SINGAPORE, July 4 — "Yes, you only have one of us for the interview — but I’m the one with the deeper, sexier voice anyway,” laughed Hyung-ki Joo.

With that little humorous, off-hand quip, it was clear what made Joo, together with his partner, Aleksey Igudesman, so successful as a classical music duo.

The pair have incorporated classical music with everything from rap and dance to props such as a vacuum cleaner that sucks up Igudesman’s bow in their performances.

They’ve also gained a following worldwide with close to 40 million hits for their videos on YouTube and counting.

Joo is an accomplished pianist, while Igudesman is a violinist. They met as 12-year-olds while training at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey, England.

Since their debut in 2004, they have performed together for more than a decade. They decided that they would reinvent classical music concerts after noticing that these performances felt like "funerals”.

"When we were teenagers in school, we’d go to classical concerts and notice the audience falling asleep,” shared Joo.

"It felt like a funeral! It was all stuffiness and seriousness, and we thought, ‘This is wrong, this isn’t what classical music is!’”

Realising that many people might have the impression of classical music being boring, or are turned off and intimidated by it, the "two passionate, idealistic kids” set out to make it more accessible and exciting for the audience. Said Joo: "Classical music is invigorating, emotional, stirring ... and fun!”

As it turned out, it was a fun medium in 2006 that really launched their career — YouTube.

"We knew a guy in the YouTube business. Back then, YouTube was very young, and we had no idea about the impact it could have. We uploaded our very first video in December 2006, on either Christmas or Boxing Day, and within weeks it became a viral sensation,” recalled Joo.

"We put up some more clips, and within two or three months we got more attention than we could ever imagine.”

The duo will be performing in Singapore later this week, and they tell us they hope to inspire the audience to be more creative after seeing their show. And Joo is looking forward to interacting with the fans during autograph signing after the performances.

"Outside of music, we love stuffing our face. Bring us some Hainanese chicken rice or noodles ... or recommendations on what to try!”

Q: Did you have anyone telling you that you were doing a disservice to ‘serious’ classical music?

A: I think the intensity of our performances is the same as the classical greats. For example, when you look at Mozart, Hayden, and so on, I don’t believe that they put a different hat on when they were composing short, light-hearted pieces, or when they were doing more serious works. It is the same as anyone else, really. Take Roald Dahl for example. Whether he was writing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or a more serious work (such as My Uncle Oswald) — it is all the same intensity, process. So we’re doing the same thing with classical music.

Q: Do you remember the audience’s reaction the first time you performed?

A: Our debut was in 2004, in Vienna, and the audience was made up of a lot of our friends and people in the music business, who were very open-minded. Luckily for us, there was an important reviewer who happened to be there — he liked it, gave us a great review and we were off to a good start. We had some major supporters. Big artistes (including actor Roger Moore and violinist Joshua Bell) asked us to do projects and performances with them, which was encouraging. But it took a long time for people to trust that what we are doing is serious as well.

Q: What was it like being ‘Internet sensations’?

A: It was a strange phenomenon, being known because of our clips on YouTube. We would be in public places, such as at the airport, for instance, and we’d have people coming up to us and asking if we were the guys from that YouTube clip! There were university students, German backpackers ... it was people from all walks of life.

So on the one hand, we were like, "Wow! We’re well-known!” On the other hand, it wasn’t like we were overnight sensations. It was very strange. But we are definitely products of the Internet.

Q: Did you ever have a Plan B if your unique methods didn’t work out?

A: With our debut, that was just a continuation of everything else we had been doing up till that point. For us, there was no difference in getting onstage and performing at school or at a cabaret. We took it all very seriously right from the start. We always believed that this was something to do—or something that we had to do. If we were not successful, we would still be doing it anyway.

Q: What is the best and worst thing about classical music, then?

A: The worst thing is the word "classical”. I think it would be a lot better without the label. In fact, I think all music should just be called music. Labels put a damper on what it is.

The best thing about classical music is that it can bring an entire stadium of people of all backgrounds and ages to tears and absolute exhilaration —without them even understanding why. It makes you feel alive. The power of it is endless. It has even been documented scientifically that listening to Mozart helps the brain grow, and improves social interaction and learning. Even plants grow better with Mozart in the background, and Kobe beef tastes better when the cows have listened to Mozart.

Q: Do you incorporate other kinds of music in your performances?

A: We do. In our Singapore show, we will incorporate a bit of glam rock and heavy metal. Something that shocked and upset us were people actually snubbing their noses at other forms of music. That is not right. We include as many kinds of music as we can. There’s a mixture of all styles — from rap to Russian folk.

Q: How hard is it to do rap as compared to classical music?

A: We work with the experts — we parody it, but we also try to make it as authentic as possible. We have a show called Play It Again where we worked with founders of a breakdance movement to learn it correctly. Everything is possible.

Q: Do you spend more time practising the technical aspects of the music or on perfecting your acting for the sketch?

A: We do both just as much. As you can imagine, it is difficult to play and joke around, but at the same time, it is a whole lot easier because through movement, it becomes more fun and multi-dimensional. You become less fixated on the technical aspects. I can guarantee it can actually be a lot easier to play a piece when you’re dancing instead of sitting still. — TODAY