YouTube announces YouTube Symphony Orchestra

San Bruno, CA – December 1, 2008 – YouTube™, the
leading online video community that allows people to discover, watch
and share original videos, today announced a collaboration with the
London Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Grammy Award-winning
conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, Academy Award-winning and Olympics
composer Tan Dun, world-renowned pianist Lang Lang, and many other
classical music stars and leading institutions to launch the “YouTube
Symphony Orchestra” (www.youtube.com/symphony), the world’s first collaborative online orchestra and summit.

From
December 1, 2008 through January 28, 2009, musicians from around the
world are invited to submit videos showcasing their personal style as
they perform two different videos: their interpretation of an original
Tan Dun composition, written specifically for this program, and a
talent video designed to demonstrate their musical and technical
abilities. A panel of musical experts from the London Symphony
Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Hong Kong
Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, New York
Philharmonic and other leading orchestras around the world will narrow
the field of entries down to the semifinalists. The YouTube community
will be invited to vote on the semifinalists from February 14, 2009
through February 22, 2009. Musicians who are selected will be announced
on YouTube on March 2, 2009. For official rules of entry and FAQ,
consult YouTube Symphony Orchestra Channel (www.youtube.com/symphony).

In
April 2009, selected musicians will be flown to New York City to
participate in a three-day classical music summit with Michael Tilson
Thomas and leading performers in the field, culminating in a Carnegie
Hall performance on April 15, 2009. In addition, selected video entries
of the musical piece will be mashed together to create a living YouTube
symphony — a single video of memorable entrants combined into one
ensemble piece — and even more entries will be displayed on YouTube
homepages around the world.

As the first YouTube-sponsored
program to welcome submissions from every country around the world,
YouTube Symphony Orchestra will transform individual performances into
a global collaborative symphony, explore new possibilities for
orchestral collaboration, and springboard talented classical musicians
into the global YouTube spotlight.

“The internet is an
invisible Silk Road, joining people from across the world. East or
West, North or South, anyone can download a score of my “Internet
Symphony No. 1 ‘Eroica’, pick any part and play it with any instrument
or object, in any style,” said Grammy- and Academy Award-winning
composer Tan Dun. “YouTube is the biggest stage on earth, and I want to
see what the world’s undiscovered musical geniuses will create on it.”

“Classical
music is a thousand-year old tradition that witnesses the human spirit.
It has preserved the songs and dances of our ancestors and made them
into a language that is equal parts thought and feeling. This language
has been passed on from teacher to student and parent to child from
generation to generation. Now 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 Michael Tilson Thomas, Music Director
of the San Francisco Symphony; Artistic Director of the New World
Symphony; and Artistic Advisor for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra
program. “Music brings people together as no other art. Deepening that
process by making the creative/communicative possibilities of video and
the internet more available to musicians everywhere is one of our
highest goals.”

“The LSO is delighted to be a part of this
groundbreaking initiative with YouTube—to unite people from all over
the globe and delight in the joys and experiences of playing in an
orchestra. It is very much in keeping with our ethos of using
technology to link people, share ideas, and be inspired and creative,”
said Kathryn McDowell, Managing Director, London Symphony Orchestra.

“YouTube
is a unique platform for musical artists to broadcast their work.
Through the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, aspiring musicians can share
their passion with institutions like Carnegie Hall and the London
Symphony Orchestra, visionaries like Lang Lang, and the world” said Ed
Sanders, Product Marketing Manager, YouTube. “We are honored to partner
with these venerable organizations and individuals to reach the next
milestone for ensemble music and global collaboration.”

“For
musicians of all ages, nationalities, and instruments, the YouTube
Symphony Orchestra provides a unique opportunity not only to perform on
the world’s most famous stage—Carnegie Hall—but also on its largest
stage—YouTube,” said Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director
of Carnegie Hall. “As an institution that is passionately committed to
making great music available to as many people as possible and whose
remarkable history chronicles the defining moments of so many of the
world’s most admired and beloved artists, Carnegie Hall believes the
creation of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra will be a one-of-a-kind
moment in classical music, bringing musicians together in a totally
new, modern and compelling way.”

About YouTube
YouTube is the world’s most popular online video community allowing
millions of people to discover, watch and share originally created
videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and
inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for
original content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube, LLC
is based in San Bruno, Calif., and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.

Contacts:
Kathleen Fitzgerald, YouTube: [email protected]
Glenn Petry, 21C Media Group: [email protected]

Press Room

YouTube announces YouTube Symphony Orchestra

Selected list of program partners (as of December 1, 2008)