An Update from Down Under

In January, musician Mary Bowden was ecstatic to announce that she had won a position with the “Youtube Symphony” and would be going to Sydney, Australia in March to perform with Michael Tilson Thomas. We were eager to catch up with her and get an update from down under!

"Last month, I had the opportunity to perform with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. The live streamed Grand Finale was the largest stream ever on YouTube-the previous leader was U2 live on YouTube. Here you can see the concert as well as clips from the week and interviews:

http://www.youtube.com/user/symphony

Musicians from 33 different countries came together for this week in Sydney, some even taking leave from their current orchestra jobs for a week. The orchestra was a very high level, and rehearsals were intense and often all day. I performed in two ensemble concerts during the week as.  You can read my longer story on my blog:

http://marybowdentrumpet.blogspot.com/2011/04/australia-2011.html

I'm really happy that this event generated a lot of excitement for classical music. The orchestra got a lot of exposure and I hope that it sparks the interest of some people who may not have paid attention to orchestras before."