2009
Members’ Dreams Realized With YouTube Concert
July 2009


“Members’ Dreams Realized With YouTube Concert,” Ensign, July 2009, 79–80

Members’ Dreams Realized With YouTube Concert

Two Church members competed against more than 3,000 talented musicians and won the opportunity to appear in the world’s first online-auditioned orchestra at New York’s Carnegie Hall in April 2009.

YouTube, a popular online video sharing Web site, sent out a call for musicians of all ages, levels of expertise, and locations to compete online for a spot in their Concert Symphony.

Violinists Benjamin Chan, from New York, and Jacqueline Metz Morant, from Texas, submitted their auditions online and made it past voting from a panel of professional musicians and voters from the online YouTube community.

Sister Morant obtained a degree in violin performance from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Brother Chan graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in music performance.

Both Brother Chan and Sister Morant described the three days in New York as a “whirlwind,” with eight hours of rehearsals each day. But the results were rewarding. Morant was made concertmaster, leading the first violin section and playing a solo during part of the three-hour concert.

The symphony orchestra’s performance may be found at YouTube.com/symphony.

Jacqueline Morant (left) and Ben Chan (not pictured), members of the Church, were selected as part of the YouTube Cooncert Symphony, which played in Carnegie Hall.