Black Violin plays a genre-shattering blend of classical, hip hop, rock, R&B, and bluegrass music. Since their start over a decade ago, viola player Wil B and violinist Kev Marcus have performed an average of 200 shows a year in 49 states and 36 countries as far away as Dubai, the Czech Republic, and South Africa, and they’ve appeared at official NFL celebrations for three Super Bowls and the U.S. Open with Jordin Sparks. Their groundbreaking collaboration has seen them play for everybody from the troops in Iraq to both the official President’s Inaugural Ball and the Kids’ Inaugural in Washington, DC, where President Barack Obama himself gave each a hearty handshake.

Individually and together, Black Violin has collaborated with the likes of P. Diddy, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Aretha Franklin, and the Eagles. Of the duo, The New York Times said, “Black Violin works hard, but makes it all look like play…Sometimes they play with the intense seriousness of orchestral soloists; at others they fiddle as if at a hoedown; at still others they strum the violin and viola like guitars.”