Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance has been awarded since 1959. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:
- From 1959 to 1964 it was awarded as Best Classical Performance - Orchestra
- In 1965 it was Best Performance - Orchestra
- From 1966 to 1975 it returned to Best Classical Performance - Orchestra
- From 1977 to 1978 it was awarded as Best Classical Orchestral Performance
- From 1980 to 1981 it was awarded as Best Classical Orchestral Recording
- In 1983 it was awarded as Best Orchestral Performance
- In 1984 it was awarded as Best Orchestral Recording
- From 1985 to 1987 it returned to being called Best Classical Orchestral Recording
- From 1988 to 1989 it was once again called Best Orchestral Recording
- From 1990 to the present it has returned to being called Best Orchestral Performance'
Until 1989, the Grammy Award went to the conductor only, but since then, the Orchestra has also been given an award.
Recipients
Multiple wins and nominations
The following individuals received two or more Best Orchestral Performance awards:| Wins | Conductor | Nominations |
| 12 | Pierre Boulez | 25 |
| 9 | Georg Solti | 18 |
| 5 | Michael Tilson Thomas | 14 |
| 5 | Gustavo Dudamel | 6 |
| 3 | Leonard Bernstein | 20 |
| 3 | Carlo Maria Giulini | 5 |
| 3 | Erich Leinsdorf | 5 |
| 3 | Andris Nelsons | 3 |
| 2 | James Levine | 10 |
| 2 | Charles Münch | 3 |
| 2 | Robert Shaw | 3 |
| 2 | Leonard Slatkin | 14 |
| 2 | Igor Stravinsky | 2 |
The following individuals received four or more Best Orchestral Performance nominations:
| Nominations | Conductor |
| 25 | Pierre Boulez |
| 20 | Leonard Bernstein |
| 18 | Georg Solti |
| 14 | Leonard Slatkin |
| 14 | Michael Tilson Thomas |
| 10 | James Levine |
| 9 | Herbert von Karajan |
| 9 | José Serebrier |
| 8 | André Previn |
| 7 | Simon Rattle |
| 6 | Morton Gould |
| 6 | Manfred Honeck |
| 6 | Fritz Reiner |
| 6 | George Szell |
| 5 | - |
| 5 | Gustavo Dudamel |
| 5 | Carlo Maria Giulini |
| 5 | Erich Leinsdorf |
| 5 | Osmo Vänskä |
| 5 | Bruno Walter |
| 4 | Claudio Abbado |
| 4 | Valery Gergiev |
| 4 | Nikolaus Harnoncourt |
| 4 | Eugene Ormandy |
| 4 | Esa-Pekka Salonen |