Colleen McCullough, daughter of Kansas State ASTA President, Kathleen McCullough and husband Jeff, recently served as concertmaster for the 2011 YouTube Symphony Orchestra in Sydney, Australia. Colleen grew up in Overland Park and attended Blue Valley Northwest High School and Wichita State University. She studied Suzuki violin from the age of two with Alice Joy Lewis in Ottawa, Kansas, graduated from the New England Conservatory where she studied with Eric Rosenblith, and recently received her DMA in violin performance from the University of Texas at Austin where her teacher was Brian Lewis. Colleen is currently seeking a university position while performing with the Austin and Waco Symphony Orchestras and teaching at Austin Community College.

In fall 2010, some of Colleen's friends were discussing on Facebook the YouTube Symphony Orchestra auditions. Colleen knew musicians who had participated in the first YouTube Symphony Orchestra in 2009, at New York's Carnegie Hall. Because they had such a great time, she became very interested. When she found out the venue for 2011 would be Sydney, Australia, Colleen saw a wonderful opportunity to travel to a part of the world she thought she could never afford.

The audition music included standard repertoire she had been studying for other auditions. With only a few weeks to prepare, she decided to tape the audition while visiting her parents in Kansas at Thanksgiving. Colleen taped, edited, and uploaded the video directly to YouTube, along with several thousand other hopeful musicians. After sending the audition the hard part began- waiting for the results.

Out of thousands of submitted auditions, the 300 finalists were announced in early December and voting was opened to the public for one week. Colleen was selected as a finalist and her family and friends began contacting everyone they knew to ask them to vote for her - thanks Kansas strings teachers! On December 27, a representative from Google called and told Colleen she had been selected as a member of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011! Paperwork was needed for identification, taxes, visa, passport, health form, etc., and communication was set up via Google to keep the musicians informed.

Two and a half weeks before the trip, orchestra music was delivered via pdf files and Colleen was informed she would be the concertmaster for the orchestra. She was excited, petrified, and humbled all at the same time. She later found out that Michael Tilson Thomas had selected her for the position. Furious practicing and packing ensued, while Colleen attended Austin Symphony Orchestra rehearsals and concerts, taught classes at Austin Community College, and played numerous gigs. Keeping her suitcase weight down to 50 pounds seemed impossible!

Finally, the time arrived to board the plane to Sydney. The flights and layovers for the trip were a total of 23 hours. When Colleen arrived, she was met at the airport and taken to the Four Seasons Hotel at the Circular Quay with a view of the Sydney Opera House. Musicians from 33 countries, ages 14-49, were together for the first time.

Their first activity was a harbor cruise with the entire orchestra. Google Nexus Smartphones were given to each member of the orchestra, along with a swag bag filled with YouTube and Google goodies. Banners, posters, and flyers about the YouTube Symphony Orchestra were displayed all over Sydney and

Colleen was interviewed by The Australian, Australia's biggest newspaper. An article also appeared in the Arts section of the newspaper with a picture of the orchestra members sitting on the steps of the Opera House.

Rehearsals began with Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra on Monday morning with Michael Tilson Thomas at the Opera House. Mentors worked with the musicians during rehearsals and were from top orchestras worldwide, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Zoya Leybin, from the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, was a mentor for the violin section. She worked well with the musicians by encouraging them and giving them many helpful suggestions for playing as a section.

Literature for the orchestra concert included: Berlioz's "Overture" from Roman Carnival; Ginastera's "Danza del trigo" and "Danza final" from the ballet Estancia; Mozart's "Caro' bell'idol mio" from Canon in Three Voices, with vocalist Renee Fleming singing via remote feed; Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra; Strauss's Fanfare for the Vienna Philharmonic; Jacobsen's and Aghaei's Ascending Bird: Suite for String Orchestra; and Stravinsky's "Infernal Dance," "Berceuse," and Finale," from The Firebird.

Ensemble concerts featuring the percussion, woodwinds, brass, and strings sections were performed on different nights. For the strings ensemble night, Colleen's parents had general admission tickets to the concert. They arrived about an hour early to to get good seats and sat next to Michael Tilson Thomas! The concert included Purcell's Fantasia Upon a Note; Ljova's Budget Bulgur; Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins; Schubert's Death and the Maiden, 2nd movement "Andante" and Fitzenhagen Konzertwalzer; and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings.

Excursions to Taronga Zoo, a Harbor Bridge climb, and Bondi Beach were provided for the musicians. These activities gave them many opportunities to get to know each other and forge international friendships. Using their new Smartphones, they exchanged numbers, pictures, emails, and Facebook pages. Activities and concerts were streamed on YouTube daily. The Saturday matinee was a benefit for programs for children at the Opera House.

Arriving at the Sydney Opera House for the Grand Finale Concert, Colleen's parents trekked up about 100 steps both outside and inside until arriving at their seats in the top balcony. From there, they had an amazing view all the way down to the stage. There was also a large screen above the orchestra where images of the orchestra members and other visuals were projected. Colleen's parents were thrilled to see their daughter's image appear numerous times. Vignettes were also shown of several orchestra members in their home countries. One highlighted the digeridoo, a native Australian instrument which was featured on a piece during the concert. A light show on the exterior Sydney Opera House Sails was also a part of the final concert.

After the final concert, a wrap party was held in "The Studio" at the Opera House, where the musicians said many goodbyes that strengthened international musical ties between 33 countries from around the world. To date, there have been over a million views of the Grand Finale Concert on YouTube, making it one of the most all-time watched concerts ever! Go to www.youtube.com/symphony to view the concert and watch the fantastic visuals that made this an unforgettable experience for Colleen and her parents.


2011 YouTube Symphony Finale Concert


Colleen's YouTube audition