By YOU-YOUNG KIM

Last spring, a national search got underway for collegiate classical musicians with a yen for exploration. Some 300 responded to the call, and 64 were chosen through auditions over a period of six months for a groundbreaking project: the premiere of an orchestral concerto with renowned D.J. Radar as soloist, performing his innovative "scratching techniques" on a turntable. Composer Raúl Yáñez created a work that not only legitimized this contemporary instrument, but established a form of notation that translates scratching into Western musical notation. Violist You-Young Kim, who was one of nine Juilliard students selected to perform with the Red Bull Artsehcro, gives us an inside view.

When I first saw a flyer advertising the Red Bull Artsehcro, my curiosity got the best of me. I had no idea what Artsehcro was (later, I figured out that it was "orchestra" spelled backwards) or how Red Bull energy drink could be affiliated with a classical music concert. But two things captured my attention: D.J. Radar and Carnegie Hall. I wondered, shouldn't D.J.s be playing at some clubs downtown? What would they be doing at Carnegie Hall?

The Red Bull Artsehcro performing in Carnegie Hall on October 2, 2005. (Photo by Francois Portmann)

My appetite for trying new things made me take one of the flyers, and it turned out that they were looking for orchestra members to take part in a groundbreaking concert that fused both classical and club music. It sounded new and exciting, so without any hesitation, I filled out the application.

I remember doing the same when I applied for the workshop with Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble at Carnegie Hall in 2004. My interest in playing new genres of music made me hurry to send the application without knowing any specific details about the project. However, the two-week experience of the Silk Road workshop opened my mind and eyes to the global world of music. Living and playing with musicians from Iran, China, India, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan taught me that, no matter what region we are from or what form of music we play, music is a universal language and it can unify people. It was a huge sensation for me, as I had previously only played Western classical music, and as a result, thought of it as the definitive form of music.

Because of this experience, the Red Bull project didn't seem that odd. Also, I was excited about the opportunity to meet and play with people who wanted to explore this new musical territory with me. After the live audition and interview at N.Y.U., I witnessed firsthand how dedicated the Red Bull team was in putting together this project by checking their frequently updated Web site.

Finally, a few days before the October 2 concert, we all checked into the W Hotel in Times Square. Booking us at one of the best hotels made us feel even more welcome. Most of the members were from Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and New Haven. Their casual fashion and hair styles made me feel as if I were at a club.

For the first day of rehearsal, both D.J. Radar and composer Raúl Yáñez listened to us as we played. Their intense focus and demeanor showed how seriously they took this performance. An elaborate dinner and party gave us a chance to relax and mingle after the first rehearsal.

The second day's 10 a.m. rehearsal was a bit early for those of us who stayed up late, but the big turntable in front of the rehearsal room was enough to wake us up. It was the first time I ever saw a turntable up close. I couldn't stop wondering what kind of music could be expressed with that gigantic machine. None of us could imagine what it would sound like, playing with a turntable. But once the rehearsal started, the strong downbeats from D.J. Radar brought out smiles, and soon some of us were nodding our heads and tapping our feet with the beats. Also, the changes of coloration and phrasing indicated by D.J. Radar's hand movements had a huge power over us. Could our reaction have been similar to Debussy's, as he listened to the gamelan for the first time at the 1889 World's Fair in Paris?

D.J. Radar was completely in his own musical world, and the power was enough to lead us. Sometimes he asked us if we could imitate some techniques of the turntable, and we tried to find ways to make them work. This kind of processing made us go beyond the limits of our instruments, different musical backgrounds, and education. At that point, we were united with the passion to make one music.

Just like stringed instruments, the turntable's technique is also about how to produce the sound and how to shape it. But instead of moving a bow across the strings to vibrate the wooden body of the instrument, the D.J. uses his hands to spin the record, so that the stylus vibrates as it passes through musical imprints carved into the vinyl. After that, everything is the same as for any other instrumentalist: controlling articulation, volume, and pitch.

Yáñez, who wrote the Concerto for Turntable and Orchestra with D.J. Radar, told me: "I don't categorize instruments. Music is one, and we know that it is all from our hearts. Therefore categorizing instruments or genres is meaningless." He also mentioned that, in writing the Concerto, he wanted to explore the use of open strings in the orchestra to capture the intensity of Death Metal's open-fifth power chords. For that, he retuned his guitar in fifths to match the violins, violas, and cellos, and layered his guitar jams throughout the orchestra's string section. When he explained that, it reminded me of what Mozart did when he found the manuscript of Bach's Mass. Another objective of the composer was to draw from his trash-metal days, when he was 13. While the turntable plays along with the orchestra, the strings explore the rhythmic variations by gravitating toward offbeat, Latin-style syncopations.

Finally, after all the rehearsals and parties over three days and nights, it was time to present our work to the audience at Carnegie Hall. I must admit that I actually worried about how many people would come to hear us and what their reaction would be.

When I entered the stage, I couldn't believe what I saw in front of me. The hall was full of young people, who wore casual to funky to hip-hop fashion. I've never seen this many young listeners at Carnegie Hall! It made us feel so good to play for our own generation, who waved their hands at us and really got into the music. The atmosphere in the concert hall was full of energy, and the appreciation from the audience was worth the four days of rehearsal.

Toward the end of the 19th century, the exotic harmony of the gamelan made a big impression on Debussy, who incorporated the sounds into his own impressionistic compositions that later became representative of the early 20th century. I wonder what labels people in the future will apply to the music of 2005?

The best way to preserve and develop classical music is to have an open mind as a musician, and let audience members experience the wave of the future. In that sense, playing with the Red Bull Artsehcro showed me that classical music is headed in a direction with endless possibilities. A D.J. in a tuxedo, a classical orchestra, and a young audience: is there anything that can better capture a picture of the future of our music?

You-Young Kim is a master's student in viola.