YouTube Symphony Orchestra Members Chosen

90 Musicians Will Play at Carnegie Hall Under Michael Thomas Tilson

Mar 10, 2009

After months of receiving and judging video submissions, the auditions are over and the YouTube Symphony Orchestra announced its final roster on March 2.

Certainly, anyone can post a video of themselves on YouTube's video sharing website, but not everyone will gain viewer approval. For the thousands of professional and amateur musicians who submitted videos for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra auditions, the answer is not that different from the usual response: practice, practice, practice.

After sifting through some 3,000 videos, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra selected 200 promising musicians and put the finalists on trial for viewer voting. Finally, on March 2, the fledgling internet symphony roster was announced: 90 lucky musicians from 13 different states and 29 different countries would get to perform a new symphony composed by Tan Dun. This symphony, entitled "Internet Symphony No. 1, Eroica," was written especially for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra.

After three days of masterclasses and rehearsals in New York City, the musicians will perform on April 15, 2009. And, yes, the musicians will be playing in Carnegie Hall, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas of the San Francisco Symphony.

YouTube Symphony Orchestra: A Mash-Up Performance and Live Concert

A large-scale project intended to harness the collaborative power of the internet, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra is a joint venture between YouTube, the London Symphony Orchestra, and other classical music experts and organizations from around the world. The audition process called for each potential orchestra member to submit two videos: one to demonstrate general talent and another to be used for a classical music video mash-up performance.

This second video records each musician performing his or her part of Dun's symphony. A flutist, for example, sent in a video of just the flute part. A cellist submitted a video of just the cello part. To complement the live concert, the video mash-up of all these individual performances will showcase the virtual version of the orchestra on April 15 as well.

Tan Dun: Chinese Composer

In addition to his work for the YouTube Symphony, the Chinese composer Tan Dun has written music for other worldwide events: it was his work that served as the official music for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He has also composed several film scores, including the music for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. He has also composed works for unusual (or previously nonexistent) instruments, such as the Paper Concerto for Paper Percussion and Orchestra (2003).

Sources

Itzkoff, Dave. "YouTube Orchestra's Inaugural Roster Is Uploaded." March 3, 2009. New York Times.

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