Events in Music History in May 1960

Music Concert

May 2 Harry Belafonte's 2nd Carnegie Hall performance (New York City)

Calypso Singer, Actor and Civil Rights Activist Harry Belafonte

May 3 Musical "Fantasticks" by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, opens in Greeenwich Village, NYC, becomes “the longest-running musical in the universe”
May 7 Musical review "From A to Z" closes at Plymouth Theater, NYC, after 21 performances

Flower Drum Song

May 7 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's musical "Flower Drum Song", directed by Gene Kelly, and starring Miyoshi Umeki, closes at St James Theater. NYC, after 602 performances and 1 Tony Award win

May 7 Webster and Fain's musical "Christine", based on Hilda Wernher's novel "My Indian Family", closes at 46th St Theater, NYC, after 12 performances
May 8 1st performance of Ferde Grofé's "San Francisco Suite", with Grofé conducting, in San Francisco

TV Show Appearance

May 12 Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra television special; Elvis sings Sinatra's 1957 Cy Coleman hit "Witchcraft", and Frank performs Presley's 1956 classic "Love Me Tender"

May 14 Michael Flanders and Donald Swann's musical review "At the Drop of a Hat" closes at John Golden Theater, NYC, after 216 performances
May 14 Virgil Thomson's "Missa Pro Defunctis" premieres in Potsdam, NY

Music History

May 15 Dmitri Shostakovich's 7th String quartet premieres in Leningrad

Music History

May 21 Leontyne Price becomes the first African American to sing the lead at Teatro alla Scala in Milan in "Aida"

May 23 "Got A Girl" by The Four Preps hits #24
May 23 Revival of Burton Lane and Yip Harburg's musical "Finian's Rainbow" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 12 performances