<p>Were any of you as excited as I was to hear last year about the YouTube Orchestra comprised of people who auditioned via YouTube? Successful entrants performed in concert at Carnegie Hall. I loved the idea of musicians around the world being able to use current technology to audition and later be voted on using the Internet.</p>
<p>Too bad I don't have the necessary musicianship skills for this type of undertaking! I think this is an awesome opportunity for someone who does and who is inclined to participate. </p>
<p>Here's a link for further details.</p>
<p>YouTube</a> - symphony's Channel</p>
<p>I read about that, I am glad they are trying it again. I am sure the purists and the ‘real’ afficianados and the like will sneer, but I think it is an interesting experiment in music making. What disturbed me is people saying this isn’t ‘real’ music making, because after all it isn’t playing at the level of the NY Phil or whatever, and that is sad. The point is participatory music, not in creating a world class orchestra, and including a variety of musicians.</p>
<p>What is kind of nice is they are encouraging more non classical musicians to participate, the commissioned piece can be used in auditioning, and they have as samples Mark O’Connor and a digeroo player playing the piece. I seem to recall that something like 15 million people looked at the you tube symphony videos and such, which is important, sometimes I wonder if the people who sneer at this don’t remember something fundamental to things like performance, that if no one is watching what is the point? (or to quote Oscar Wilde, the only thing worse then people talking about you is people not talking about you at all). </p>
<p>There is going to be some irony to this. They are holding the actual event in Australia, at least in part to move it closer to Asia, where so many classical musicians are coming out of. The irony is that more then a few of the participants may be Chinese, but no one back home will be able to see it, because China blocks You Tube…</p>
<p>I am looking forward to see what comes out of this, I hope it shows new ways to do things and others are inspired to find ways to make music more accessible:)</p>
<p>“The point is participatory music, not in creating a world class orchestra, and including a variety of musicians.”</p>
<p>I agree, musicprnt. </p>
<p>One of the things that appeals to me the most is that those selected for this orchestra will be able to meet and to “make music” with other musicians representing many different nationalities. For most people, I think this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. </p>
<p>The opportunity to spend time in Australia (on the list of countries I would love to visit someday) is an added bonus. :)</p>
<p>We were at the 2009 YTSO event in NYC because by daughter was asked by YouTube to be part of their vlogging team. It was a lot of fun (all expenses paid, as well) and spirit of camaraderie and hopefulness was infectious. The level of playing was decidedly mixed, but that had a democratizing effect and kept away any sense of elitism (although YouTube was careful to stack every section with enough fine players to carry the orchestra, and to provide masterclasses from top-of-the-field musicians, such as Roberto Diaz and Joel Smirnoff). I noticed that the competition is not open to previous participants, so many of them are bound to be disappointed.</p>
<p>Glassharmonica…what a great opportunity for you and your daughter to experience the first YTSO concert in person! Was the concert well-attended?</p>
<p>Oh, yes-- with the line up of celebrities like MTT, Tan Dun, Gil Shaham and Yuja Wang, the house was sold out. We were there for the entire summit, not just the concert, so we got to know a lot of the participants and to attend the various events.</p>
<p>It sounds like this was a very memorable experience.</p>
<p>Bumping this thread because my daughter just made it to the finals (the voting stage) of the YTSO II orchestra. Voting is open for 7 days-- December 10 to 17th-- and you can vote once a day. It’s not clear to me if you have to be logged in or not, because the voting appears to work whether or not you are logged in. In any case, final decisions are made by Michael Tilson Thomas, so it’s not a popularity contest. Of the thousands who entered, the field is now narrowed to 300 instrumentalists. It will be further narrowed to 96-100, depending on the number of soloists selected.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter!
(And no, you don’t have to log in to vote).</p>
<p>Glassharmonica,</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter!!! Best wishes to her! I look forward to watching the video clips and voting.</p>