It was Walter who would make the rich Scotsman Andrew Carnegie realize that New York needed a really good concert hall and on May 5 , 1891 both Walter and the Russian composer Tchaikovsky conducted at the first concert of the city 's new Music Hall . A few years later this new hall was renamed Carnegie Hall after the man who gave the money for it to be built . It was Walter who would convince Andrew Carnegie that New York needed a first-class concert hall and on May 5 , 1891 both Walter and Russian composer Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky conducted at the inaugural concert of the city 's new Music Hall , which in a few years would be renamed for its primary benefactor , Andrew Carnegie .