Classical music can have an elitist reputation. The conventional repertoire is based almost exclusively on the work of western European white men, and the typical audiences for those works are largely older, and also white. But the duo Black Violin thinks the music of Bach is sublime and want to bring it to people who might not otherwise hear it.
Violinist Kev Sylvester and violist Wil Baptiste are Black Violin. They're both classically trained and they've spent the last 13 years forging a distinctive sound that mixes the three B’s of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms over the heavy beats and rhythm change-ups of hip-hop.
Baptiste says the key to their success is the key to every musician's success; practice: "When people see us play, hear us play, they’re like ‘man you guys are so good, how did you even do that?'" he says. "A lot of times people tell us ‘I used to play in 5th grade or 4th grade but I quit.' We tell them, ‘we just never quit. We just kept going, you know?'"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rWxrTpqnAc&feature=youtu.be
Black Violin brings their Classical Boom tour to Uihlein Hall Saturday evening.
