The Youtube Symphony is up! For those not clued in to all things Youtube, this was the project by which musicians from around the world submitted orchestral parts via video, and the technicians at Youtube then turned the submissions into a complete work as a video mash-up. Leaving aside the technical wonders of video editing (how did they handle the tuning issue?), it does hang together nicely, albeit with a slight "We Are the World" feel and a side of kitsch. What to make of the player who sent in a video of him playing his part while wearing a Jedi helmet? Or the prominently featured trumpeter whose left arm is in a sling? Or the ceaseless parade of flags? (We get it, music is universal. You've made your point.)

I'm told that Jeremy Denk is in there somehwhere, but I couldn't find him. See if you can spot him.

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We can't really believe that this is happening. Last week, someone started calling the offices claiming to be Steven Mackey - the great American composer, and featured performer on the 2009 OMF lineup. His story was pretty complicated, but the gist of it was this: poor fellow got stuck in Jamacia over spring break, and now needs our producer to wire him money to get home. Our producer works remotely for most of the year, so after speaking with "Steven," we called her. She was occupied, so she asked us to call Steven ourselves, and we found him, sitting rather undramatically in the dentist's office. Just yesterday, the scammer tried calling again. Turns out he couldn't tell us anything about his world premiere composition that he'll be performing here in June...

I mention (and publicize) this for one reason only - this guy was really rather clever. He knew our program, our artists, our producer, and our staff. He had done quite a bit of research. And if the story about being in Jamacia didn't ring so terribly false, he might have been convincing. Hitting up arts organizations for money in the current economic climate strikes me as a questionable scamming strategy, and yet, here it is. Beware.

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We're all pretty amazed by this story over here. The incomprable David Robertson and his Saint Louis Orchestra were scheduled to perform at Carnegie Hall over the weekend, but inclement weather prevented the orchestra from getting in to NYC until 2 hours before the concert was scheduled to begin. With the scheduled singer trapped in Chicago, unable to get to NYC, David Robertson sang the role himself.

Read the full account here.



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Stolen wholesale from Alex Ross's blog, The Rest is Noise:

Yes, you can make it a ringtone

iTunes is offering the first movement of Cage's 4'33" as its Discovery Download this week. Opinion in the comments section is strongly divided. My favorite: "NOTHING more Classical than the sound of absolutely nothing." Except, of course, for the sound of absolutely everything.



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Every Ojai Festival is special, but there is no question that the 2009 Festival will be unlike any other. Eighth blackbird will be bringing their unique collaborative ideas to the stage, and they've planned all their most favorite pieces. Tom Morris has been working closely with them to develop the program, and here he gives us his insights into what to expect.

Part One

Part Two

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