Country crooners come from Nashville and jazz giants jam in New Orleans, but sooner or later, all professional musicians perform in New York City, where they relish the rich experience of playing in our acoustically excellent grand halls, cozy clubs, sprawling arenas, swanky cabarets and laid-back lounges. Here, a medley of music makers reveal their favorite places to put on a show.

Rocking the House
Legendary singer-songwriter Don McLean, best known for his classic early 1970s megahits “American Pie” and “Vincent (Starry Starry Night),” sings the praises of The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd St., 1-212-840-2824), where he’s appearing in concert this month with Dar Williams (Mar. 25). The 90-year-old venue, designed by renowned architects McKim, Mead & White, is “tuned like a musical instrument, so you can perform easily without having any amplification at all,” he explains. “My voice is my instrument. Even though I’m known for some famous songs that I’ve written, my voice is what people come to hear, and it’s shown at its best in a hall like this.”

At 1,500 seats, The Town Hall is far from the biggest room in which to hear the giants of pop and rock. Recently, fans of superstars such as Prince, Lady Gaga and Bon Jovi filled the nearly 20,000-seat arena at Madison Square Garden (Seventh Ave., at W. 33rd St., 1-866-858-0008)—where rental binoculars are available at most concerts—and this month, Elton John (Mar. 16 & 20) brings the house down. Roughly 6,000 music lovers can enjoy the Art Deco splendor of Radio City Music Hall (1260 Sixth Ave., 1-866-858-0008) while listening to alt-rocker Bright Eyes (Mar. 8-9) and pop-punk band Cold War Kids (Mar. 24).

Among the multitude of smaller venues for rock and R&B, Bowery Ballroom (6 Delancey St., 1-800-745-3000) is favored by blue-eyed soul singer Jamie Lidell. “Sometimes a room is awkward, and you can’t see people in the audience,” he says, “but the Bowery has a kind of square shape, which makes you feel like everyone’s there with you and you’re really present.” Lidell also loves Public Assembly (70 N. 6th St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 1-718-384-4586), a stripped-down, no-nonsense performance space in a former mayonnaise factory, which he considers “grungy”—in a good way.

All That Jazz
Superlatives are freely used by jazz musicians to describe all three ultramodern rooms that fall under the umbrella of Jazz at Lincoln Center (Broadway, at W. 60th St.): Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (1-212-258-9595), the Allen Room and Frederick P. Rose Theater (1-212-721-6500). “When venues are that close together and there’s all that great music going on, it’s a special thing,” declares world-renowned jazz pianist and composer Marcus Roberts. “It’s like a jazz festival all the time. Plus, the staff is great, the food is great [at Dizzy’s] and the people in the audience seem to be pretty sophisticated. It’s possible to relax and just play. We can hear and feel the energy of the people.”

Vocalist Jane Monheit agrees. “All of the Jazz at Lincoln Center facilities are state-of-the-art, with impeccable sound, and they’re physically beautiful,” she says, reserving her highest praise for the Allen Room, with its jaw-dropping view of Central Park, Columbus Circle and the Manhattan skyline through a 50-by-90-foot wall of glass. Monheit also extols the virtues of Birdland (315 W. 44th St., 1-212-581-3080), the famed reincarnation of Charlie “Yardbird” Parker’s celebrated namesake jazz roost of the 1940s, which “really feels like home to me.” Acts range from solo musicians to big bands, as well as stars of cabaret and the Broadway stage. Every Monday, the club hosts Jim Caruso’s Cast Party, when theater legends and up-and-comers stop by to belt show tunes with host Jim Caruso. “The owner of the room is there 24 hours a day, overseeing everything from the food to the sound system to the way T-shirts are folded in the souvenir box. I think that’s what makes a club successful in the long run,” says Caruso. “People come because they know something good will happen. To me, that’s a real party.”

