Gramophone nominates the CSO for the site’s Orchestra of the Year poll

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is one of 10 ensembles nominated for Orchestra of the Year in the 2023 Gramophone Classical Music Awards. Presented by the British magazine Gramophone, the honor is determined by a public vote and salutes orchestras with exceptional recordings produced in the last year. 

Also nominated are the BBC Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Le Concert des Nations of Spain, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra 
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C.

Voting is now open, and ballots will be tallied until 8 a.m. (London time) on Thursday, Sept. 7. To vote, click on this page and scroll down to a specific orchestra and click on that particular link. (On the same page, there’s another option to vote by checking off your favorite from a list of all 10 nominees.) In true Chicago “vote early and vote often” tradition, Gramophone is allowing people to cast multiple ballots — but you must submit an email address for each vote.

Gramophone editors and reviewers based nominations on the orchestras’ recording work over the last 12 months. They cited “hidden gems such as the music of African-American composer George Walker and Danish composer Rued Langgaard to interpretations of Schubert, Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Haydn,” all reflecting “a rich and vibrant classical music landscape.”

The CSO was nominated for its latest recording on CSO Resound titled “Contemporary American Composers,” with Riccardo Muti leading the orchestra in Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 11, Jessie Montgomery’s Hymn for Everyone and Max Raimi’s Three Lisel Mueller Settings. (The release date is June 16, with physical CDs available in retail outlets worldwide this summer.)

In its nomination, Gramophone observed, “Muti’s repertoire in Chicago has taken some surprising turns, and this month’s release of music by three living composers shines a new light of the great Italian maestro’s autumnal years on the podium.”

Past winners have consisted of the Budapest Festival Orchestra (2022), the Minnesota Orchestra (2021), the Philadelphia Orchestra (2020), the Hong Kong Philharmonic (2019) and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra (2018).
 
To showcase the 2023 nominees, Gramophone has created an Apple Music playlist for each ensemble, featuring recent recordings, as well as treasures from each orchestra’s catalog. The playlists can be heard on Apple Music and found on Gramophone’s website (click here for the CSO playlist). 
 
The Orchestra of the Year winner will be announced Oct. 4 at the 2023 Gramophone Classical Music Awards, a gala ceremony at London’s De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms. In addition to Orchestra of the Year, other honors will be announced, including Artist of the Year, Young Artist of the Year, Label of the Year and Recording of the Year.