Public Voting Now Open for YouTube Symphony Orchestra

YouTube Users Are Invited to Nominate Participants for Online Collaborative Orchestra’s April 2009 Summit at Carnegie Hall

Videos From 200 Finalists Are Posted on www.YouTube.com/Symphony

It’s election time! YouTube™ invites the public to cast its votes for musicians to perform in the world’s first online collaborative orchestra, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, and convene in a classical music summit at New York City ’s Carnegie Hall in April. Since the launch of this groundbreaking initiative in December 2008, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra’s channel on YouTube has received more than ten million views worldwide with visitors from countries around the world. Nearly 4,000 video performances have been submitted to YouTube, by musicians from Azerbaijan to Venezuela . These participants, consisting of professional and amateur musicians of all ages and on all instruments, represent more than 70 countries and territories on six continents.

Following a preliminary screening by a judging panel of orchestral experts from the London Symphony Orchestra and the orchestras of Berlin, Hong Kong, Sydney, New York, San Francisco and others, 200 finalists have been chosen from whom the YouTube community can vote, at www.YouTube.com/Symphony. The public voting period will end on February 22. Then the YouTube Symphony Orchestra Artistic Advisor and Conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, will review the finalists and YouTube community voting results, before finalizing the selections to create a cohesive symphony orchestra.

Those musicians chosen to participate in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra will be announced on March 2 and invited to travel to New York to participate in a collaborative summit for classical music on April 12-15. They will perform in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.

“It’s astonishing to see so many talented people being inspired to follow their dream of performing music, not just on stage but to a global audience via YouTube. To know we have played a part in this is an incredible feeling,” said Chaz Jenkins of the London Symphony Orchestra.

The YouTube Symphony Orchestra marks the first program on YouTube to welcome submissions from nearly every country in the world, and the channel has been translated into 16 different languages. YouTube.com/Symphony also serves as a classical music channel within YouTube where musicians can collaborate and form a virtual ensemble.

Star artists and harmony on a global scale::
Celebrity star artists such as Chinese pianist Lang Lang, the first YouTube Symphony Orchestra Global Ambassador, founding composer Tan Dun, composer of Internet Symphony No. 1, Eroica (a piece specially arranged for this occasion), and YouTube Symphony Orchestra Artistic Advisor and Conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, have endorsed the project and encouraged participation. More than 3,000 musicians, from Azerbaijan to Venezuela , submitted video performances of Internet Symphony No. 1, Eroica. Selected submissions will be compiled into a mashup video, which will premiere at Carnegie Hall on April 15 and on YouTube.com from April 16.

“YouTube is the biggest stage on Earth, and I want to see what the world’s undiscovered musical geniuses will create on it,” said Dun, Academy Award-winning composer of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon soundtrack.

Changing the face of the classical music audience::
YouTube’s innovative and groundbreaking project is attracting and changing the face of the classical music audience. Many of the ten million views on the YouTube Symphony Orchestra channel are from young people between 13 and 24 years of age. The channel provides a platform for musicians of all ages to flourish, share their creativity, and broadcast themselves.

Mission::
YouTube is a unique platform that connects artists around the world. Classical music brings people together and transcends language. The YouTube Symphony Orchestra furthers YouTube’s original mission of cultivating an online community. The program marks the first time anyone has attempted to bring musicians around the world together through this type of technology.

Education::
YouTube Symphony Orchestra partners, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, have already uploaded educational content in the form of master classes, which can be viewed on the YouTube Symphony Orchestra channel. With the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, YouTube is creating a platform for creative dialogue and instruction, to culminate in the April 12-15 collaborative summit for classical music. Additional institutions participating in the site’s classical music program include the Amsterdam School of Music, Barcelona ’s Liceu, the Moscow Conservatory, Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and others.

Talent discovery:
For musicians of all ages, nationalities, and instruments, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra and summit offer unparalleled reach and the unique chance to perform in front of YouTube’s massive global audience – and on the world’s most famous stage, Carnegie Hall. The participants are showcasing their talent, and their submissions are being seen by many of the world’s leading musicians and judged by a panel of experts from the London Symphony Orchestra and the orchestras of Berlin , Hong Kong, Sydney , New York , and others. As the Intern et democratizes the talent discovery process, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra is providing musicians from unlikely places with a platform to showcase their talents.


The public voting period for participants in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra is from February 14 to 22.
Go to www.YouTube.com/Symphony and vote now!

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