8 - Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
8 - Tuesday, March 15, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
INTERNET INSTRUMENTS
From the ' to YouTube
Cellist and student Madeline Huberth isb
heading to Sydney with a virtual orchestra
By Joe Cadagin I Daily Fine Arts Editor
With a matter of clicks, visi-
tors to YouTube are sucked into a
terrifying vortex of finger-biting
babies, auto-tuned politicians,
scooter-riding dogs and hip-
shaking gummy bears. Yet in the
midst of this ever-changing hur-
ricane of viral videos, Internet
surfers can find relief in a bea-
con of high culture that shines
steadily in the cyber ocean: the
YouTube Symphony Orchestra.
This week, musicians from across
the globe - including University
cellist Madeline Huberth - will
gather at the Sydney Opera House
to perform as part of the 2011
YouTube Symphony Orchestra.
Conceived in 2008, the
ensemble combines elements of
a traditional orchestra with the
interactive quality and interna-
tional scope of YouTube. Instead
of a traditional orchestral audi-
tion, members upload a video of
themselves playing two pieces.
After a panel of judges nar-
rows the contestants to a group
of finalists, the entire YouTube
community is invited to vote for
the official winners.
For the first YouTube Sym-
phony Orchestra in 2009, win-
ners from 23 different countries
traveled to Carnegie Hall to
perform under maestro Michael
Tilson Thomas, who also serves
as director of the San Francisco
Symphony Orchestra. This year,
Tilson Thomas will return to lead
the second orchestra, this time in
sunny Sydney, Australia at the
iconic Sydney Opera House.
For cellist Madeline Huberth,
a dual-enrolled senior in LSA and
the School of Music, Theatre &
Dance, auditioning via the Web
was an intriguing prospect.
"It seemed like it was almost a
too-good-to-be-true opportuni-
ty, that you just upload a video to
YouTube and then it's completely
out of your hands," Huberth said.
"A lot of application processes
can be a deterrent because you
have to fly somewhere to audi-
tion and you have to buy a seat
for your cello on the plane. This
didn't have any of those problems
- I just set up the camera in my
dorm room and made my audi-
tion tape."
Huberth, who hails from
Monroe, New York, is pursuing
a degree in cello performance
with MT&D Prof. Richard Aaron.
She has performed in a variety of
traditional orchestras - includ-
ing the University Symphony
Orchestra and the Lansing Sym-
phony Orchestra - but none of
these ensembles required a web-
cam audition. In fact, Hubert
admitted she rarely visited the
YouTube site before her audition.
What most attracted Huberth
to the project was the allure of
working with Grammy Award-
winning conductor Michael Til-
sonThomas- nicknamed"MTT"
in the music world. Huberth first
encountered Tilson Thomas in
March of 2009 when he toured
to Ann Arbor with the San Fran-
cisco Symphony Orchestra.
"I wanted to work with MTT
- that was one of the big draws,"
Huberth said. "He gave a master
class (at the University) last year.
He worked with the student con-
ductors here, and the University
Symphony Orchestra played for
the student conductors. But there
was one point where he came up
FIASCO
From Page 7
production, which dilutes Lupe's
powerful message. He calls
out people from both sides of
the political spectrum rapping,
"Limbaugh is a racist / Glenn
Beck is a racist / Gaza strip was
getting bombed / Obama didn't
say shit."
"All Black Everything" is
another fascinating glimmer of
old-school Lupe, as it has him
imagining a world that isn't
blightedbyracism. Hedropsafew
politically charged names from
history as well as riffing on politi-
cal figures in recent news, subse-
quently crafting an ideal world
where "Everybody rappin' like
crack never happened." A utopi-
an, "Pleasantville"-esque orches-
tra reminiscent of a '50s sitcom
strains, while Lupe dreams about
a world where "hip hop ain'tgot a
section called conscious."
There are a few instances on
the album when Lupe breaks
free of the chains he raps about
on the track "The Show Goes
On," (which utilizes a Modest
Mouse sample to create a solid
anthem for the downtrodden and
kicked-around). HoweverLasers
is plagued by generic beats and
lazy lyricism.
