Violinist David France was ecstatic yesterday evening after he received the news that he was one of the lucky few who would perform at Carnegie Hall next month.

Mr. France entered the first-ever YouTube Symphony Orchestra competition, which saw over 3,000 videos were submitted by amateur and professional musicians from 70-plus countries.

He was then short listed to the final 200 and the voting began.

Mr. France told The Royal Gazette that he began checking the YouTube site very early in the morning, but it was his sister, who lives in Connecticut, who rang him with the news. The Bermuda School of Music teacher said: "It is very, very exciting!

When asked whether he really thought he had a chance, as he was up against people in much larger communities, he said: "Well, I tried to be balanced in my outlook and I just hoped for the best, but just prepared for the possibility of not getting in. It is definitely a dream come true."

In further preparation he said that he would wait to hear from them. "Now I just to wait to hear from them and what the repertoire is that we are going to play," said Mr. France. "And actually I have a concert in (Kodai) India that I am going to be going to, so I am still practising everyday.

"And then when I hear what the music is, then the first thing that I will do is probably buy recordings, so that I can hear them and begin practising them. My brother was so excited that he said to his wife, 'we are going to Carnegie Hall!'

When asked about the community's support, he said: "As I was walking over here, people were shouting, hey, I voted for you!' And I got to tell them that I won and they were beeping their horns. I thought everybody in Bermuda knows. I am honoured to have had the support of an entire country, my family and people all over the world who voted for me, so I am excited."

For him 2009 is a year of firsts, as the guitar concert he is playing in Kodai, India, is also in its debut year. "Me and my duo player Louise Southwood will be playing at the first International Guitar Festival in Kodai, so it is a year of firsts, and then playing with the first orchestra auditioned on the Internet."

Of his famed violin teacher Sally O'Reilly, he said: "I called her and she was so excited, she is a great teacher and two of her students will be at the finals at a national violin competition and they might be winners of a US competition."

Although he was up against the world, Mr. France spoke about his affirming thoughts. "From the moment I heard about it to this moment, all of my direction, focus and energy was toward winning," he said. "I want to win this whatever I have to do to win, I'll do it and all of my energy and passion was just towards winning.

"Of course there was an option to not win, but I thought that if I give 150 percent to this and I don't win, then I've did all that I could do and I just need to learn how to play the violin better."

Musicians from professional orchestras including the London and San Francisco symphonies and the Berlin, Hong Kong and New York philharmonic orchestras picked 200 finalists. The winners were then selected by voters on YouTube.

"We are excited about the talent, variety and adventurousness of the musicians who are coming together from around the world to form the YouTube Symphony Orchestra," conductor Michael Tilson Thomas said Monday.

"I am looking forward to our exploration of the incredible range of classical music's 1,200-year-old tradition, which we will present in a unique way to our audience."

The orchestra will have 26 different instruments. The selected musicians, ranging from ages 17 to 55, will participate in three days of master classes and rehearsals next month, culminating in an April 15 concert at Carnegie Hall conducted by Mr. Thomas, the San Francisco Symphony's music director.

They will perform composer Tan Dun's "Internet Symphony No. 1, Eroica," a piece specially arranged for the occasion. A mashup will be posted on YouTube.com on April 16.

The international winners are from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.