YouTube Orchestra makes its debut

The YouTube Symphony Orchestra, comprised of more than 90 musicians selected by online auditions, has made its debut performance. The orchestra played pieces from Brahms' Fourth Symphony, as well as Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony in the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York. YouTube kick-started the idea to create the orchestra only four months ago. Musicians all over the world were invited to submit their audition to the video-sharing website to be considered for the first truly digital-age orchestra. More than 3,000 videos submitted by amateur and professional musicians from 70-plus countries were auditioned. An online vote from 15 million viewers whittled the orchestra down to 92 winners, whose ages range from 15-55 and include amateurs and professionals. Two British musicians are part of the 90-strong orchestra which has been described as one of the 10 most inspiring orchestras by Gramaphone music magazine. Gramaphone praised the orchestra "for democratising classical music on a global scale, making it truly all-inclusive".