OFFBEAT: A New Way to Get to Carnegie Hall
By Matt Unangst
Carnegie Hall is putting on a competition to allow undiscovered artists a chance to perform at one of music’s most-storied venues. To participate, musicians must submit two videos of themselves performing; one showcasing their technical abilities, one an interpretation of a particular song; to YouTube for consideration. Members of orchestras from around the world will judge the videos, narrowing down the field to just a few hopefuls to be voted on by YouTube users. The winner will get to participate in a summit with famous classical performers before performing on stage at Carnegie. Entries must be in by January 28.
It’s wonderful that so many traditional institutions are starting to embrace the Internet as a resource. Classical music will get some new listeners out of this and Carnegie Hall some new patrons, solely for the cost of sacrificing their super-elite reputations, which they needed in order to continue their success anyway.
YouTube info here.
