Bermudian picked for YouTube Symphony Orchestra
NEW YORK (AP) — Bermuda School of Music teacher David France has secured a place in the first YouTube Symphony Orchestra.
More than 3,000 videos were submitted by amateur and professional musicians from 70-plus countries and more than 90 from 30 countries were selected by voters to the popular website.
"We are excited about the talent, variety and adventurousness of the musicians who are coming together from around the world to form the YouTube Symphony Orchestra," conductor Michael Tilson Thomas said.
"I am looking forward to our exploration of the incredible range of classical music's 1,200-year-old tradition which we will present in a unique way to our audience."
The orchestra will have 26 different instruments. The selected musicians, ranging from ages 17 to 55, will participate in three days of master classes and rehearsals next month, culminating in an April 15 concert at Carnegie Hall conducted by Thomas, the San Francisco Symphony's music director.
They will perform composer Tan Dun's "Internet Symphony No. 1, Eroica," a piece specially arranged for the occasion. A mashup will be posted on YouTube.com on April 16.
Mr. France 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 the US 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.
Besides people from 13 US states, the international winners are from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.
