Igudesman & Joo ~ A Little Nightmare Music

Millions of YouTube viewers can’t be wrong. Well they can, but they aren’t, and they’ve turned the inspired lunacy of musicians Igudesman & Joo into an internet and international sensation.  The duo has picked up the mantle of Victor Borge and P.D.Q Bach and given it a third millennium makeover. Like their predecessors, they are serious musicians who have turned the world’s most esteemed concert halls into standing- room only comedy clubs.  Think Mozart hijacked by Monty Python and you have some idea of the mayhem created at the highest level of musicianship on worldwide stages--and immortalized on videos with more than 28 million viewings--by Aleksey Igudesman and Hyungki Joo, classically-trained artists who bring an uproarious, sidesplitting approach to the concert performance.

Comedic as well as musical virtuosi, violinist Igudesman and pianist Joo knock the stuffy out of staid classical performances, mixing genres and styles with hearty doses of humor and theatricality. Yet, while their spin may be irreverent, they always treat the music with the utmost respect.

In part, what makes Igudesman & Joo so unique is that they are enjoyed with equal gusto by audiences ranging from an eight-year old who has never heard of Bach or Brahms to musical connoisseurs. Amazingly, some of their strongest demographics in the U.S. is among 15 to 35-year-olds and their humor can elicit a knowing chuckle for an inside joke about a composer or a loud guffaw for broad slapstick shtick. Their buffoonery is always tempered by incredible musicianship. The partners in comic crime have developed a huge fan base among other entertainers as well. Catch their hilarious musical skits with John Malkovich on YouTube or clips with Yo-Yo Ma, a self-declared Igudesman & Joo fan, who couldn’t resist joining the duo backstage for some illuminating banter.