YouTube is moving to bring classical music to a larger audience by holding an online contest where viewers will vote which of a number of classical musicians goes to Carnegie hall.

The competition will bring musicians from around the world together for three days with San Francisco Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas, Chinese pianist Lang Lang, Olympics theme composer Tan Dun and other famous performance, all mounting to a Carnegie Hall show on April 15.

The contestants will be gradually culled by a panel of judges from leading orchestras around the world, including London, Berlin, Hong Kong, Sydney and New York. Semi-finalists will then be voted by YouTube viewers.

According to Tilson Thomas, the program would "explore new ways for music lovers of all levels to use technology to discover how vast our tradition is."

Entrants must submit a demonstration video of their interpretation of an original composition by Chinese contemporary classical composer Tan Dun, as well as a video showing off their musical and technical fortes.

"YouTube is the biggest stage on Earth, and I want to see what the world's undiscovered musical geniuses will create on it," said Dun, the Oscar-winning composer of the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Videos can be submitted until January 28, 2009. YouTube viewers will cast their votes on the semi-finalists through February 14-22. The winners will be announced on the YouTube website on March 2.

This is the latest of YouTube’s special features. Others include e-commerce movie and television pacts earlier this year, as well as live event web casting. The site is expected to bring in $200 to $250 million to its owner Google this year.

Other institutions included in the current classical music program are Amsterdam School of Music, Liceu Barcelona, Moscow Conservatory, Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and others.