Classical musicians get shot at fame on YouTube

The video-sharing website YouTube will take classical music out of pricey concert halls and bring it to the masses by holding an online competition where the public chooses musicians to play at Carnegie Hall.

The competition invites classical musicians around the world to submit two videos demonstrating their musical and technical abilities, YouTube said in a news release.

Winners from the competition will be flown to New York for a three-day summit with San Francisco Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas, Chinese pianist Lang Lang and other performers leading up to an April 15, Carnegie Hall show.

Entries will be narrowed down by a panel of judges from the world's leading orchestras, including London, Berlin, Hong Kong, Sydney and New York, before semi-finalists will be voted on by viewers of YouTube, which is owned by Google.

Tilson Thomas said the programme would "explore new ways for music lovers of all levels to use technology to discover how vast our tradition is".

Entrants must submit a video demonstrating their interpretation of an original composition by Chinese contemporary classical composer Tan Dun, and a video showcasing their musical and technical strengths.

"YouTube is the biggest stage on Earth, and I want to see what the world's undiscovered musical geniuses will create on it," said Mr Dun, the Oscar-winning composer of the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Entrants can submit videos through January 28. YouTube viewers will vote on the semi-finalists February 14-22 and the winners will be announced on the YouTube Web site ( http://www.youtube.com ) on March 2.

YouTube's popularity has exploded since its inception three years ago. Anyone can post video to the site and moments later millions of people can view footage ranging from political speeches and musical performances to amateur shots of children and pets.