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BIOGRAPHY

occupies a distinctive place in contemporary piano performance, combining high-level artistic training with a sustained commitment to living composers and new repertoire.
 

Making Music Recommended Artists (2026–28), the Duo performs, records, broadcasts, and writes at the intersection of performance, scholarship, and artistic collaboration. Their work includes multiple releases on Convivium Records, a forthcoming monograph with Routledge, and an ongoing collaboration with composer-conductor Nimrod Borenstein, who is currently writing a concerto for piano duet and string orchestra for the ensemble, to be recorded for SOMM Recordings. Since 2023, they have served as co-Artistic Directors of the PianoPlus International Recital Series, dedicated to cultivating new audiences and supporting emerging pianists in South London.
 

Through their House of Pianos interview series, produced in collaboration with Steinway Hall UK, the Duo has documented conversations with established and emerging compositional voices including Edward Chilvers, Hugh Shrapnel, and Morgan Hayes, exploring subjects ranging from polytempo systems to questions of musical lineage and pianistic tradition. Their collaboration with Hayes extends into a forthcoming recording project centred on the legacy of his teacher, composer-pianist David Branson.

The Duo’s advocacy for contemporary piano duet and two-piano repertoire is further reflected in recordings — many of them premieres — of works by Hugh Shrapnel, John E. Lewis, Clive Osgood, Hugh Benham, and others. Their artistic collaborations span a wide range of contemporary aesthetics, from the minimalist-inflected works of Lola Perrin to the East-meets-West soundscapes of Meilina Tsui, positioning the ensemble not only as interpreters of contemporary repertoire, but as active participants in shaping its future.

 'Ivory Duo are Greek pianists Panayotis Archontides and Natalie Tsaldarakis and they brought with them an adventurous programme of four-handed piano. [...] And with that Bang, the musical year is well underway in these parts.'

  David Green, Music in Portsmouth 1/2023

'The Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble, made up of Natalie Tsaldarakis and Panayotis Archontides, plays with confidence and wit; the engineering is first-rate; and the program notes are refreshingly full.'

​  Peter J. Rabinowitz, Issue 44:6, Fanfare Magazine. July/Aug 2021 

'A totally enchanting album of distinctive new music. Engaging, evocative and finely-structured pieces by Hugh Shrapnel and John Lewis are performed with elegance and panache by Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble.’

- Sarah Walker, BBC Radio 3 presenter 9/2020

© 2025

by IVORY DUO PIANO ENSEMBLE

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