The YouTube Symphony Orchestra (YTSO) is an orchestra assembled by open auditions hosted by

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most vis ...

, the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

and several other worldwide partners. Launched on December 1, 2008, it is the first-ever online collaborative orchestra.

2009

The open call for entries was until January 28, 2009. Musicians wishing to audition had to post a video of themselves playing the " Internet Symphony No. 1 'Eroica'", by

Tan Dun Tan Dun (, ; born 18 August 1957) is a Chinese-born American composer and conductor. A leading figure of contemporary classical music, he draws from a variety of Western and Chinese influences, a dichotomy which has shaped much of his life and ...

, along with a second talent video of themselves playing a preset audition piece to YouTube. Musicians of all cultures were encouraged to audition, as even if a particular instrument was not specifically scored in the original score, a musician was allowed to simply play a part in the same pitch range as their chosen instrument. Judges selected finalists and alternates was from January 29 to February 13, 2009 and the finalists were voted on by the YouTube community from February 14 to February 22, 2009. Winners were announced on March 2, and were invited to travel to New York in April 2009, to participate in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra summit, and play at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built b ...

under the direction of

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of ...

. As of the concert date, there were 15 million views of the YouTube audition tapes. The concert featured a series of short pieces that had been rehearsed for several days, as well as guest soloists

Joshua Roman Joshua Roman (born December 16, 1983) is an American cellist. Background An Oklahoma native, Joshua Roman attended the Cleveland Institute of Music. At CIM, he studied with Richard Aaron and Desmond Hoebig. Roman received his Bachelor of Music ...

Gil Shaham Gil Shaham (Hebrew: גיל שחם; born February 19, 1971) is an American violinist of Israeli Jewish descent. Biography Gil Shaham was born in Urbana, Illinois, while his Israeli parents were on an academic fellowship at the University of Illino ...

Measha Brueggergosman Measha Brueggergosman (née Gosman; June 28, 1977) is a Canadian soprano who performs both as an opera singer and concert artist. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards. Her recordings of both classical and popular music ha ...

Yuja Wang Yuja Wang (; born February 10, 1987) is a Chinese classical pianist. She was born in Beijing, began studying piano there at age six, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Curtis Institute of Music in Phila ...

, and classical / electronica composer

Mason Bates Mason Wesley Bates (born January 23, 1977) is a Grammy award-winning American composer of symphonic music and DJ of electronic dance music. He is the first composer-in-residence of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and he has also be ...

. Three children were tutored for the event by pianist

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...

and played Rachmaninoff's waltz for piano six hands. The Tan Dun submissions were compiled into a mashup video premiered at Carnegie Hall on April 15, then hosted on the "YouTube Symphony Channel" as of April 16.

2011

On October 12, 2010, a video posted on the YouTube Symphony channel announced that they would be doing a second symphony, this time performing at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

on March 20, 2011. Tilson Thomas would again be directing, and had asked Bates to write a piece, entitled ''

Mothership A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft. Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental airc ...

'', in which performers would be invited to improvise with the orchestra, both live and via an uplink. A video of the LSO performing ''Mothership'' was posted on YouTube on October 11, 2010. The concert also featured a performance of Mozart's "Caro bell'idol mio" by

Renée Fleming Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for 1 ...

and the

Sydney Children's Choir Gondwana Choirs is an Australian national choral organisation. It was founded in 1989 as Sydney Children’s Choir by Lyn Williams AM, who is its artistic director. The choirs' rehearsal studios are located at the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct in D ...

. Like the previous year, contestants were required to record themselves performing the piece on their own instruments. However, since the piece features sections of improvisation, players are also invited to send in clips of themselves improvising. Applications closed on November 28, 2010. The performance was broadcast live on Sunday 20th March f 2011at 8pm Sydney time, with rebroadcasts being done throughout the day for each time zone. The completed performance was uploaded to YouTube at the end of March 20 and can now be viewed on the symphony channel. It was "the most-watched live music concert on the Internet", and "the most frequently viewed concert in the history of the video-sharing website".

Reception

As of March 20, 2011, the live feed of the concert was the 21st most viewed event in the Musicians Channel on YouTube. The live stream of the Grand Finale concert at the Sydney Opera House was the largest live stream YouTube ever made, connecting 30.7 million streams on computers and a further 2.8 million streams on mobile devices. The previous leader was U2 live on YouTube.

References

External links

YouTube Symphony Orchestra, Official YouTube Channel
* ttp://www.podst.ru/?area=posts&id=2566 An interview with one of the participants of YouTube Orchestra Gennady Krutikov (26 March 2009) podst.ru
''The Road to Carnegie Hall'' ''(2010)
A documentary about the YTSO

by

Anthony Tommasini Anthony Carl Tommasini (born April 14, 1948) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "a discerning critic, whose taste, knowledge and judgment have made him a must-read", Tommasini was the chief ...

, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (April 16, 2009) {{You Tube Symphony orchestras YouTube Musical groups established in 2009