U.S. Symphony Orchestras

This is a great discussion. I am traveling with my family to spend the weekend in the city of my nearest symphony (one of the tiny ones on the web link; half the state away) and take in two performances. I would love to hold season tickets, but it is challenging with young children and distance. We also attend many of the summer festivals in the Rockies, which is a great place to bring children because it is more relaxed and you can attend the less expensive rehearsals and chamber performances. I frequently observe that we are the only attendees with children. And yes, they pay attention to the performance, or quietly color during inevitable attention lapses. Where will the future be without fascinating the young?

01-26-12: Unsound
"Symphony in C", previously known as the "Haddonfield Symphony" in New Jersey is missing.

Bless your heart! That's the orchestra I serve as a member of the Board of Directors.

No, bless your heart, keep up the good work!

For all you bluegrass folks. Strings as good as Philadelphia / Ormandy. :)

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Onhwy61, thanks for the link. I feel compelled to point out that this list was made by polling critics, not musicians. I assure you the list would be quite a bit different if musicians had been polled. It is also almost four years old now, which is not a long time, but there happens to have been quite a bit of turnover in key positions in many American orchestras the last few years (and I'm sure the same is true in Europe). The top American orchestras, IMO, right now,(and not necessarily in this order!) would be the Met, Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh, LA, NY Phil. There are several others right under those. Certainly the traditional "big five," consisting of New York, Boston, Chicago, Philly, and Cleveland, are not actually the best five anymore, though they still rank that way in salary, along with Pittsburgh and LA and San Francisco. It is absurd that the Met is not higher on that list, and that Pittsburgh is not on it at all. Pittsburgh, for example, became one of only two orchestras in the history of the Proms that got invited back for next summer directly from the stage right after their concert this past summer.

As for the European orchestras, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra is another absurd omission. Also the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. There are some other bizarre selections on that list, but I will not knock my colleagues...

Thanks to all the others posting about the main topic of this thread, and please keep the posts coming! To Gsm18439, I understand your frustration with orchestral marketing departments - believe me, most musicians everywhere are very frustrated right along with you. However, I will say that the managers will be more likely to listen to your concerns when you are supporting them financially. Also, consider writing to them with detailed concerns. If everyone that was frustrated withdrew their support, orchestras would cease to exist for the most part. I would encourage you to renew your support for the NSO - that is actually a very fine orchestra that has greatly improved and is attracting many great young musicians. If you haven't heard them in a few years, I assure you you will hear a distinct improvement if you go again now.