What is the best orchestra in the US?

Answer:

An Inside Look at Five of America's Best OrchestrasChicago Symphony Orchestra. Ranked at number five on the list, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is the highest ranked American orchestra on the list. ... Cleveland Orchestra. ... Los Angeles Philharmonic. ... Boston Symphony Orchestra. ... New York Philharmonic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which string instrument would you find in a symphony orchestra?

A Symphony Orchestra is defined as a large ensemble composed of wind, string, brass and percussion instruments and organized to perform classical music. Wind instruments include flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoons. String instruments include harp, violin, viola, cello, and double bass.

What is the person who controls an orchestra called?

Conductor, in music, a person who conducts an orchestra, chorus, opera company, ballet, or other musical group in the performance and interpretation of ensemble works.

What note does an orchestra tune to?

Orchestras always tune to concert pitch (usually A=440 Hertz, 440 vibrations per second). Conveniently, every string instrument has an A string.

What is special about Simon Bolivar Orchestra?

Named after the Venezuelan national hero Simón Bolívar, it is the apex of the nation's system of youth orchestras, although by 2011, it was no longer officially a youth orchestra because the average age of the players had risen too high. ... Gustavo Dudamel has been the orchestra's artistic director since 1999.

How many pianists are there in a symphony orchestra?

A symphony orchestra will usually have over eighty musicians on its roster, in some cases over a hundred, but the actual number of musicians employed in a particular performance may vary according to the work being played and the size of the venue.

What is orchestra pit seating?

An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incidental music is required.

16 Related Question Answers Found:

Is orchestra or mezzanine better for Hamilton?

Amongst all the three sections, the orchestra has some of the best seats in the theatre. ... For people who would rather not be that close to the stage, there are the elevated front mezzanine seats. The middle seats, numbered 104 to 108, in rows A to C of the mezzanine offer a great look at the stage.

Why is there no piano in an orchestra?

The piano is important in a symphony orchestra for those pieces that include it. But it is not part of traditional orchestration and many composers never included a piano part in their symphonies and other orchestral works, so in that sense it's a less important orchestral instrument overall.

What are the orchestra families?

Orchestra instruments are grouped into four main families: the string family, the woodwind family, the brass family, and the percussion family.

What does the guy in front of the orchestra do?

The guy with the stick is called a conducter and he is very important. He keeps time acting as a sort of metronome for everyone and he also indicates dynamics and such to different sections of the orchestra.

What instruments do orchestras tune to?

In that case, the clarinet becomes the de facto tuning instrument. Then there are keyboard instruments like piano, harpsichord or organ. The entire orchestra must tune to them, but the oboe still plays a role.

What is the orchestrator?

An orchestrator takes a composer's musical sketch and turns it into a score for orchestra, ensemble, or choral group, assigning the instruments and voices according to the composer's intentions.

Where did Wagner put his orchestra?

Wagner was responsible for several theatrical innovations at Bayreuth; these include darkening the auditorium during performances, and placing the orchestra in a pit out of view of the audience.

How many French horns are usually in an orchestra?

There are anywhere from 2 to 8 French horns in an orchestra, and they play both melody and harmony as well as rhythm. To play the French horn, hold it with the bell curving downward and buzz into the mouthpiece.

Do orchestras use microphones?

Since the 1960s, music theatre companies have reinforced the sound of the orchestra by placing microphones on instruments and amplifying them through a public address system. While this results in a louder sound, it may not correctly reproduce the ensemble sound and instrument tone.

Is a saxophone in a symphony orchestra?

Nowadays, the literature for saxophone in symphony orchestra is limited either to composers who wrote jazz-influenced pieces like Gershwin or rare composers like Ravel who simply wanted to hear a saxophone. ... Adolphe Sax's saxophones were constructed differently from instruments made by his contemporaries.

Who sang with the Harry James Orchestra?

As bop surpassed swing by the late 1940s, James was surprisingly open to its influence. For the tracks on this album, James had dropped his string section and vocalists and employed a variety of modern arrangements by Neal Hefti, Frank Devenport, Johnny Richards and Jimmy Mundy, which often inspired his musicians.