Lindsey Stirling (above)
Breakout hip-hop violinist Lindsey Stirling jumpstarted her career as a quarter-finalist in the fifth season of America’s Got Talent. Despite her elimination, Stirling continued composing and posting videos of her choreographed performances to her YouTube channel. Stirling was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Music in 2015. Her single “Shatter Me” featuring Lzzy Hale of the rock band Halestorm reached a No. 2 position on the Billboard 200 upon its release. Stirling released her latest album, Brave Enough, on August 19 of last year.
Vitamin String Quartet (VSQ)
Photo credit to Modern Vinyl.
VSQ, founded in 1999, is a series of string quartet projects developed and produced by the CMH Label Group. The arrangers, composers and string players consistently change, but their album set focuses on covers of hit songs from well-known artists, as well as movies, television shows and video games. VSQ’s over 261 albums cover pop, rock, emo, punk, techno, country and hip-hop, to name a few. Their covers have been featured in popular programs such as Modern Family, House, Gossip Girl and Westworld. VSQ most recently released a tribute album to singer The Weeknd on February 24.
2CELLOS
Photo credit to 2cellos.com
Comprised of musicians Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, 2CELLOS is a cellist duo originating from Croatia. The duo’s style ranges from classical and film music to pop and rock. The music of 2CELLOS is critically acclaimed worldwide, and their success in Japan led to January 20 being named “2CELLOS Day” by the Japan Anniversary Association. The duo shot to fame with their cover of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal on YouTube, earning over 20 million views, a record deal with Sony Masterworks and an invitation to join Sir Elton John on his 2011 European tour. Their latest album, Score, was released on March 17.
The Piano Guys
Photo credit to Geek Insider.
The Piano Guys are a musical group consisting of pianist Jon Schmidt and cellist Steven Sharp Nelson. While Schmidt and Nelson focus on instrumentals, Paul Anderson serves as their producer and videographer and Al van der Beek produces their music. The group describes themselves as a “miraculous meeting of “guys” with the same intrinsic purpose – to make a positive impact in the lives of people all over the world through music videos.” While The Piano Guys’ first five albums each reached number one on the Billboard Classical Albums chart, they are most widely known for their intricate music videos posted on their YouTube channel. Their latest album, Uncharted, was released in October of last year.
