On Oct. 6, 2008, the London Symphony Orchestra came together to perform a symphony specifically video-taped for YouTube, conducted by its composer Tan Dun. From this performance came the idea of an even more outstanding project: create a YouTube Orchestra, made up of YouTube users.
Dun, best known for his Grammy Award winning scores for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and more recently the official music for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said that it was while he was writing the piece performed by the LSO in October that he realized music can come from anywhere. “I was passing by a garage and found brake drums from a part of an automobile and it was a beautiful sound… From it I heard Beethoven,” said Dun.
He said it was through that experience he came to the realization that “there are so many invisible Beethoven’s behind YouTube, all those people, you know, crazy, banging chairs, banging brake drums, banging steal drums and playing piano.”
On Monday, Dun, the LSO, Carnegie Hall, Grammy Award-winning conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, world-renowned pianist Lang Lang and many other classical music stars and leading institutions launched the project known as The YouTube Symphony Orchestra.
From Dec. 1, 2008 through Jan. 31, 2009, YouTube users from around the world are able to upload two videos to the site, one of their performances of the Tan Dun piece that will be used to create a collaborative video and the other of a specified public domain piece that will be used as their audition. Finalists will be chosen by a judging panel and YouTube users for the opportunity to travel to New York in April 2009, to participate in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra summit and play at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.
“Through the YouTube Symphony Orchestra project, we will explore new ways for music lovers of all levels to use technology to discover how vast our tradition is, to create new work and learn from one another,” said Thomas, who currently serves as Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony.
The international expert judging panel will consist of representatives from the LSO and other musical experts and organizations and will judge the performances based on interpretation of the music, musicianship, vitality of performance, originality of performance and evaluation of the performance as a whole. Both amateur and professional musicians will be considered.
Sheet music for every instrument featured in the piece is provided on the web site as well as a series of master class videos by members of the LSO.
Participants are also allowed to utilize any instrument, “even cooking utensils” says Dun. The website even specifies what to do if a participant wants to beat box their part in the orchestra.
Serving as the ambassador for the program, Lang says in a YouTube video, “this project is so exciting because you are the orchestra. Right from your own home you can sign up and get involved in the worlds first collaborative online orchestra.”
