Hyung-Ki Joo

The biography page for the classical music comedy team of Igudesman and Joo starts with, “Millions of YouTube viewers can’t be wrong.  Well they can, but in this case, they aren’t.” 

This gives a clue to the humor and irreverence of violinist, Aleksey Igudesman and pianist, Hyung-ki Joo, who joined forces--after years of touring individually--to become a YouTube sensation combining virtuosic classical music, slapstick comedy, humorous compositions and unexpected guest appearances, as shown recently at Carnegie Hall, with the celebrated classical pianist, Yuja Wang.  In the company of Igudesman and Joo, Yuja added singing, rapping, dancing and acting to her virtuosic playing. Judy and Joo discuss the evolution in Joo’s career to include comedy in his presentations and why he thinks that brings a broader audience to classical music.