Kornhaber: Johan, how did you end up in the G.O.O.D. Music camp?

Cohler: Mike Dean [Kanye West’s producer and engineer] followed you on Twitter.

Feigenbaum: He followed us on Twitter after Yeethoven. He brought me in to do strings for Desiigner, and I guess that went well, so he brought me in to work on Nas. They gave me this choir sample to redo, and I sang the entire choir on the first song of the Nas album.

Kornhaber: Was that like a dream come true to you two? To be acknowledged by the artist you’re paying tribute to?

Cohler: It’s an absolute honor.

Feigenbaum: Now we officially know that Kanye knows about it. But it was never about stanning Kanye. We’re just trying to make a point: He’s an example of someone who does a lot of the things Beethoven did. On the classical side, if we’re saying we’re continuing the tradition of Beethoven, then why are we not having the kind of impact that somebody like him had in their time? Someone like Kanye is. Maybe we can learn from that on the classical side.

Kornhaber: Have you heard from people in the classical world who’ve been converted to Kanye fandom?

Cohler: Yeah, especially the orchestral musicians. They’re generally young, under 35. Some of them already love Kanye, some of them have never heard of him, but in almost every instance they’ll be like, oh he’s not just an asshole who says this or that. He’s a legitimate musician.

Feigenbaum: Looking out at the faces last night, half the room looked like people who didn’t ever listen to Kanye West before in their life. But they were nodding intently. Lincoln Center was the same vibe. In L.A. we played more to people who already know Kanye is awesome, and they’re being told, you’re right he is awesome and here’s why.

Kornhaber: And the Beethoven is new to them, maybe.

Feigenbaum: That’s the other thing that’s cool to see.

Cohler: There was an amazing moment in the second L.A. show. It was standing-room only—no seats. We were playing a Beethoven song, and then someone in the audience started cheering. And someone else was like, “Shut up, respect the music!”

Feigenbaum: We do “duh duh duh dunnn” [from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5] and the audience erupts. That’s fucking awesome!

Kornhaber: That’s also a clash of audience approaches with regards to pop and classical music.

Feigenbaum: Totally. We’ve been playing with that, too. We’ve done three of the full-scale shows, and two of them were seated and one of them was a real club, pop-music environment.

Cohler: It kind of works both ways!

Feigenbaum: Kids who’ve never been to a classical concert have an idea of a classical concert—a positive idea about it. They assume it’s going to be an incredible, transformative experience. They treat it with respect and they expect it to be profound. The fact that they can enjoy that and be legitimately moved by it suggests it’s possible to do essentially a classical concert for young audiences and have it work.