The Passepartout Piano Duo are absolutely delighted to share their news with you: they are going to Japan over the Easter break this year to perform in three recitals, one in Tokyo, one is Osaka and one in Sapporo. Here are the posters for more details!

This is a post to help inspire the concerts that include O. Respighi's Fountains of Rome, through a picture of each fountain.

We have spent a lot of our time last summer (2021) recording and learning music, and we are now excited to be able to share some of that with you. We had a lot of technical difficulties, amongst others... but we are editing and posting our new videos, finally! 

We have four so far, Debussy, Ravel, Arnold and the most exciting for us, a piece that Nathan has composed for us as a duo, called Dance. Have a listen, and watch this space, more recordings will come (although I don't want to promise how soon!). 

What else were we up to during the first lockdowns and most of the pandemic... learning new music, composing new music, and even picking up some new instruments! (Although you won't be seeing professional recordings of us playing the flute, cello and trumpet any time soon...) Also teaching and accompanying classes online, moving, training and... gardening! Wine and jam, anyone?

We have now finished Grade 3 as well. We are trying to do Grades 4+5 but we might need to take a break from it soon as we have some concerts coming up, and as much fun as (some of) these pieces are, Stravisnky is calling our names... 
Here is the link for the playlist, and as before, one of our favourite pieces! 
Have fun exploring!
​Alexandra and Nathan 

We have finished recording and uploading the Grade 1 syllabus (main book) today. Here is the playlist link for YouTube.
And as before, one of our favourites!
We hope you will find these recordings useful.
​Alexandra & Nathan

Great news, Grade 2 is ready!
We hope you will find this useful! We made some comments for each piece as well, posted on our YouTube page. 
More videos will follow in the next couple of days!

Here is one of my favourite pieces in the Grade 2 syllabus, and this is the link for the Grade 2 playlist.
Alexandra & Nathan ​

We cannot believe how two years have passed by and we are now once again considering recording the new ABRSM syllabus! We received positive feedback for the previous pieces we recorded for the last syllabus (and the odd funny YouTube comment, but hey, it's YouTube!). The users mostly said they found the videos useful, which motivates us to do the same this year! We very much hope to carry on helping and inspire people of all ages to more music! 

We have started the process with the ABRSM book main selection for grades 1, 2 and 3. These are the most performed grades, and while the music is lovely it is sometimes difficult to find professional sounding recordings of it. Of course, ABRSM offers a CD version for all the books, with excellent recordings of the pieces, but if you want to hear another interpretation, or if you did not buy the CD book, or simply do not have a CD player anymore (yes, I am serious, this happens) then enjoy our recordings on YouTube! As before, we do not claim in any way that this is the one and only way to perform these pieces; our principle is to aim to stay true to the details of the music and the period when the music was composed, while enjoying learning and playing them. Exactly what we hope our students feel! 

After finishing recording the first three grades we will choose our favourites from the rest of the grades and record those, instead of aiming at recording the whole 150+ pieces...

Please let us know if there is a specific piece in the syllabus you would like us to record! And enjoy! 

Alexandra & Nathan
Passepartout Piano Duo

Hi there! We've decided to record the ABRSM piano syllabus for 2017-2018! Big job ahead, right? As many of you know, we both teach the piano and many of our students take on these exams. We thought it would be motivating and helpful for them, and for everyone else, if we spend a few days recording the syllabus! 

These recordings are not out there to say: this is how it should be done, or this is how ABRSM wants you to play. Not at all! They are our interpretations, and our main purpose was to have fun and enjoy ourselves! Of course, we hope you will find them so as well! We have tried to stay true to the music, as we consider observing the score and the details of high importance in understanding the intentions of the composers and arrangers. 

There are so many lovely pieces in this set! And quite a few of them, when you think about it... there are 7 grades, each with 9 pieces in the books and 9 extras (always have a look, sometimes there are some lovely surprises in there!), and grade 8, with 12 pieces in the book and 20 more extras... that really makes it... [7x(9+9)]+[1x(12+20)]=7x18+32=126+32=158 pieces of music! Oh, dear me... it's the first time I do the math... Okay... Maybe a bit more than just a few days! 

We're starting with the main selection (the published books) and we'll keep on adding to it until we finish them (or decide we've had enough! haha). 

Grade 3
Grade 2

Good luck, enjoy, and happy exploring! 
Alexandra & Nathan