Back in the days before inexpensive guitar tuners, the players in the band would look to the keyboard player to give them the tuning notes they needed. Wow, that seems like the time before the wheel was invented or fire was discovered looking back on it now. You can now buy a great tuner for around 10 bucks that works better than anything available even 10 years ago. With that being said, I had always assumed that the orchestra tuned to the piano as well, but have recently discovered that it’s usually the oboe that all the players will pitch to. Why? Good question.
Read more: http://bobbyowsinskiblog.com/2018/03/08/oboe-tune-orchestra/#ixzz59Axrv5JU
Excellent article.