Igudesman and Joo: A Big Nightmare Music (a.k.a. The Best Concert Ever!)

Igudesman and Joo= Epic Swag

Saturday night, I went to the Igudesman and Joo: Big Nightmare Music concert. I went into the concert hall with a hint of excitement and a bit of a headache (which is pretty normal for me) and came out with a goofy, full-teeth grin and sparkling eyes (in a figurative sense...) that read: That. Was. The. Best. Concert. Ever.

Okay, a little backtrack: If you don't know who Igudesman and Joo are, feel free to click on this link. So basically they are two musicians, Aleskey Igudesman and Hyung-ki Joo, who play some fantastic music whilst adding a lot of awesome humor to their performances.

During the concert, Igudesman and Joo played with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. I thought that was fantastic because it just added another layer of sheer musicality and awesomeness. I do not remember the entire order of all their performances, but what I do remember from that night was this:

1) Joo is a fantastic singer.
2) Joo sang a song about how Bessie is his favorite cow, while Igudesman did cow noises on the violin.
3) While Joo was singing a very intimate, tragical version of the song "All by Myself", one of the violinists in the orchestra was laughing so hard that she literally couldn't even play her instrument anymore.
4) Joo and Igudesman had a Baroque Boxing Match. Joo was Bach while Igudesman was Vivaldi. Their wigs were very dashing.
5) Joo caught a cold on one of his performances and proceeded to to wipe off his booger-infected hand on the concertmaster.
6) Igudsman made a fantastic karate violinist. He could kick and run while playing.
7) Igudsman also played with an extremely tiny bow. It was so small I could not see it from the balcony I was sitting on.
8) Igudsman proves that you can riverdance while playing the violin.
9) James Bond and Mozart music actually sound really well together.
10) Turkish March should solely be played on A Major. (Although the other keys weren't half as bad)

I, along with several others of my Youth Orchestra pals, also got to meet them backstage during intermission. And let me tell you, they were just as funny face-to-face as on stage. Usually when you meet new people the conversation always gets a little awkward, but with Igudsman and Joo, they made us feel so welcome. (Although technically, we were welcoming them) They always had something so funny to say, and I'm so grateful I got the chance to meet them!

Overall, the concert got me laughing from the second it started to long after it finished. In fact, my cheeks were hurting so hard from laughing and smiling that I often had to relax my face muscles just to stop it from hurting. But as soon as I did so, I felt a grin creeping up my face, and before I knew it, I was, again, grinning like an idiot :)

It's so wonderful that there are people like Igudesman and Joo in the world. They make us appreciate classical music by combining it with a lot of witty humor, yet they still keep the rich culture and history that is found in it.