, logo = , logo_caption = Twoset Logo , image = TwoSet Violin New York October 2018 003.jpg , caption = TwoSet Violin ( playing the violin while hula hooping, accompanied by on the piano), , on . , birth_date = Yang Po-yao ( zh, t=楊博堯, p=Yáng Bóyáo)

Taipei, Taiwan , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Chen Wei-chen ( zh, t=陳韋丞, p=Chén Wéichéng)

Kaohsiung, Taiwan Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

, origin =

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia , occupation = , website = , channel_handle = TwoSetViolin , channel_display_name = , years_active = 2013–2024 , genre = , subscribers = 4.32 million , views = 1.367 billion , stats_update = 12 May 2025 , silver_button = yes , silver_year = 2018 , gold_button = yes , gold_year = 2019 TwoSet Violin ( zh, t=雙琴俠) is a musical comedy duo consisting of Australian violinists and YouTubers Brett Po-yao Yang and Wei-chen "Eddy" Chen. Yang and Chen started out posting classical covers of pop music on their

YouTube channel YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San B ...

but eventually switched focus to

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

videos, which gained them more viewership. Yang and Chen eventually also performed in live concerts and tours. On 14 October 2024, the duo posted that they would cease creating content as TwoSet Violin, later releasing the first of six farewell music videos.

Early life and education

Brett Yang was born on 3 March 1992 in

Taipei, Taiwan , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, and Eddy Chen on 23 March 1993 in

. Both moved with their families first to New Zealand and then to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia, before adolescence. They met as young teens in an after-school maths group and became acquainted as the youngest members of a youth orchestra and later as students at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University in Brisbane.

Early musical careers

In 2012, Yang debuted at Queensland Conservatorium performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. He later worked with various other Australian orchestras, including a performance at the

2014 G20 Brisbane summit The 2014 G20 Brisbane summit was the ninth meeting of the G20 heads of government/heads of state.

. Chen was a finalist for the 2014 National Young Virtuoso Award in Queensland and played with the

Queensland Symphony Orchestra Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra in the state of Queensland. The orchestra is based in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's building in South Bank. The Orchestra is funded by private corporations, the ...

and the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008. The MSO relies on fun ...

As TwoSet Violin

In 2013, the duo started posting covers of pop music played on the violin on a YouTube channel. Yang said that they had viewed violin virtuosos playing covers that had garnered millions of views on YouTube; the two attempted the same but to minimal reaction. Discovering that Taiwanese-Australian violinist

Ray Chen Ray Chen (; born 6 March 1989) is a Taiwanese Australians, Taiwanese-Australian violinist. He was the winner of the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists, 2008 International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition and the Quee ...

made comedic videos, they shifted their content production in a similar direction, focusing their videos on their lives at conservatory as

classical musicians Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" can a ...

and as students, which led to a dramatic increase in viewership. At the end of 2016, Yang and Chen resigned their places in the

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

and the

respectively to begin performing live concerts of their own. The TwoSet Violin YouTube channel received a Silver Play Button in 2018 for surpassing 100 thousand subscribers and a Gold Play Button in 2019 for surpassing 1 million subscribers.References announcing their play buttons from YouTube: * * * Classic FM's Kyle Macdonald listed TwoSet Violin as one of the "10 ways the 2010s changed classical music forever". In January 2020, it was announced that the duo would be attending that year's Menuhin Competition, held at

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, as roving reporters; the competition was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 8 February 2020, TwoSet Violin

live-streamed Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

a performance of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

to celebrate their achievement of two million subscribers. Yang played the solo part while Chen performed an original arrangement of the orchestral component for solo violin. In December 2020, the duo announced a temporary hiatus from YouTube while Yang addressed some health issues. The duo made a slow return to content creation in January 2021. On 30 January 2021, to celebrate their achievement of 3 million YouTube subscribers, TwoSet Violin live-streamed another performance, of

Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

, with Chen playing the solo while Yang performed an arrangement of the orchestral component for solo violin. In May 2021, they posted videos to support the Menuhin Competition. On 7 August 2022, TwoSet Violin released a song featuring a fictional band named B²TSM, in which classical composers

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

, and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

are played by the duo in an accompanying music video. On 22 October 2022, TwoSet released a parody of

Blackpink Blackpink (, stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment. The group is composed of four members: Jisoo, Jennie (singer), Jennie, Rosé (singer), Rosé, and Lisa (rapper), Lisa. Regarded by ...

's song "Shut Down". Chen impersonated classical composer and violinst Paganini in a song and accompanying music video titled "Sell Out", which imagined how he might have critiqued Shut Down for using a motif from La Campanella. On 16 November 2022, to celebrate their upcoming 4 million subscribers achievement, TwoSet Violin live-streamed a performance of

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 and

's Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, BWV 1043 with support by the

Singapore Symphony Orchestra The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs ...

at the Victoria Concert Hall. In February 2023, they hosted a music battle at the Star Performing Arts Centre in Singapore with YouTuber bassist Davie504. In November 2023, the group was featured on ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television (Australian TV network), ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs, AB ...

