When they were young Australians, Brett Yang and Eddy Chen connected in an after-school math tutoring program. Today, they are on their second globe tour and selling out international musical venues.

One of the most popular Classical Music groups on the internet is called TwoSet Violin.

The Brisbane duet has demonstrated how the Classical music community can attract new audiences with a little bit of preparation and ingenuity with more than 7.5 million followers across social media platforms and more than 1.3 billion views on their YouTube channel.

The couple, who are now in their early 30s, are well-known for their funny and educational YouTube videos, which they began publishing in 2013.

Their material ranges from making fun of erroneous violinist representations in movies like 2016’s High Strung to enticing the biggest classical performers, such violinist Hilary Hahn, to participate in challenges like playing Mozart while hula hooping.

Even more outrageously, they ventured to mock the South Korean girl group Blackpink for using a small portion of a motif from Paganini’s La Campanella étude for their song Shut Down. In a video, Eddy Chen played the part of the Italian violinist and composer and imagined how he may have criticized the song.

Then TwoSet published a song called Sell Out that was a spoof and contained the words, “I sold my soul to the devil. You gave your label yours. Because superstitious listeners believed that Paganini’s virtuoso abilities were a gift from the devil, he was known as the “devil’s violinist” (1782-1840).

The K-Pop act’s devoted followers responded angrily to the criticism on social media, as many of them believed Paganini was still alive. Later, TwoSet reacted with a different video, claiming it was wonderful to bring more people’s attention to Paganini’s work.

When TwoSet started their YouTube channel ten years ago, fellow classical musicians who got the niche humor of their films frequently shared it.

They’ve made significant progress in the last few years, and now the pair claims that other classical performers have informed them that TwoSet’s content has helped a larger range of people attend their concerts for the first time.

Before the group’s tour stop in London in late June, Chen said, “We want to stay true to the essence of [classical music] while also finding ways to connect and meet people where they are.”

LISTEN: TwoSet Violin is featured in the 28:22 Global News podcast.
It was sold out for their one-night-only appearance.

Molly, a spectator from Switzerland, attended to watch them perform live. She began observing them to better comprehend her husband’s love of classical music.

She told the BBC, “I’ve never played music in my life, but I love classical music and wanted an easy way to learn a little more.”

She claimed that she is now a member of the neighborhood. “With each video, I learn something new. I gradually began to believe that I was understanding the inside jokes.

Georgina Hill, a 14-year-old violinist in grade 7, said she had been “watching all their videos from all the years back” since discovering them in February.

She considered attending the exhibition to be a unique chance. It’s a lot of fun, she remarked. It’s good to be new (to the fandom), but it’s also nice to see veterans and get a sense of the range of fans. We all need music, it’s such an essential aspect of existence.

Maud, on the other hand, has been a fan of the band since 2017 and made the long journey from France specifically for the show because “they were not coming to Paris.”

“I admire how they make classical music accessible to everyone and how entertaining they are. I really enjoy their videos because I play the violin.

Many organizations are struggling with the same problem as TwoSet, which is to encourage more people to interact with classical music in the face of declining ticket sales.

In order to welcome a younger and more diverse audience to their performances, artists need to engage with social media, according to Brian Kavanagh, a lecturer in digital innovation at King’s College London.

Dr. Kavanagh, who has worked with non-profit classical performers like the LA Philharmonic Orchestra and the English National Opera to help them adapt to the digital world, says that one of the things that is really impressive about what TwoSet Violin is doing is that they offer a very wide range of content.

I believe that orchestras, opera companies, and string quartets may profit from providing possibly a larger range of [online] content in addition to the usual fare.

Fans of TwoSet Violin have drawn inspiration from Ling Ling, a fictional musician the pair has developed, in addition to Eddy Chen and Brett Yang.

Eddy Chen explains, “Ling Ling is a representation of that perfect model student your mother always compares you to.”

Reddit users who are fans of TwoSet frequently create and distribute memes urging people to practice 40 hours per day, exactly like Ling Ling.

Many people in the classical music field have always felt pressure to pursue perfection. By promoting practice and refusing rich sponsorship arrangements that other video makers accept, the duo hopes to dispel that misconception.

According to TwoSet, their 2017 tour was the first classical world tour ever crowdfunded. By live-streaming a five-day non-stop “busking marathon” on the streets of Sydney, the pair raised about A$35,000 ($23,000; £18,000) in online donations.

The practice continues throughout the duo’s second world tour, which started in Hong Kong in June and takes them to 27 locations, including Helsinki and New York.

“Putting it into practice is half the work. The practice space is yours to use as much as you like. But it will be different when you’re on stage, he continues.

Fans of TwoSet’s response suggests that a growing internet audience is eager to participate in the realm of classical music.

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