AP: Pa. symphony seeks soloist via YouTube contest

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra officials insist it's not "American Idol" meets Mozart.

But its new video contest on YouTube does have at least one similarity: voting by the public. Videos submitted by instrumental soloists will be up for anyone to watch. The top four vote-getters will get a chance to audition for musical director and conductor Manfred Honeck. The winner — if Honeck picks one at all — gets $10,000 and a paid trip to perform with the orchestra at Heinz Hall this fall.

But the orchestra says the contest is no classical "American Idol."

"Not at all," said Robert Moir, the orchestra's senior vice president of artistic planning and audience engagement. "This is applying 21st-century technology to something we've been doing since orchestras began, and that's scouting young talent."

Moir and Honeck revealed the idea to The Associated Press in advance of Thursday's news conference formally announcing the nationwide contest hosted on the popular YouTube online video platform. The orchestra's Facebook page and website also have links.

Starting Thursday, people who play any one of 10 instruments — piano, violin, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet or harp — can upload clips up to 10 minutes long on YouTube through March 22. The musicians must play certain concertos without accompaniment, and orchestra musicians and other officials will judge the clips and post 20 semifinalist videos on April 13. The public will vote on the finalists until April 30, with the top four winning paid trips to Pittsburgh to audition for Honeck in June.

(And, yes, the orchestra will even pay for an extra airline seat for any finalists who play either the cello or harp.)

The winner will play their concerto with the orchestra Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 as part of its BNY Mellon Grand Classics subscription concert series.

Jesse Rosen, president and chief executive officer of the League of American Orchestras, said technology is changing the way orchestras interact with their patrons. Rosen said the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is one of several with "tweeting sections" where the audience is free to post Twitter comments about the performance as it happens. The Washington, D.C.-based National Symphony Orchestra was one of the first to deliver real-time program notes via Twitter during a performance in 2009.

But Rosen said the Pittsburgh contest is "very much a leading edge thing. They're in the forefront. This is not something others are doing."