YouTube symphony conducts open call

A cyberspace-based orchestra is conducting online auditions to find the best players to appear at a music summit in Australia that will be live-streamed on the Web.

The call for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 opened Tuesday (for details, see www.youtube. com/ symphony).

YouTube launched its orchestra project last year with a sold-out Carnegie Hall concert featuring more than 90 musicians from 30 countries, including a surgeon-violinist and a professional poker player-cellist.

“We’re exploring how classical music’s 1,200-year-long tradition can enter the realm of high technology,” said Grammy-award winning conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.

Musicians must upload audition videos of designated pieces to demonstrate their musical and technical abilities. Any instrumentalist may also submit an improvisation based on a new piece called “Mothership” by composer Mason Bates for an opportunity to play a solo.

After the auditions end Nov. 28, an expert panel from leading orchestras will narrow entries. YouTube’s global community of hundreds of millions of viewers will then be invited to vote for the semifinalists, from Dec. 10 through Dec. 17.

Winners will be announced Jan. 11 and perform in concert March 20.