2 music students perform in YouTube Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall

IU Jacobs School of Music students Daniel Stein and Dash Nesbitt were selected out of more than 3,000 applicants to be a part of the first YouTube Symphony Orchestra.

As the first collaborative online orchestra of its kind, it performed April 15 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

“It caught my attention because it was something that had never been done before, and it was a neat idea from a technological standpoint,” Stein said.

In his opening speech, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, the current musical director of the San Francisco Symphony, said he wanted to capture the diversity of classical music and demonstrate the passion that people have for classical music.

The audition process was done completely through YouTube. Video submissions were reviewed by a judging panel of representatives from the London Symphony Orchestra and other musical experts. Then, finalists’ videos were voted on by the YouTube community.

Stein, who plays the flute, said that there were two components to the auditions. First, applicants had to download a video of conductor Tan Dun. Stein said all applicants had to watch him conducting while playing their assigned part. They also had to play prepared pieces.

Once selected, the finalists traveled to New York City and had two full days of rehearsal before their performance, which sold out Carnegie Hall and has since had more than 1 million views on YouTube.

With anyone around the world being able to audition, the ensemble was narrowed down to 80 musicians from 30 different countries.

“Working with people from other countries was by far the best part,” Nesbitt said. “It was amazing to have all of our cultures mixed together.”

While Nesbitt, who plays viola, has performed at Carnegie Hall two times, he said it is completely different each time he plays there.

“Carnegie Hall is the holy grail of classical music,” Nesbitt said. “So much history has taken place in that hall.”

Stein said Carnegie Hall does not usually allow audience members to take photos or video, but that it was encouraged at this performance to show different audience
perspectives of the concert.

“YouTube is an amazing tool for expanding, learning and sharing music with other people,” Nexbitt said. “It has such a big effect on the musical world.”