Big Five (orchestras)

The Big Five orchestras of the United States are the five symphony orchestras that led the field in "musical excellence, calibre of musicianship, total contract weeks, weekly basic wages, recording guarantees, and paid vacations" when the term gained currency in the late 1950s and for some years afterwards. In order of foundation, they were:

The term "Big Five" was coined around the time that long-playing recordings became available, regular orchestral radio broadcasts were expanding, and the five orchestras that make up the group had annual concert series in New York City. In the early 20th century, people talked about the "Major Seven" U.S. orchestras. By mid-century, with recordings and radio broadcasts dominated by East Coast ensembles, it became the "Big Three": New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. While this label was still being used in the late 1950s (e.g. Newsweek, 17 February 1958), the growing prestige of the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner at this time saw the "Big Three" become the "Big Five".

People still refer to the "Big Five", but many believe the classification to be outdated. Several critics have suggested that the top echelon be expanded, including Michael Walsh in Time, 1983;Tim Page in Newsday, 1990; and Mark Swed in the Los Angeles Times, 2005. Among the orchestras proposed for inclusion are the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), the Minnesota Orchestra (Minneapolis), and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

...
Wikipedia