'' on ABC TV. On 14 October 2024, the duo announced that they would stop producing content under the name "TwoSet Violin". Most of their Instagram posts were deleted, and the majority of the videos on their YouTube channel were taken down, leaving only 29 that they considered to be the "crème de la crème". On 5 December 2024, the channel was rebranded to match the theme of their fictional band "B²TSM", although their channel name stayed the same. A day later, as B²TSM, the first of six farewell music videos was posted to YouTube. It was later revealed in a livestream that their intent was to temporarily present their channel "like we're just teleporting to B²TSM universe ... for these six videos it's just B²TSM". They believed their fans were no longer watching their old content, so they only left up what they thought were their best pieces of content for newcomers. However, due to backlash from fans, they made the decision to restore all their old videos onto their channel.

Tours

With

KickStarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

as their fundraising method along with

street performance Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, they raised enough money to go on a worldwide tour in 2017 to 11 cities in 10 countries in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, including

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, and

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. In 2018, they performed in several places in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

including

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In October 2019, TwoSet announced another world tour where they planned to visit multiple locations in

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

, Asia and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. However, the tour was postponed as a result of the

, and a virtual world tour event was held instead on 28 December 2021. On 16 November 2022, they announced an upcoming world tour for 2023–24. On 1 April 2023, they released their official world tour announcement on their YouTube channel, including a list of 29 cities that they will be touring, and dates to be announced subsequently.

Videos and themes

In 2017, TwoSet Violin made a comedic reference to Ling Ling, a fictional violinist who "practices 40 hours a day". In an interview with

Yle Uutiset ''Yle Uutiset'' is the Finnish news production unit of Yle. ''Yle Uutiset'' also produces news in Northern Sámi, Swedish, Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia ...

, they described Ling Ling as the final boss of a video game: the

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. Born in Oklahoma, Norris first gained fame when he won the amateur Middleweight Karate champion title in 1968, which he held for six consecutive years. H ...

of violinists. Chen said they improvised the character from their comedy sketch video concerning a teenage violin student's

tiger mom Tiger parenting is a form of strict parenting, whereby parents are highly invested in ensuring their children's success. Specifically, tiger parents push their children to attain high levels of academic achievement or success in high-status extr ...

comparing the student to her friend's child. In 2018, they released a series of videos called the Ling Ling Workout. In these challenges, the duo play classical pieces (or

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

) with handicaps such as playing at double speed, with

scordatura Scordatura (; literally, Italian for "discord", or "mistuning") is a Musical tuning, tuning of a string instrument that is different from the normal, standard tuning. It typically attempts to allow special effects or unusual Chord (music), chords ...

, while dancing or

hula hoop A hula hoop is a toy hoop (rhythmic gymnastics), hoop that is twirled around the waist, limbs or neck. It can also be wheeled along the ground like a wheel with careful execution and practice. They have been used by children and adults since ...

ing, with hand positions reversed, or while upside down. Prominent violinists such as

, Ziyu He, and

Hilary Hahn Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she has performed throughout the world as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors, and as a recitalist. She is an avid supporter of contemp ...

have also attempted the challenge on their channel. In July 2018, they released a series of videos in which they performed classical music using rubber chickens. Recurring themes include violin

charades Charades (, ). is a parlor game, parlor or party game, party word game, word guessing game. Originally, the game was a dramatic form of literary charades: a single person would act out each syllable of a word or phrase in order, followed by the wh ...

, trying out various instruments, and viola jokes. Another popular video series consists of reviews of film and TV show scenes that feature violin playing, in which Yang and Chen critique egregiously fake performances. On

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. ...

2019, they claimed they discovered a new Double Violin Concerto by J.S. Bach. In September 2018, TwoSet Violin uploaded a

reaction video A reaction video, or a react video, is a video in which one or more persons react to something. Videos showing the emotional reactions, criticism or commentary of people viewing movies, television series episodes, film trailers, music videos, news, ...

to a

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

story titled "Fastest Violinist in the World", in which they challenged violinist

Ben Lee Benjamin Michael Lee (born 11 September 1978) is an Australian musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but he focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He app ...

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

claim of playing "

Flight of the Bumblebee "Flight of the Bumblebee" () is an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) for his opera '' The Tale of Tsar Saltan'', composed in 1899–1900. This perpetuum mobile is intended to musically evoke the seemingl ...

" for what they perceived to be significant inaccuracy. They satirically timed themselves purposefully playing random fast notes before declaring they had broken the world record. TwoSet Violin, in addition with their usual content, has also posted music and films mainly composed by themselves and Jordon He. In October of 2020, they released a video titled "Prelude", a short piece composed and played by TwoSet Violin and He. In June 2022, they posted "FANTASIA", a short film written by the duo, that contained several pieces composed by themselves and He, consisting of the previously mentioned 'Prelude', as well as three new pieces: 'Scherzo', 'Adagio', and 'Rhapsody'. The film also includes a guest appearance of Chloe Chua.

Other ventures

TwoSet has a clothing line called TwoSet Apparel. TwoSet has a podcast called TwoSet Talks.

References

External links

*
Official website of fictional band B²TSM, created by TwoSet Violin
{{Authority control Australian comedy musicians Australian classical violinists Australian YouTubers Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University alumni Musicians from Brisbane Living people Australian musical duos 21st-century Australian male musicians 21st-century Australian musicians Music YouTubers YouTube channels launched in 2013 21st-century violinists Comedy YouTubers Sydney Symphony Orchestra people Male classical violinists Year of birth missing (living people) Humor in classical music YouTubers from Brisbane