Holiday Concert

The baton measures a staggering 16 feet 1 ⅞ inches long, and was wielded by the orchestra’s Music Director, Diego Hernandez, through a performance of Can-Can, from Jacques Offenbach’s opera Orpheus in the Underworld. This performance, which featured over 70 Googler musicians, took place on June 23, 2023, at Charlie's Cafe on the Google campus in Mountain View, California.

Watch the recording: https://youtu.be/Hb2ngQzUxjs

Emmanuel & Myra Pacheco of Brampton, Ontario commissioned the baton to be crafted by James Barber of Barber Builds in Paris, Ontario. The baton's bulb was turned from Canadian maple and the shaft is made of poplar. The shaft can be disassembled into segments for travel purposes. This record-setting baton has the same proportions as a traditional conductor’s baton, just several times larger!

The world record attempt was part of a Googler Orchestra concert of "record-breaking" music that included the Afro-American Symphony by William Grant Still, Leonore Overture No.3 by Ludwig van Beethoven, and Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Claude Debussy. In addition, the Googler Orchestra Flute Choir performed an arrangement of "Summertime" by George Gershwin.