MTT and the YouTube Orchestra

Yesterday, I read the sad news about the passing of one of the all-time great conductors, Michael Tilson Thomas, affectionately known as MTT. It is a huge loss for the musical world - specifically classical music. When I read about his passing, I immediately thought back to one of the numerous times I saw him conduct. It was a concert at Carnegie Hall that happened almost exactly 17 years ago. It was billed as the YouTube Symphony, and it was one of the most memorable concerts that I ever attended. I remembered that I was so inspired by the event that when I got home, I immediately wrote a review of it on my blog. This morning I looked through the Wayback Machine to see if I could find it, and lo and behold, I did! In memory of MTT, I thought I would repost it here, along with videos of the complete performance, many years later. Rest in peace, Maestro.

Last night I attended what was by all accounts a “happening” in the classical music world. When my wife Alison and I walked up to Carnegie Hall around 7pm I knew right away that I was in for something special. The sold-out concert had a long line of people hopefully waiting for cancellations. There were quite a few members of the press (many international) gathering around one of the entrance doors and I noticed many hip-looking people shooting video and taking pictures - more what you’d expect at a rock concert than a classical one.

Inside the hallowed concert hall the mood was electric. I instantly noticed tons of video and computer gear as well as trusses of lighting equipment all waiting in anticipation for the musicians to arrive on stage. My seats were in the second tier, and I had to carefully step around a crew of MacBook Pro wielding techies in the hallway. When we got to our seats I opened the program to see what the group was going to perform and was instantly struck by the program choices - everything from Gabrielli to Cage, including solo performances by violinist Gil Shaham and pianist Yuja Wang. Fifteen pieces in all - an ambitious program for any ensemble. Soon the musicians began to take the stage and I was amazed by the diversity of the group. Men and women, young and old, of all colors sat next to each other - strangers but a few days earlier - now united by one of the most unique experiments ever on the wildly popular video posting site - YouTube.

When Michael Tilson Thomas took the stage, the crowd erupted in applause and MTT opened the concert with a prepared statement about what we were about to hear, and how it happened. When he took the podium the back wall of the stage became a cross between Google Earth & YouTube - spanning the globe to arrive at the location in Austria where Johannes Brahms composed the first work of the evening - Allegro Giocoso from Symphony No. 4 in E minor. The sound of the orchestra was beautiful - only three days of rehearsal and this group of outstanding musicians sounded like an orchestra.

The rest of the concert could be described as electric. Interspersed with videos about some of the individual members of the orchestra - including a cellist whose day job is a professional poker player, a violinist who is a surgeon by day, a physicist who was thrilled that YouTube chose a symphony for this experiment rather than a basketball team, and a Japanese mother of two who was playing marimba - just as her mom once did with an orchestra in Tokyo. Each piece was introduced with a similar Google Earth-style intro and artistic graphics that were projected all over the walls and ceiling of the hall during the performances - a multimedia event that enhanced the pieces. During a performance by Joshua Roman, the back wall played host to a popular video on YouTube called Women in Art. It was beautiful.

Other highlights included a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Valse from Two Pieces for Piano, Six Hands, performed by three small children (ages 8, 8, and 10) who had posted videos of themselves on the YouTube Symphony site. Tan Dun conducting the piece that was commissioned specifically for this concert, Internet Symphony No. 1 - Eroica actually brought tears to my eyes. The exuberance of the ensembles performance was clearly evident. This was the piece that had united them all, and they played it magnificently! Yuja Wang’s performance was incredible, and her rendition of Flight of the Bumblebee might just be one of the best piano performances I have ever seen. For me, the absolute highlight of the concert was a work by Mason Bates called Warehouse Medicine from B-Sides which combined electronic music (he was playing music through his laptop and a control interface) and classical music. It was outstanding, and I would love to attend it’s world premiere with the San Francisco Symphony in May. The last work on the program was the Finale from Symphony No. 4 of Tchaikovsky. Great performance followed by a rousing standing ovation. The orchestra then played an encore - something I have never seen at a classical orchestral concert.

On our way back to the car, my wife and I sat on the subway reflecting on what we had just witnessed. Sure there were some flubs here and there (isn’t that what live music is all about?) and sure it could be argued that this was a publicity stunt, but I will always remember this concert experience for some of the things I witnessed during it. First - people were video taping the whole time. It was permitted, and the audience was respectful while taping. Second - the musicians each had a huge smile on their face throughout the entire concert. They were thrilled to be a part of this historic experience. Third, during intermission videos of those who did not make the ensemble were projected on the walls of the hall while members of the orchestra greeted family members at the front of the stage. Fourth, the performance of John Cage’s music by Measha Brueggerosman reminded me why I love John Cage. Fifth, the multimedia moments during the concert truly enhanced my experience. Perhaps it is time for other orchestras to consider dong the same. Sixth, I was THRILLED to see electronic music validated in the classical music world. And last, I was so happy to be a part of what I believe will go down in music history as a pivotal moment in classical music - when the spirit that inspired the great composers was embodied by a group of musicians from around the world in one concert. I was so proud to be a musician, and so proud to be part of Internet world that brought this project together. My only hope is that this isn’t the last event for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. People around the world should have the same experience that I had last night. It might just reinvigorate the classical music audience to attend more concerts.

For videos of the performance, visit www.youtube.com/symphony.

To read the New York Times Review of the concert, click HERE.