How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall?

The winners have had a chance to get to know each other — virtually, that is. In addition to their audition, each winner posted an introductory video. Dressed in a kimono, Maki Takafuji, who lives in Kyoto, Japan, plays a brief marimba solo and talks about her music education. Jim Moffat, a horn player who works in technology marketing in the U.K., introduces himself with London Bridge in the background. Nina Perlove, a flutist from Cincinnati, Ohio, begins her video aspirationally, by playing the song "New York, New York." David France, a violinist who teaches at the Bermuda School of Music, greets viewers from a sandy beach.

Rachel Hsieh, a 24-year-old cellist studying for a master's at the Peabody Conservatory, filmed her audition in her Baltimore apartment. She sees the YouTube Symphony as a way to reach audiences beyond music aficionados: "A lot of people are exposed to YouTube, and they go on there for fun. It's a really easy way for them to just click on something and see something new."

YouTube's Invisible Beethovens
The YouTube musicians will have their horizons widened too. They'll perform with prominent soloists, including violinist Gil Shaham. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Lang Lang will make a video appearance. The musicians will rehearse the program during a classical-music summit at Carnegie Hall from April 12 through 15. They've already had a chance to study the repertory in online master classes hosted by professionals like Maxine Kwok-Adams, a violinist with the London Symphony Orchestra, who offers bowing tips for the Tan Dun piece.

All the video submissions of that work (which received rave reviews from participants) will be compiled into a mash-up video to be shown on April 15, to coincide with the concert. And audience members will be permitted to videotape the Carnegie event. (Look for clips — where else? — on YouTube.) In an interview on the YouTube Symphony site, Tan enthuses about the possibilities offered by the Internet. "There are oh-so-many invisible Beethovens behind YouTube," he says.

For Moe, who believes that "orchestras need to figure out how to be relevant and reach new audiences," the most fascinating aspect of the YouTube orchestra is its vision of community. "The purpose of music and maybe even the purpose of life is to connect with people and create," he says. Whether that will work musically is anyone's guess. But it is undoubtedly, as Moe puts it, a "really fun experiment." And for the performers, there's not much to lose. "I'm so glad someone is footing the bill!" Moe says.

For other participants, there are benefits beyond the chance to expand the reach of classical music. When Hannah Tarley, the California teenager, asked to get her ears pierced about seven years ago, her mother told her she'd be allowed to do so only if she performed at Carnegie Hall. It used to be that the way to get to Carnegie Hall was to practice, but the world is a little different now. She practiced — and then she uploaded her video — and then she got there.

Read "Which U.S. Orchestras Are Best?"

See 10 things to do in New York City.