by New York public television station THIRTEEN for WNET’s Great Performances on May 31, 2011. Classical 105.9 FM WQXR in New York will also broadcast the concert then and stream it online at wqxr.org at 8 PM EST. For more information, visit pbs.org.

In honor of tonight's festive occasion, the top of New York City’s Empire State Building will be lit "Carnegie Hall red" tonight. For more on the concert, visit carnegiehall.org.