Gramophone Announces Nominees for Orchestra of the Year

The Orchestra of the Year Award is the only award decided on by the public

The Gramophone Classical Music Awards has selected the ten contenders for this year's Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year Award.

Gramophone editors and reviewers choose the nominees from their recorded work over the past 12 months. This year's nominees include "a number of collaborations with a new chief conductor that have caught our attention, but also a few long-term partnerships where experience and mutual respect provide their own rewards," the publication's news release reads.

The ten nominees include:

Academy of Ancient Music (United Kingdom)

Accademia Bizantina (Italy)

Bamberger Symphoniker (Germany)

Berliner Philharmoniker (Germany)

The Cleveland Orchestra (USA)

Philharmonia Orchestra (United Kingdom)

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Canada)

Minnesota Orchestra (USA)

Singapore Symphony Orchestra (Singapore)

Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich (Switzerland)

Voting is currently open and will remain so until September 13 at gramophone.co.uk/awards. The winner will be announced on October 5 at the Gramophone Classical Music Awards.

Those who would like to vote are encouraged to listen to the 11 Apple Music playlists curated by Gramophone.

Previous winners were the Seattle Symphony (2018), Hong Kong Philharmonic (2019), and The Philadelphia Orchestra (2020).