Hilary Hahn and Josh Ritter

In the history of music, there've been a lot of artists who team up with other artists, and when you hear their names together, you think "Huh?"

Bing Crosby and David Bowie, Allison Krauss and Robert Plant, M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, Placido Domingo and John Denver...some were good and some were just weird.

But I was perusing YouTube today, and guess who I found? World-renowned violinist Hilary Hahn performing with the wonderful indie-alternative-folk singer Josh Ritter!

Maybe you know who Hahn is, but not Ritter. He is an independent musician that I first heard of a few years ago on Minnesota Public Radio. He writes great tunes to go with deep, poetic lyrics. His gravelly voice reminds me of Bob Dylan, but unlike Dylan, he looks like he's having fun while performing.

Hahn started out as a violin prodigy, studying from the age of 3, going to the Curtis Institute at 10, and signing onto her first recording contract when she was 16.

She's probably one of the greatest American violinists today.

I wondered how the two ever met, and found out that Hahn and Ritter's families were old friends. The two musicians decided to tour together in 2008.

I listen to music spanning over many genres, and honestly, I don't think I've ever heard such a great collaboration between two totally different musicians. They just bumped Allison Krauss and Robert Plant to #2 on my list.

If you watch the video of Hahn and Ritter playing his tune "Bone of Song" in Switzerland, there was something in the beginning that I found interesting. The duo came out for their encore, and Hahn basically told the audience, "This isn't classical music, but I'm going to play it, and if you don't like it you can leave." Then in another video from later in the evening, Ritter thanks the audience for sticking around to hear his brand of folk music, when they usually expect Mozart or Bach. And I'm sure he liked the change of venues from a rowdy bar in New York to a concert hall in Europe.

If you look and listen closely, there are lots of ways classical music has shaken its reputation of being an institution of snobby, stuffy old birds who want to hear their classical greatest hits: Conductors are actually talking to/with the audience about repetoire, more contemporary and avant-garde works are being performed, and there's a seemingly endless stream of young talent who draw inspiration and technique from many different wells. But there's still not a lot of sanctioned mixing between the classical and the popular worlds. I say, why not? The last chamber music concert I was at, the young conducter and violin soloist not only was a captivating performer well-schooled in Bach and Sebelius, but also toured with bands as a jazz violinist. I didn't even know jazz violin existed!

I think that through the collaboration with musicians of different styles, it gives the artists and listeners a chance to learn. Ritter himself has said he gained a new appreciation for Schubert after working with Hahn, and he loved strumming along to Paganini with her, even though he wasn't a classically trained guitarist. Hahn loved that she was challenged to improvise her solos, and just do something totally different for her regular audience.

I think it'd be cool to see more collaborations like these in the music world. It would make up for the Crosby/Bowie, Domingo/Denver pairings, at least.