Best known as a violinist and composer, Aleksey Igudesman has also established himself as an actor, comedian and filmmaker. His music has earned admiration for capturing the essence of diverse musical languages in a uniquely clever and joyful way.
Igudesman attended the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey, England. There he met Hyung-ki Joo, his comedy partner-to-be, bonding over a mutual passion for dead composers and deadpan humor. He later studied under Boris Kuschnir at the Vienna Conservatoire.
The violinist has enjoyed a successful career playing, composing, and arranging for his string trio Triology, recording several CDs for BMG, teaching master classes, and performing with Bobby McFerrin, Julian Rachlin, Janine Jansen, Joshua Bell, Gidon Kremer, Sir Roger Moore and John Malkovich, among others. Igudesman also directed, produced and starred in the feature-length mockumentary “Noseland,” an award winner at the Doc Miami International Film Festival.
As a composer, Igudesman has written pieces performed by ensembles and orchestras worldwide—including the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He has frequently collaborated with Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer on movies, including “Sherlock Holmes,” nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Score, and “Jealous of the Birds,” which won Best Original Score at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.
He is one half of the deliciously daft Igudesman & Joo, whose inspired silliness can start with Rachmaninoff or Liszt and find its way through martial arts, movie classics, rock, hip hop, folk, heavy metal, disco and step dancing. Sketches from their concert shows shredding the classical canon have gone viral on YouTube, with some 40 million views.