The YouTube Symphony

Last night, inside the New York Google headquarters death star, legendary conductor Michael Tilson Thomas (lately of the San Francisco Symphony) and a handful of product wizards from the Google and YouTube teams gathered together to announce the launch of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. The project is YouTube’s first high-gloss global user-generated initiative, and it is a truly elegant project. Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) composed the first ever Internet “Eroica” symphony, and has put up individual conducting videos for each part of the orchestra online. Musicians from around the world will submit audition videos, with the hopes of being one of the lucky hundred to earn a seat in the real symphony, performing at Carnegie Hall in April. How to get there? Practice, practice, practice—and have a high-speed DSL connection.