The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is using the internet to find a worthy concerto soloist for one of its 2012–13 subscription programmes. Violinists, cellists and other instrumentalists can upload audition videos on YouTube in a competition that the PSO claims is the first of its kind by a major US orchestra. The winner will receive $10,000 and get the chance to perform with the PSO and music director Manfred Honeck in Pittsburgh's Heinz Hall on 30 November and 2 December.

Musicians wanting to enter the competition must be US residents, aged at least 18, and not under management. The deadline for video submissions is 22 March, after which PSO musicians, conductors and other artistic staff will choose 20 semi-finalists, whose videos will then be put to public vote via the orchestra's YouTube channel. The four soloists with the most votes will travel to Pittsburgh in June for a live audition to decide the winner.

According to the competition rules, violinists must choose from Mozart's Concertos nos.3 and 4, Bruch's First Concerto, and the Brahms and Mendelssohn concertos. Cellists can choose any concerto by Haydn, Schumann, Lalo, Saint-Saëns, Dvo?ák or Elgar or the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations. Players can select a portion of their chosen concerto up to ten minutes long to play in their audition video.

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