This Ping Pong Concerto makes absolutely no sense, but we love it

14 August 2018, 15:45

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra posted a clip from this Concerto for orchestra and… ping pong players.

These two aren't your average concerto soloist. Neither of them are virtuoso pianists or world-famous violinists, for a start.

Instead, these two take the principal roles in Andy Akiho's Ping Pong Concerto (called 'Ricochet') which received its world premiere at the hands of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra back in 2015.

The two ping pong players – or in this case concerto soloists – are Ariel Hsing and Michael Landers and they're real-life table tennis professionals. Hsing even competed in the London 2012 Olympics.

Akiho's piece turns a game of ping pong into a percussion instrument and takes the familiar sounds of a table tennis game and turns them into a concerto.

Here's the whole, slightly bonkers, piece:

Andy Akiho 023 "Ricochet" (Ping Pong Concerto) Hsing, Landers, Zeltser, Cossin