Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser will play Smooth Criminal in a Michael Jackson tribute episode of the popular high-school musical series. It is this song, in their two-cello arrangement, that made them overnight YouTube sensations and earned them a record deal with Sony. The track sums up their style: highly charged, virtuosic covers of pop and rock favourites by Sting, Nirvana and Coldplay, to name a few.

It’s a far cry from their classical roots: Sulic studied at London’s Royal Academy of Music and has given concerts at Wigmore Hall; Hauser was the last student of Rostropovich and counts two performances for Prince Charles among his career highlights.

Now, the charismatic lads will be seen by millions of “Gleeks” around the world. It’s just the next phase in their mission to bring their instrument to a wider audience. “People don’t know what the cello is capable of – this is what we wanted to show,” said Hauser in Limelight‘s...