Who are TwoSet Violin?
TwoSet Violin are a classical music comedy duo consisting of Australian violinists Brett Yang and Eddy Chen. The pair are best known for their YouTube channel, which in February 2022 had reached over 3.5 million subscribers and 1 billion views. They are also hugely popular on social media, with 1.3 million Facebook followers and 33.4 million likes on TikTok. Since September 2016, they have embarked on a number of live shows and tours.
When and where were Brett and Eddy from TwoSet violin born?
Brett Yang was born on 3 March 1992, and Eddy Chen was born on 23 March 1993. Both hail from Brisbane, Australia.
When did TwoSet Violin meet?
Brett and Eddy first met at maths tutoring in 2006 when they were 14 and 13. The next day they met again at their first rehearsal with the Queensland Youth Symphony, where they were the youngest players. They both went on to study the violin at the Queensland Conservatorium, where they first started making YouTube videos. Initially, they made covers of pop songs, but when this failed to take off, they began making comical videos about life as a music student.
What do TwoSet Violin do on their YouTube channel?
Brett and Eddy have made over 1,200 humorous videos for TwoSet Violin’s video channel encompassing just about every aspect of being a musician. Recurring topics include the need for musicians to practise (embodied by a character called ‘Ling Ling’ who practises ‘for 40 hours per day’), prodigies and how accurately (or otherwise) classical music is portrayed in film and pop videos. One of their most popular videos lambasts a player for claiming to be the ‘world’s fastest violinist’ in his rendition of Flight of the Bumblebee.
What do TwoSet Violin do in their stage shows?
At the end of 2016, Brett and Eddy resigned their places in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra respectively to begin hosting live classical comedy performances of their own. In 2017, TwoSet launched the first ever crowdfunded classical world tour, with sold-out concerts in New York, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Berlin, Munich, Warsaw, Vienna, Oslo, and Helsinki.
According to the act’s website, their ‘one-of-a-kind show offers a unique and interactive experience, creatively integrating humour with actual recital – all while upholding the integrity of classical music’.
Who have TwoSet Violin worked with?
Brett and Eddy have collaborated in video and on stage with such leading soloists as Lang Lang, Hilary Hahn, Janine Jansen, James Ehnes, Maxim Vengerov, Ray Chen, and Anne Akiko Meyers.
Photo: TET Photography SG