Gramophone is delighted to announce the six ensembles nominated for the 2024 Orchestra of the Year Award. This is the only Gramophone Award decided by public vote, this prestigious accolade highlights ensembles who have produced exceptional recordings over the past year.

The nominees are:

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Czech Philharmonic

Les Talens Lyriques

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Sinfonia of London

Voting closes at midnight (GMT) on September 8, 2024. Vote using the form at the bottom of this page or by following this link: Orchestra of the Year 2024

Explore the nominees

Les Talens Lyriques

Les Talens Lyriques has long excelled in taking repertoire known and unknown and breathing vivid life into it, making music from the Baroque and beyond as thrilling as it would have been for its first audiences. Founder Christophe Rousset's ever-questing musical mind has brought us exceptional recordings of works as varied as Bertin's Fausto (a discovery for most, and an Editor's Choice in February) and Lully's Thésée (12/23), emphasising his expertise as a conductor who unfailingly gets the very best from instrumentalists and singers alike.

➤ Vote for Les Talens Lyriques

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France

As a broadcast ensemble, this excellent orchestra is no stranger to the studio, offering audiences in France and beyond the chance to share in their musical explorations. Two releases this past year particularly capture their affinity with works both old and new, whether it be accompanying Asmik Grigorian, one of today's most compelling sopranos, in the exquisite orchestral score of Strauss's beloved Four Last Songs (3/24), or immersing themselves and us in the rich contemporary colours of Kaija Saariaho (3/24).

➤ Vote for Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France

Czech Philharmonic

That the Czech Philharmonic should have brought such rich sensitivity to Magdalena Kožená’s recital of Czech songs (07/24), or together with Semyon Bychkov offered an account of Smetana’s Má vlast so powerfully resonant in understanding and affection (04/24), comes as no surprise. But add in a revelatory Mahler Symphony No 1 (11/23), or even the recent album of contemporary works from the orchestra's Wind Ensemble, ‘Chromosphere’ (2/24), and you find yourself in the company of a thoroughbred orchestra of immaculate virtuosity.

➤ Vote for Czech Philharmonic

Sinfonia of London

In its relatively short existence, this regular gathering of some of the finest orchestral players under the visionary leadership of conductor John Wilson (and with brilliant support from Chandos) has injected an invigorating energy into orchestral studio recordings. Whether in an ongoing survey of music by Kenneth Fuchs (most recently Vol 2, 7/24), carefully curated and brilliantly performed programmes featuring Lennox Berkeley, Adam Pounds and Ravel (2/24) and Bacewicz, Enescu and Ysaÿe (4/24), or an Oklahoma! that is infused with devotion in every bar (10/23), this orchestra shines brightly, album after album.

➤ Vote for Sinfonia of London

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

An extraordinary account of Mahler’s Symphony No 6 conducted by Sir Simon Rattle scooped our Recording of the Month accolade in April – we believe this will occupy a revered place in the catalogue for years to come. This is an ensemble on astonishing form – though other recent issues of earlier recordings with Zubin Metha and Mariss Jansons remind us this is nothing new – in the broadest of symphonic repertoire, as the latest release of music by Helmut Lachenmann (6/24), or their accompaniment of Isabelle Faust in Britten’s Violin Concerto (5/24), so convincingly demonstrates.

➤ Vote for Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Manfred Honeck have, on many recent occasions, transfixed with recordings of inspiring impact, texture and precision, all caught in enviable audiophile sound by Reference Recordings. This is no better demonstrated than by their sensational Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5, paired with Schulhoff's Five Pieces, which was Gramophone’s Recording of the Month last September, while a newly released and deeply felt Bruckner Seventh only confirms this orchestra's current reputation as absolutely first-class.

➤ Vote for Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

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