YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 Lights Up Sydney Opera House

From online audition to global performance: Finale concert featuring spectacular projections onto Sydney Opera House live streamed worldwide on YouTube 

YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 is a partnership with London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Sydney Symphony, and other leading institutions of the classical music world. Presented by Hyundai.

(Sydney – Sunday, March 20, 2011) — This evening, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 performed for a sell-out crowd at Sydney Opera House and an online audience around the world in a multimedia event live-streamed on YouTube.  101 musicians from more than 30 countries played together under the direction of conductor Michael Tilson Thomas in a finale that featured real-time video projections onto the exterior and interior of the iconic building. Sydney Opera House CEO Richard Evans called the projections "the most ambitious and breathtaking we’ve ever seen."

For the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 members, tonight’s finale was the culmination of a journey that started with a video audition uploaded to YouTube. Selected by experts from some of the world’s leading orchestras and voted on by the public, the musicians range from 14 to 49 years old, include amateur and professional musicians, and some who are traveling overseas for the first time.

A highlight of their collaborative performance was Mothership: a specially- commissioned piece by American composer Mason Bates. The piece featured an electric guitarist from Brazil, a violinist from USA, a guzheng player from China, and an electric double bassist from Australia, who were chosen to perform as soloists by submitting improvisations online. The repertoire also included Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and Stravinsky’s spectacular Firebird.

Noted Conductor and Artistic Advisor Michael Tilson Thomas, “We created a living orchestra from what was once only on video — an extraordinary and exciting process.”

The finale streamed live on the YouTube Symphony Channel, YouTube.com/symphony, from the YouTube home page in more than a dozen countries, and on mobile devices via the YouTube Symphony apps. The stream will now repeat through the day March 20 so the performance can be enjoyed in all time zones. Said YouTube’s Ed Sanders, “We've been dazzled by the growing community around this project, from people watching and commenting on videos to those auditioning and sharing musical experience online. Tonight we used performance, mobile, live stream, and projections to bring it all together and reach new audiences across the globe."

About YouTube

YouTube is the world’s largest online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch, and share original 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, California, and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.

About Sydney Opera House

In giving the world one of the 20th century’s greatest buildings, Jørn Utzon changed the creative and cultural landscape of Australia forever. Sydney Opera House is committed to continuing the legacy of Utzon’s creative genius by creating, producing and presenting the most acclaimed, imaginative and engaging performing arts experiences from Australia and around the world - onsite, offsite and online. As the creative and cultural flagship of Australia, Sydney Opera House is the place where imagination takes you.

US Orchestra members, by location

Scottsdale, AZ; Irvine, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Palo Alto, CA; San Francisco, CA; Denver, CO; New Haven, CT; Boca Raton, FL; Miami, FL; Naples, FL; Orlando, FL; Evanston, IL; Bloomington, IN; Ann Arbor, MI; New York, NY; Rochester, NY; Oberlin, OH; Cleveland, OH; Mingo Junction, OH; Wayne, PA; Austin, TX; Sugar Land, TX; Dallas, TX; Fort Worth, TX; San Antonio, TX; Woodinville, WA; Spokane, WA; Milwaukee, WI. Bayamon, Puerto Rico

Note: A press site with images and information is available here: https://sites.google.com/site/ytso2011press/

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: press@youtube.com

Visual design by Obscura Digital