After an intense battle on a Facebook poll, Aragon beat Hillsdale, Junipero Serra and San Mateo High School for a visit and performance from 2Cellos. 2Cellos is a cellist duo made up of Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser.The Croatian duo was discovered after posting their own cello interpretation of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” The video instantly became a hit, receiving over three million views in two weeks. Since then, 2Cellos has performed with well-known artists, including Elton John and Red Hot Chili Peppers. 2Cellos has also been a guest appearance on the tv show “Glee.”
On Monday, the 2Cellos visited Aragon for a three song performance. Every seat in the new theater was filled with students anticipating this world-renown duo.
The pair certainly wowed Aragon students. After every piece, the audience broke out in applause, as well as hoots and shouts, and in some instances, “I love you!” was heard from the crowd.
Sophomore Guy Geva comments on the performance, “I thought that [the] performance was really good. I liked how involved and into the music both cellists are. They didn’t just play noise: they played real music … I might continue to follow their career.”
Junior Jacqueline Pei explains, “I [was] excited to see them in person after watching them online and seeing them on ‘Glee.’ I think that they are uniquely talented. You see a lot of musicians playing pianos and guitars, but you rarely see cellos.”
Sophomore Grisel Lopez, who stopped playing violin when she got to high school four years of playing, comments, “I definitely wish [the performance] was longer because I really liked the music. It was my first time seeing a cello performance like that, and it [made] me want to play the violin again.”
David Martin, orchestra and choir director adds, “It was exciting, but I wish I had had time to enjoy it. That being said, what a great way to have that theater inaugurated – having students come there to see world-class guys make beautiful music.”
In between songs, Martin asked Hauser and Šulić questions about their lives and experiences as cellists. Hauser’s tongue-in-cheek responses caused the audience to erupt in laughter. During one instance, Martin asked what ages they were. “Twelve,” responded Hauser, with a smile. As the audience laughed, Šulić chuckled, “Yes, his behavior is that of a twelve year old.”
Their playful attitudes were apparent even in their playing, in which Hauser would encourage the audience to clap with the beat; both cellist smiled widely at the crowd as they performed.
However, even though instant stardom and shows almost every night can be exciting, these things can be stressful as well. 2Cellos has been on the road for a year and a half, and life gets hectic for the pair. Jazmin Sherman, their day-to-day manager comments that she’s, “Dealing with sort of the day to day aspects of their life – the touring, the press runs, lots of traveling, lots of visas.”
Not only is it hectic for the cellists, but for the people that manage them as well. Luka Sertic, their driver comments, “What I know for now is that they’re real jokers, and if you’re the driver, you really got to keep your eye on them because they like to go out and run away, and I’ll have a hectic time finding them. We’re all backstage and getting all the cellos in the car. I come and, boom! Stjepans’s gone. Like, ‘Where’d Stejpan go?’ He was here with two chicks.”
Because of their musical childhoods, both Hauser and Šulić feel strongly about inspiring more kids to love music. Gary Allen, board member of the Croatian Scholarship Fund and promoter of Oct. 14 fundraising 2Cellos concert, comments, “They were excited to come to the high school because it’s filled with students of music and all of those types of good things … they went through high school musical lessons and all that, and so these are their fans; they’d much rather come to something like this, not have to talk to the press and all that. This is the pulse of music, is young kids. So that’s why they wanted to come to this after the concert.”
Sherman adds, “We just wanted to give back to the local high school, and visit their music department. These guys have been doing music since they were five. They were sponsored by Elton John to practice at the World Academy of Music in London. Luka was on a scholarship, so they feel very strongly about kids.”
Martin notes, “They [Hauser and Šulić] can really be ambassadors for music education. They said they were completely blown away when so many people raised their hands saying they were involved in the music program. They didn’t expect that, and they said, ‘Wow, that’s unbelievable!’ They love that.”
This performance could not have happened without winning the Facebook poll. Students were just as active during the lead-up to the concert as they were during the 2Cellos’s visit. A Facebook event was created by senior Olivia Simon to prompt students to share the poll with their friends and families and have them vote for 2Cellos to visit Aragon.
Sophomore Dawit Bairu says, “When I found out about the competition, I started listening to their music and I realized that they are really talented. I wanted them to come to Aragon, so I invited a lot of my friends to the event on Facebook so we could get more votes.”
Despite the majority of Aragon students voting for Aragon, some Dons decided to vote for the rivals instead.
Junior Eric Carlson, who voted for Hillsdale, explains, “Well, I think that with the pipe bombs and everything that’s happened to them, they deserve a nice concert at their school.”
No matter who they voted for, this was surely a memorable event for most Dons.
Anyone interested in purchasing t-shirts that say 2Cellos can still purchase them from Rm. 138. They are $10 each and the will be gone by the end of the month!