While it is probably old news for some of you, there is an incredible groundbreaking event happening on YouTube, and I thought that it would be good to share it with those of you who haven’t seen it yet.

It’s called the YouTube Symphony, and I’ve never seen anything like it. It is a collaboration between Carnegie Hall, the composer Tan Dun, the London Symphony Orchestra, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, and the San Francisco Symphony. The project asks YouTube users to download parts to a new composition by Dun titled “Internet Symphony No. 1 Eroica”, watch Master Classes for each instrumental part including a video of Mr. Dun conducting the part, and then (after quite a bit of practice), submit a performance of the part on to YouTube by the deadline (January 28, 2009). These performances will then be judged by a panel of judges, and finalists will be asked to come to New York to perform the premiere of the work in April of 2009 at Carnegie Hall - conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.

While some might call this a shameless publicity stunt, I think that it is a brilliant use of the site to find musicians from all over the world who have participated in a truly “Classical Music 2.0″ event. It is a brilliant idea and after looking through the tuba part (and realizing that there is simply no way I have any chance) I wish I had some chops to submit a video. I can imagine students in music conservatories all over the world submitting their performances. In fact, it is possible that with that large of a talent pool, the orchestra that is gathered on the stage that night will be incredible. I have subscribed to the site and I am really looking forward to seeing what happens. In fact, I am going to go and buy my tickets for the concert right now.

What do you think? Is this good for classical music, or have these venerable organizations sold out? What are the implications for education?

I welcome your questions and comments.

I was looking through the Sibelius website yesterday and I saw an amazing upgrade deal on the site that I thought you’d like to see (if you haven’t already). If you’ve been on the fence about forking over some cash to upgrade your copy of Sibelius 3 or 4 to the current version, then now is the time to do it. I’ve never seen this price before. Here is some copy from the site:

It’s the Sibelius Sale of the Season!
Beginning Monday, December 8th through Friday, December 12 registered Sibelius users can upgrade to Sibelius 5 for $85/Professional Version and $65/Education Version. Sibelius 5 Lab Pack Upgrades are just $215. That’s 50% off regular price.

To take advatnage of the deal (hurry - it ends on Friday) visit www.sibelius.com/upgrade today. Thanks Sibelius!

If you don’t have a copy of Sibelius yet, take advantage of the holiday sale at SoundTree by visiting our store and using coupon code Holiday08 to receive an additional 10% off our already lowest price.

Douglas Engelbart from Stanford Research Institute unveiled the first ever PC (complete with a mouse) on this date in 1968 to a crowd of nearly 1,000 at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco. Widely known as the “Mother of all Demos” Engelbart showed off his invention to a stunned crowd who were literally witnessing history. At the time of the demonstration, both Steve Jobs (Apple) and Bill Gates (Microsoft) were in their early teens. It is amazing to me that Engelbart did not achieve the same incredible fame and fortune as those who would capitalize on his invention. In fact, I didn’t even know his name until few years ago while reading a fascinating book on the history of computers published by MIT Press.

Wired.com has a terrific article that traces the history of Engelbart’s invention and includes a great slideshow showing the evolution of the mouse. I was reminded of this momentous event while driving to work this morning to the company which I run that owes almost all of it’s success to Engelbart’s invention. So many others also owe their livelihood’s to the PC as well. I hope that Engelbart’s names gets the recognition that it so richly deserves. Perhaps no other invention of the 20th Century has had a greater impact on society and our collective future in the 21st Century. Happy Birthday to the PC, and here’s to many more!

I welcome your questions and comments.

This weekend I am in Rochester, NY at the NYSSMA Fall Conference on behalf of SoundTree. Tomorrow afternoon I will be presenting one of my favorite sessions, New Trends in Music Technology which gives an overview of all of the newest software, hardware, and opportunities to foster alternative performance ensembles in the school music program. As always, we have created a special landing page on the SoundTree website that includes the PowerPoint presentation from the session as well as useful links. I will also be posting a podcast of the session on my podcasting site sometime on Sunday. If you’re up at NYSSMA, please come by the SoundTree both and say hello to me and Jason Panucci - SoundTree Senior Account Manager. We are booth #61 right behind the Wenger booth. Hope to see you there tomorrow!