The YouTube Symphony

What could be more inclusive and equitable than a YouTube Symphony Orchestra, composed of successful applicants from all over the world? 

I love the idea of Tan Dun writing an Internet Symphony No. 1.  Calling it "Eroica” waves a flag for a brave, new era, even if we are more than 20 years into this revolution.  Also, what better conductor than Maestro Tilson Thomas, who has championed new works as a conductor from the podium of the San Francisco Symphony and other orchestras, even composing extensively himself?

This whole project looks to have a very bright future,if it doesn't get soiled by ugly mistakes we have made in the past.  For many years, anybody that wasn't male or white stood little chance of being hired by a major symphony orchestra, until blind auditions, conducted with a screen between the applicant and the audition panel, were instituted.  Some orchestras have brought on vitriolic criticism, because they adopted these practices late or half-heartedly, most notable among them, The Vienna Philharmonic.  Malcolm Gladwell uses the blind audition problem as a prime example of bias in his book "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking."

In the competition rules and regulations, I can't find any language that says that YouTube have made a provision for blind auditions, and for a website whose mission is to allow people to discover, watch and share original videos, I think this is something they will need to address. 

Would it be that hard to do?  I think there are ways to demonstrate attempts to eliminate bias, even in a medium that begins with watching and listening.  Whatever they come up with, I fully acknowledge the need for YouTube to scrutinize the applicants, to make sure they're actually playing and not miming to a brilliant recording of "The Flight of the Bumblebee".  Actually that could become a competition in itself.  Who can spoof the audition panel?  I can see it now - "Eh-hem.  I would now like to perform the percussion part from "Fire", by the late James Hendrix..." -- Hugo Munday