Another Gramophone List: The World’s Most Inspiring Orchestras

Following up on last fall’s much-argued-over roster of the planet’s 20 best symphonic ensembles, the magazine’s editors have made a list which “specifically focus[es] on the inspiring social role that orchestras can play.” The ten bands honored include, of course, Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and Dudamel’s Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, but also the Berlin and New York Philharmonics, the Buskaid Ensemble and the YouTube Symphony.