YouTube Symphony Orchestra Debuts at a SOLD OUT Carnegie Hall
3,000 Videos, 93 Winners, 33 Countries, 15 Million viewers
 In only 4 months, Classical Movements worked alongside with Google, YouTube and 21C Media, to make all of the flight, hotel and transportation arrangements for the brand new YouTube Symphony Orchestra. In 3 days of 12 hour rehearsals, the much-talked about YouTube Symphony Orchestra reached its summit in April. At Carnegie Hall, 93 musicians from 33 countries, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, came together to play for a sold out crowd.
More than 3,000 videos were submitted by amateur and professional musicians. Voters among the 15 million viewers selected the 93 winners, who ranged from ages 15 to 55. The plan was to form an orchestra using musicians from outside the mainstream of professional orchestra players. The orchestra included a professional poker-player, a surgeon and even a player in a rock band.
Tan Dun conducted the world premiere of a piece written for the occasion, his Internet Symphony No. 1, "Eroica." Additional performances were given by soloist guest stars Gil Shaham, Yuja Wang, Madon Bates, Joshua Roman and soprano Measha Brueggergosman (singing the gibberish lyrics in Cage's bizarre "Aria with Renga"). Lang Lang and Yo Yo Ma joined the spectacle on video. The YouTube Symphony Orchestra, just a few weeks prior to the concert, was listed by Gramophone as one of the ten most inspiring orchestras in the world.
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"This innovative and challenging tour is exactly the kind of project that we as a company love to be involved in, and I am sure that this is why we were the ones asked to do this. Going into this project, we knew that the point was not to create a world-class, legendary orchestra overnight - it was the exciting use of today's technology to broaden the reach of classical music to a larger, more accessible audience."
—Neeta Helms, Classical Movements President |
