From YouTube to London’s Royal Albert Hall – The Journey of Ukraine’s Valentina Lisitsa

It’s amazing how fast technology speeds by. The Internet became popular in the mid 90s. MP3s showed up around then, and then began trading like wild fire in the late 90s, helped by programs like Napster. YouTube came around in the early 2000s. Now, musicians are getting discovered on YouTube and getting music careers (Justin Bieber) or landing big performances based on uploaded online videos. Do I sound like a senile old man with my amazement? If someone were in a coma for the past decade and you told them you’re playing Royal Albert Hall because you were discovered on YouTube, they would have no clue what you were talking about. That’s the speed of the music and online industry these days, although I’m still using AOL Online, so exclude me from these discussions. Oh look, I’ve got mail!

Valentina Lisitsa is a Ukrainian pianist who has gathered 43 million YouTube views in the past 5 years for her 180 YouTube videos. These might not necessarily be mind blowing numbers for the likes of Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber, but for someone who is not a famous performer, with no manager or promoter, the numbers are astonishing. My video of me seeing a double rainbow all the way across the sky is comparable though.

Valentina has landed a performance at the famous Royal Albert Hall in London on June 19, and will broadcast the entire concert on the Internet for free (via Canoe). She has now signed with Universal Music on their Decca Classics label.

Check out Valentina in action, with her long blonde hair and her equally long (but not equally blonde) fingers.

Valentina Lisitsa – Rachmaninoff Etude Op. 39 No. 6 “Little Red Riding Hood”