Not the Accordion You Remember: Gemini Duo on the Classical Accordion

Twin sisters Wanchen and Wanxu Zhao of Gemini Duo play chromatic button accordions with a free-bass system. They explain how the classical concert accordion differs from the folk instrument, how the bellows shape a phrase, and why they almost never need a microphone.

Interview: Jessie Hong | Classical Music Marketing (GSA) · October 2026

Gemini Duo at a glance

Gemini Duo is a classical accordion duo of twin sisters Wanchen Zhao and Wanxu Zhao. They trained with Geir Draugsvoll at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, and they play orchestral transcriptions and contemporary music from memory. Before we talked repertoire, we asked them about the instrument itself.

How is a classical accordion different from a folk or polka accordion?

Many people still connect the accordion with folk music or polka. What's different about the instrument you play?

Wanchen: We get this question all the time, and we don't mind it at all! The classical accordion really is a different instrument. Ours has a free-bass system, so the left hand plays single notes across several octaves instead of fixed chords. That's what lets us play real counterpoint and whole orchestral scores.

Wanxu: We grew up with the folk image too, so we don't fight it.

Wanchen: Though how we got into the accordion… that's a whole different, spicy story.

Wanxu: Woosh, spicy! Anyway, we just invite people to a concert and let them hear it.

What kind of accordion does Gemini Duo play, and why does free bass matter?

Which instruments do you play, and why does the free-bass system matter for classical repertoire?

Wanchen: We play classical button accordions, or, to be technical, chromatic button accordions with a free-bass system.

Wanxu: Which already sounds complicated, haha! Between the two of us we just say "classical button accordion", or even just "button accordion". It's a bit of an iykyk situation.

Wanchen: But we know that outside the accordion world, and especially in the core classical music world, the accordion still carries a stereotype from the past. We want classical listeners and concert presenters to meet us first and foremost as a classical chamber duo. So being precise about the name isn't a marketing trick. It's an invitation to ask, "Wait, is this the folk instrument I know?" and then, hopefully, "Let me go and hear Gemini Duo myself!"

Wanxu: And free bass? It's everything for us as a classical duo. Without it, the left hand only has preset chords, and our repertoire would be much narrower. With it, both hands can play melodies, bass lines and inner voices, so real counterpoint. That's exactly what orchestral music needs, and it's the reason we can do large-scale transcriptions at all.

How do classical accordionists shape sustain and dynamics with the bellows?

How do you shape long lines and dynamics? Is that where the accordion has an advantage over the piano or organ?

Wanxu: We like to say the bellows are our lungs. As long as the air keeps moving, the note keeps sounding, and how hard we push or pull decides how loud it is.

Wanchen: So we can make one long note grow and fade, which a pianist just can't do, and an organist only can with a swell pedal. That's where the accordion feels most alive to us.

Wanxu: And because there are two of us, we can plan our bellows changes so the line never has to stop.

Do both members of Gemini Duo play the same accordion?

Do you play the same instrument? How do your sounds complement each other?

Wanxu: Yes, we both play classical button accordions, tuned to the same pitch, and even the same model.

Wanchen: So the contrast comes from the roles we take in each piece. One of us might carry the melody and the high strings while the other holds the bass and the brass. Think of a violin duo, or how the players in a string ensemble complement each other. For an accordion duo it's not so different.

Wanxu: Being twins helps too, although it comes with some funny assumptions. People often ask if we have twin telepathy.

Wanchen: Our honest answer is "no"… but sometimes it's an unconscious "yes", haha! We probably do breathe at the same moment without thinking about it.

Wanxu: A reviewer at Accordions Worldwide called it a kind of communication only twins can share, and we think that's pretty accurate. When you've spent 27 years with someone, since before you were even born, you just understand each other in a very particular way.

Can a classical accordion duo perform without microphones?

Do you prefer to play fully acoustic? What kinds of rooms suit you best?

Wanchen: Yes, we almost always play fully acoustic, and we prefer it that way. The classical accordion is a completely acoustic instrument, and two of them easily fill a chamber music hall.

Wanxu: Without microphones the audience hears every breath of the bellows, which is a big part of the experience. The sound carries so powerfully that people sometimes ask us whether classical accordions have microphones built in!

About Gemini Duo

Gemini Duo is the classical accordion duo of twin sisters Wanchen Zhao and Wanxu Zhao, born in Shenzhen, China, and based in Copenhagen since 2019. They trained with Geir Draugsvoll at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and have won first prizes at five international competitions. Their debut album Morning Echoes (Evidence Classics, 2026) brings together orchestral transcriptions, contemporary repertoire and music connected to their Chinese roots.

Booking (Europe): Jessie Hong, geminiduo@jessiehong.de