Late last year, YouTube issued a musical casting call. The web video titan asked “professional and amateur musicians of all ages, locations and instruments to audition for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra by submitting a video performance of a new piece written for the occasion by the renowned Chinese composer Tan Dun.”

A panel of first-class musicians selected the finalists. And the 90 winners, who come from more than 30 countries, have assembled in New York City to perform together tonight at Carnegie Hall. [How did they get there? Oh yeah. Practice, practice, practice. – Ed.]

That’s cool. But what may be even cooler is that the submissions were mashed-up in to a single video that YouTube also released to today. It’s definitely worth a listen — for five minutes of transcendence and for another reminder of the astonishing possibilities that arise when talent meets technology.

(HT: Brent Sapp)

2 Responses to “Web 2.0 meets Music Appreciation 101”

  1. kirsti says:

    This is just awesome = we are sharing it on our arts community blog as an example of community around music, as diasporic as it is, and of course, the power of technology to connect distributed talent….and share it with all of us! What an amazing idea!

  2. Sarah says:

    Just wonderful!