With its plush, wood-paneled surroundings and old-world service, the venerable Oak Room at the Algonquin (Algonquin Hotel, 59 W. 44th St., 1-212-840-6800) attracts an urbane clientele that dresses for a sophisticated evening—and a leisurely Sunday brunch, featuring the soigné stylings of pianist and vocalist Barbara Carroll. “The Oak Room is quite intimate,” she says. “Everybody is within touching distance, and it’s particularly conducive to being in touch with the audience.”

The American songbook gets its due at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency (Loews Regency Hotel, 540 Park Ave., 1-212-339-4095), an elegant supper club with opulent décor in a symphony of neutral tones. As a cabaret performer himself, Owner Michael Feinstein has created a nightclub that both audiences and musicians enjoy. “One of the things that makes Feinstein’s work is the comfort level of the room,” he says, noting that elements including sound, lights and chairs have been taken into consideration. In addition, the room “allows performers to connect with audience members, regardless of where they’re seated. There’s not a feeling of separation.”

Classically Trained
Since its completion in 1891, Carnegie Hall (881 Seventh Ave., 1-212-247-7800) has been the standard-bearer of acoustic perfection. “It has to do with the proximity of the audience and the clarity of the sound,” says David Robertson, music director and conductor of the St. Louis Symphony, who this month (Mar. 5) leads Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique,” in the historic auditorium. “There’s a purity of color, which is really important in orchestra music. There are no loudspeakers involved, so you can’t doctor the sound the way you could if it were electronically manipulated. Musicians can hear every one of their colleagues, even if there are 105 people onstage,” he continues. “That means they can make musical decisions regarding precision and blend. As a player, you actually hear any noise in the audience really well, too. Somebody coughs, and it sounds like it’s right next to you. When an audience is very silent and completely engaged, you can feel it. That’s very inspiring for a player. It feels like you’re having a musical dialogue with each member of the audience. It’s a rich experience for everyone.”

Operatic mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who is making her Carnegie Hall recital debut (Mar. 6) and performs the role of Isolier in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Rossini’s Le Comte Ory (Mar. 24 & 29), says that performing at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center (Columbus Ave., btw W. 62nd & W. 65th sts., 1-212-362-6000) is “the highest of the high. You’re part of a huge production, which is thrilling. You can’t help but be awestruck at joining the legacy of great artistry. On top of that, there’s a vast audience that is hungry and expects the greatest. To use a sports analogy, you have to be on top of your game. It’s Wimbledon. It’s the Super Bowl.”

Across the Lincoln Center Plaza, at the newly renovated David H. Koch Theater (1-212-721-6500), the New York City Opera’s spring season kicks off with Donizetti’s bel canto classic The Elixir of Love (Mar. 22); the New York Philharmonic continues its 169th season, under the baton of Music Director Alan Gilbert, at Avery Fisher Hall (1-212-721-6500); and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performs everything from Baroque to new music at newly refurbished Alice Tully Hall (1-212-875-5788).

Country Folks
“There might not be a country music radio station in New York City, but there certainly are plenty of country music fans,” says Nashville-based songwriter Bob DiPiero, who has penned hits for Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire, the Oak Ridge Boys and Brooks & Dunn, and is hosting the seventh annual Country Music Association’s CMA Songwriters Series (Mar. 24) at Joe’s Pub (425 Lafayette St., 1-212-539-8778). Big country music stars often swing through the same gigantic venues as pop and rock icons, but “Joe’s Pub is warm and intimate,” says DiPiero, a Golden Globe and Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for “Coming Home,” featured in Country Strong (2011). “Every performer falls in love with the space.” Among the hit tunesmiths on this year’s lineup are Ashton Shepherd, Rivers Rutherford and Chris Wallin.

Local alt-country/folk singer-songwriter Addie Brownlee is enamored with two off-the-radar Lower East Side venues that have a low-key coffeehouse vibe—The Living Room (154 Ludlow St., 1-212-533-7235) and Rockwood Music Hall (196 Allen St., 1-212-477-4155.) “I love that so many great musicians are willing to play in places where you can fit a maximum of 75 people,” she says. “The cramped feeling, which might not be awesome elsewhere, here means you’re all of a sudden family with the people around you.”