YouTube has announced a collaboration with Sydney Opera House, Grammy Award-winning conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and many other leading institutions and figures of the classical music world including Sydney Symphony, to launch "YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011," a global online audition for a collaborative orchestra where amateur musicians can share their knowledge and experience of making music with the support of some of world's leading classical artists.

Musicians selected for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 will be invited to a week of rehearsals and master classes at an orchestra and summit at Sydney Opera House in March, 2011, culminating in a performance conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.

The online audition period for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 opens October 13, 2010, and auditions to take part extend through November 28, 2010. To be considered, musicians from around the world are invited to upload audition videos of designated pieces to demonstrate their musical and technical abilities.

New this year, a second search for solo improvisers extends the audition process beyond traditional classical instruments and invites further online collaboration. For the solo improviser audition, musicians of any instrument may submit an original improvisation based on the new, composition "Mothership" from American composer Mason Bates for the opportunity to play their own solo during the final performance.

An expert panel from leading orchestras around the world will narrow entries down to the semifinalists in both audition categories.

The YouTube community will be invited to vote online on the semifinalists from December 10, 2010 through December 17, 2010. Musicians who are selected from this semi-finalist group will be announced on YouTube on January 11, 2011.

In March 2011, selected musicians will be flown to the iconic setting of Sydney Opera House to participate in a week-long classical music summit with leading performers in the field, culminating in a final performance on March 20, 2011, which will be live-streamed on YouTube.

The YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 will further focus on celebrating musical education, from offering online master classes with orchestras around the world, to classes for Australian musicians during our summit week in March.

This article is lifted from the press release from the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 Press. For more information visit, Sydney Opera House website.