YouTube announced this week that it is partnering with Chinese-born composer Tan Dun (an Academy Award winner for his soundtrack for the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000), San Francisco Orchestra conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, and the Carnegie Hall and London Symphony Orchestra, to create the world’s first YouTube orchestra. The objective is to seek and assemble talented musicians from around the world to form an orchestra to debut Tan’s new work in Carnegie Hall, conducted by Maestro Thomas.
The initiative is groundbreaking on two levels. First, most orchestras enforce a blind audition policy, requesting musicians to play behind a curtain, to eliminate bias against visible minorities and women. The YouTube initiative is inviting musicians to submit two video recordings to the committee for consideration.
Secondly, musicians are typically selected by the maestro of an orchestra, supported by a small professional committee. In this case, however, a group of leading musicians form a committee to shortlist the candidates who will then be voted by YouTube users.
One can expect this initiative is an attempt to attract younger audiences to the classical music world by using a medium and voting style that they embrace. It’s too early to tell how many candidates and voters YouTube will attract but already the project poses two interesting questions.
How valid is public opinion in the classical music world when a performance is the result of the singular vision of a conductor? Will public opinion contribute or hinder artistic excellence?
By asking the YouTube generation to select musicians for the YouTube orchestra, do we believe the younger generation truly embrace equality in a workplace?
