Youtube stars to inflame the audience in Carnegie Hall
Published 25 March, 2009, 12:03
On April 15, 90 musicians will be trying to impress the public at New York’s Carnegie Hall. But what really interests music lovers around the globe is not the occasion itself, but the way the orchestra was picked.
The selected musicians, ranging from ages 17 to 55, will participate in three days of master classes and rehearsals next month, culminating in an April 15 concert at Carnegie Hall conducted by the San Francisco Symphony's Music Director, Michael Tilson Thomas. And on April 16 the consert’s video will be hosted on the YouTube channel.
Aleksey Zavgorodny has been playing violin most of his life. A student of a music school in Moscow, he plans for a career in an orchestra. When he heard about an online band project at Youtube, he thought it would be a good warm up.
“At first I had no idea what this project was about. There wasn’t too much information about it available. But then I got interested in it – it’s a good test of skills,” recalls Aleksey.
As voting came to an end, Aleksey unexpectedly found himself among the finalists.
“I’m a little worried. It’s the first project of its kind combining new technologies with classical music. But I believe it can give me a great deal of confidence,” says Aleksey.
In the course of several months, tens of thousands of young musicians have been uploading their
 Vladimir Kremlev for RT (click to enlarge) |
However, music critics are not so fond of the idea, calling it a one-day band.
“There was a very popular project in Moscow called Middle Eastern sofa. Half of the band was from Israel, half from Palestine. And nobody cared about their professionalism, it was all about who played,” says music expert Artyom Vargaftik. “It’s the same story with the Youtube orchestra. The person, who created it, pulled a good PR stunt”.
While conductor Anatoly Levin sees such global gatherings as a very good way to share experiences and to bring something new into classical music, he believes that high-tech will not alter what has been the same for many centuries.
“I don’t think new technologies can change the essence of classical music itself. In order to get the perfect sound, people have to communicate, hear each other and play like a single entity – something robots won’t be able to do,” Anatoly stresses.
But those who organized the event say that it will be able to show the variety of classical music and, most importantly, prove an old saying that sounds of music have neither languages, nor nationalities.
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