"I don't think there is any other composer who set the English language better to music, " says tenor Nicholas Phan, who has recorded two albums of Britten, and will perform in the "War Requiem" next November with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony.
Thuan Phan, who spends about half the year as a sales engineer, points out that the advantage in space and cost goes to small earphones that block noise by sealing off the ear canal.
But Wednesday's event focused largely on those who had succeeded on YouTube before the channel-funding strategy was in place, such as Michelle Phan, a YouTuber who has been giving viewers makeup tips since 2006.