‘Yankee Diva’ live streams from Carnegie Hall

VERENA DOBNIK
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — She’s the “Yankee Diva” from Kansas who sang the national anthem at last week’s World Series — invited after fans clamored for her voice in a social media campaign that went viral.

Joyce DiDonato’s beloved hometown team, the Royals, lost to the San Francisco Giants. But she hit the musical ball out of the park with a ringing high note — before tripping in the batter’s box with a laugh.

On Tuesday night, the Internet will again be the internationally famed mezzo-soprano’s friend. For the first time, Carnegie Hall is live streaming a concert to a global audience of tens of thousands — starring DiDonato.

In a sort of musical World Series, it’s one of four such Carnegie recitals by top artists in partnership with the website medici.tv. The Paris-based digital provider of musical events reaches its audience using apps for Internet-enabled devices, from smartphones and tablets to desktop computers.

Following each live webcast, free replay will be available for 90 days.

“Our mission is to bring artists to their audience,” says Herve Boissiere, medici.tv’s founder and managing director. “And Carnegie Hall is the hall of fame of classical music.”

For Tuesday’s concert, DiDonato and pianist David Zobel chose a program titled “A Journey Through Venice” of songs and arias inspired by the Italian city, from Vivaldi and Rossini to 20th-century British composer Michael Head.

DiDonato, a Grammy Award-winning musician, uses social media to passionately — and often whimsically — promote an art that’s been pushed to the sidelines in favor of mainstream pop music.

In her self-generated Twitter, Facebook and YouTube appearances, she jokingly calls herself the “Yankee Diva.”

The fan campaign to get her the anthem spot started with a petition using the hashtag #LetJoyceSing. In a poll on the Kansas City Star website, she emerged as the top contender.

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Online:

http://joycedidonato.com

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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