To stir up attention for the
album, Lupe released "The
Lasers Manifesto" in which he
boldly proclaimed, "We want
substance in the place of popu-
larity. We will not compromise
who we are to be accepted by the
crowd." Unfortunately - though
a sizable chunk of the blame fell
on his record company's shoul-
ders - Lupe Fiasco failed to fol-
low his own rules on Lasers.
Huberth is excited to work with Grammy winner Michael Tilson Thomas.
to the podium for like, ten minutes
and conducted us, and it felt awe-
some. So when I saw his name on
the YouTube Symphony (website),
I thought this is something I real-
ly wantto get a chance to do."
After rigorous rehearsing,
Huberth submitted her audition
videos last November - includ-
ing one of her playing an excerpt
from a symphony by Brahms, her
favorite composer. To her delight,
Huberth received a call early
last month informing her of her
acceptance into the orchestra.
Huberth, who has an affinity
for dangerous species, is looking
forward to seeing some of the
snakes, sharks and spiders who
make their home down under.
She is also relieved that YouTube
is paying for her cello's airfare
to Australia besides her own.
The cellist said that what she is
anticipating most, however, is the
opportunity to meet the diverse
members of this year's orchestra,
who come from 33 countries and
range from teenagers to profes-
sional musicians and professors.
"It seems like there's going
to be enough time there to get
to know each other," Huberth
said. "I think they're trying to
leave time for us to play chamber
music together or explore the city
together. So I would say that I'm
especially looking forward to get-
ting to know some of these people,
especially since they come from
such broad backgrounds."
After a series of sectional con-
certs this week, the YouTube
Symphony's "season" will culmi-
nate with a gala concert featuring
the entire orchestra on Sunday.
The concert will be streamed
live on YouTube and eventually
uploaded as a permanent video.
Huberth is optimistic that the
affiliation with YouTube will
help the orchestra to attract new
converts to classical music.
"I think, right now, the You-
Tube Symphony Orchestra has
a particular place in the music
climate," she said. "I would hope
that by getting more eyes on
music that typically wouldn't be
on music, then those eyes would
wander into their local sympho-
nies ... It'll spark more interest in
the arts - that's actually one of its
missions. That's my hope for it."
SOHONI
From Page 7
generate even further excite-
ment. Christopher Nolan is the
best example: The new "Bat-
man" saga is essentially his, and
unlike Tim Burton's 1980s-1990s
"Batman" films, it seems widely
understood that the series
couldn't work without him.
J.J. Abrams, with TV suc-
cesses in "Lost" and "Alias," was
hired to helm "Mission: Impos-
sible 3," and then given the reins
of the reinvigorated "Star Trek."
Hiringdirectors like Dar-
ren Aronofsky ("Black Swan,"
"Requiem for a Dream") for the
next "Wolverine" film and Rob
Marshall ("Chicago," "Memoirs
of a Geisha") for "Pirates of the
Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"
shows a concerted effort by stu-
dios to maintain quality even far
into franchises. Or, at the very
least, it illustrates their desire to
seem that way (don't forget Marc
Forster, director of "Finding Nev-
erland" and "Monster's Ball," was
at the head of the painful Bond
flick "Quantum of Solace").
Many people find trends like
the ones described here to be
worrisome - not only is Hol-
lywood becoming more and
more top-heavy, it's taking its
Oscar-nominated directors and
corrupting them with sellout
tentpole ideology.
ButI tend to lean the other
way. Franchise pictures become
social capital, and more than
simple commercial endeavors.
Investing talent into those films
could result in more well-made
sequels, as we've seen in the past
five years. Bringingthis genera-
tion's critically acclaimed film-
makers into the big blockbuster
production mode represents the
next step in Hollywood com-
merce and brings the chance for
a new kind of blockbuster. While
there may be no formula for a
great sequel, Hollywood seems
ready to at least attempt mak-
ing franchises that endure with
dignity.
Sohoni is franchising "Black
Swan." To buy a bloody ballerina
doll, e-mail asohoni@umich.edu.
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