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Local Music Student Wins Place In YouTube Symphony

Normally, auditions are a thing to stress over. It's all about traveling, ignoring the myriad other performers who may or may not be better than you, and putting your best foot forward in front of some, sometimes, scary judges.For Jacobs School of Music doctoral student Daniel Stein, his latest audition was just a little different from all of that: just him, his computer, and a video of Tan Dun conducting.

Daniel Stein was recently named one of the winners of the first ever YouTube Symphony contest.  Participants were asked to record two auditions; one from a list of preapproved works and the other, their part a newly commissioned work by Chinese composer, Tan Dun.

Stein, a doctoral student at the Jacobs School of Music, is studying flute with Thomas Robertello. Stein says the audition was a little more than out of the ordinary.  All of the materials were supplied via the internet, so when recording his video, he had to monitor the music on his desktop, the video feed from his webcam, and the prerecorded image of Tan Dun conducting him.

Watch Tan Dun's conducting video:

The winners were selected by a combination of popular vote and a group of unnamed professional judges who viewed the auditions via YouTube. The YouTube Symphony's concert, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, will be held at New York City's Carnegie Hall on April 15th. The video will be hosted on YouTube starting on April 16th.

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