Imagine having the opportunity of performing at Carnegie Hall one of the most prestigious venues of all time.

Well, violinist David France is in just that position and now he needs us to vote for him on www.youtube.com/symphony by or on February 22 in order to secure his place at the venue.

Mr. France entered the YouTube Symphony competition, a groundbreaking idea for the first ever orchestra auditioned on-line.

Now he is down to the last 200 musicians competing to be in the 80-strong group which will be flown to New York on April 15 for the concert at Carnegie Hall.

"I heard about the competition because it was a featured video on Youtube last December. I was immediately excited and tried to figure out all the rules and what I needed to do to participate.

"I realised since it was an international competition I would have to practice more than I wanted to. I think I put over 120 hours of practice into this project."

For the competition, he performed Brahms Symphony No. 4. "I decided on Brahms because it best suited my personality and my strengths on the violin. The piece has a rich sound, is flashy and short."

More than 3,000 people submitted videos and Mr. France added: "When I checked the website and saw that I was a finalist it was an amazing feeling of humbled excitement.

"I felt honoured to be among this group of musicians and humbled because as a musician you are keenly aware of your weaknesses more than your strengths."

As far as he was aware the selection was made by the London Symphony. "They judged the first 3,000 videos that were submitted with the help of other prestigious orchestras around the world."

Mr. France, who teaches at the Bermuda School of Music, was instrumental in offering free music lessons to local students through the primary school system.

He grew up in Connecticut, where he studied violin in the pre-college division of the Hartt School of Music. He was later a soloist in many major European cities, including London, Amsterdam, Munich and Cologne.

His teaching posts in America include Wichita State University in Kansas. He was also a co-founder and conductor of the Summer String Shocker festival in Wichita and has also performed with the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, the La Crosse, Hartford and Wichita symphonies, as well as the Minnesota Orchestra, where he was a guest principal second violinist.

Locally, Mr. France was the featured soloist with Dave Lubben and Casey Golden on his CDs, 'Pedlin' Music' and 'Conspiracy Among Friends'. He also simultaneously records with producer Will Taubin in Brooklyn, New York.

He said playing at Carnegie Hall would be one of the pinnacles of his career. "In any field the journey to the desired goal is as worthwhile if not more to be cherished than the prize, if the prize lasts only for a moment," he said.

"So Carnegie Hall in this instance represents a plateau in my journey to grow as a musician. It would also be a commendation of the work that I have put into this project."

When asked whether he had hoped that his students and the general public at large would vote for him, he said: "If I make it Carnegie Hall through this project; Bermuda makes it to Carnegie Hall and my students make it to Carnegie Hall and my parents make it to Carnegie Hall.

"So yes, I hope that the general public will support this project."

The winners will be announced on YouTube on March 2.

To vote visit www.youtube.com/symphony, click on vote, choose violin, and type in his username Augustusdavid. Afterwards click on the thumbs up button.