After unsuccessfully auditioning for four orchestras, classically trained violinist Rob Landes started to lose hope in his dream of a musical career. A loop pedal and a community of supportive video gamers changed everything. In a paradigm-shifting TEDxSaltLakeCity performance, Landes demonstrates that dreams can come true with a little tweaking, that listening to your mother always pays off, and that classical musicians also know how to rock. Featuring covers of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen and “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. Take a classically-trained violinist who began studying at the age of 3, add two music performance degrees, include a loop pedal and a dash of humor, and you have Rob Landes. Rob Landes has become a sensation on both YouTube and Bilibili (China’s
most popular short-video platform) for his combination of video game music, pop music, comedy, and costumes. With over 1.6 Million subscribers worldwide and 160 million views online, Rob has delighted diverse audiences with hundreds of musical covers. As to his live performances, Rob Landes has opened for T-Pain, Rachel Platten, and Jason DeRulo, while also having performed at New York Fashion Week, Carnegie Hall, the Sundance Film Festival, throughout Europe, Northern Africa, Southeast Asia, and now TEDxSaltLakeCity! This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx