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Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble

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The Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble performing in a recent recital at Regent Hall, London 2023. Behind them a giant screen projects the pianists' hands during the performance.
The Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble performing in a recent recital at Regent Hall, London 2023.

The Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble is a piano duo team featuring Greek pianist Natalie Tsaldarakis and Greek-Australian pianist Panayotis Archontides.

Early life and the founding of the duo

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Tsaldarakis was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Greek parents and spent part of her early childhood in Italy. Panayotis was born in South Africa. His father was a well-known Greek pianist, arranger, composer, and conservatory artistic director in Athens Greece (Linda Leoussi Conservatory). On account of Panayotis' mother who is Australian, the family spent some years living in Sydney, Australia.

The pianists met as students of pianist Dimitri Toufexis and were both also students at the American College of Greece. The duo was formed in 1997 with a debut recital for piano duo at the Literary Society Parnassos, shortly after their marriage and the end of Panayotis' compulsory service to the Greek Army.

Life and career

Panayotis Archontides (b.1971) is a Greek-Australian concert pianist and Convivium Label Artist. He debuted at the Sydney Opera House at the age of 16 as a young concerto competition winner. His teachers and mentors include Elizabeth Powell at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (pupil herself of Claudio Arrau), Lev Vlassenko (former Director of Moscow Conservatory, as a scholar), Elena Riu, Martino Tirimo, and Ian Pace.

Having won several competitions and awards, Panayotis graduated with an MMus in piano performance with distinction from Trinity-Laban Conservatoire and the coveted Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians (2007). He also holds separate degrees from the NSW Conservatorium/Sydney University, Skalkotas Conservatory, Athens (diplomas in piano performance, harmony, counterpoint, fugue, and orchestration), and the American College of Greece (BA in music with distinction).

He is a published arranger of film music and as a soloist he has worked with many well-known musicians, including James Judd, as a soloist in Bernstein's Age of Anxiety (2007), Crispian Steele-Perkins, Linda Hirst, George Hadjinikos. He also performed for the induction of the Olympic Flame ceremony at the Athens Olympics 2004 with tenor José Cura.

Natalie Tsaldarakis (b.1970) is a Greek concert pianist, and Convivium Label Artist. She debuted at the Ancient Greek Theatre of Patras at age 13. Her teachers and mentors include Dimitri Toufexis (pupil of Jacob Lateiner at Juilliard School) D. McHugh (pupil of William Masselos at Juilliard), R. Bedford (pupil of Sascha Gorodnitzki at Juilliard), Elena Riu, Martino Tirimo, and Ian Pace. Natalie is also an American College of Greece alumna (Deree College, BA in Music with distinction), where she was a scholar and also assistant to Dimitri Toufexis, then head of music department, and later also to Danae Kara, who acted as her mentor at the start of her career.

She was elected to membership of the American Honor Society Pi Kappa Lambda in recognition of excellence at the conclusion of her M.M. studies in piano performance studies (WCUPA, 1994; graduated with high distinction) and was also selected competitor at major international piano competitions such as Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and Vienna Beethoven International Piano Competition.

Natalie is a doctoral researcher at City St George's, University of London (Ian Pace, supervisor). Her thesis focuses on European pianistic traditions of the early 20th c., which involved interviewing several well-known pianists, including Martino Tirimo, Philip Fowke, Martin Roscoe, Deniz Gelenbe, Karl Lutchmayer. She is also a graduate of Royal Holloway (MMus, 2007) where her teachers included notable musicologists J. P. E. Harper-Scott, Nicholas Cook, and John Rink. Natalie has published a few articles on pedagogical matters and is also the published author of a chapter in an edited volume by Lawrence Kramer and Alberto Nones (Vernon Publishing, 2021). She was for a number of years trustee of the Cornelius Cardew Concerts Trust (2015-2021).

The Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble is based in London since 2005. Both as solo and as piano duettists, the pianists have a series of well-received releases on Convivium Records, receiving a five-star review for their 2023 release (reviewed by Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine July/Aug 2024). Their Convivium releases are available through all major digital platforms and Naxos Direct (latest release: September 2023), while broadcasts include BBC Radio 3, WQXR (NY, US), Scala Radio, Hellenic Radio (ERA-1, ERA-2, ERA-3), ATHENS 98.4 and an array of radio broadcasts throughout the US and UK. They have been included in the American Concerto Compendium (2nd ed.) for their recording of Helen Hagan’s piano concerto which they edited from the manuscript with composer Lola Perrin: the concerto survives only as a two-piano version and the ensemble's revival recording can be heard in the composer’s commemorative documentary by Yale University (2018).

Earlier on in their career, they were coached as a duo by concert pianists Martino Tirimo, Douglas Finch, Elena Riu and others. The duo has performed with other instrumentalists, such as trumpeter Simon Desbrulais and pianist/pedagogue Nadia Lasserson, and has collaborated with many contemporary composers from the US, Greece, and the UK. This work is continuing through their programming, ongoing recording projects, and their YouTube series 'House of Pianos' also in association with Steinway Hall, UK (latest guest: Morgan Hayes, professor of composition, Royal Academy of Music, London).

Previously Artist Teachers of the American College of Greece and piano professors at Nakas Conservatoire and the National Conservatory of Greece for a decade (1995-2005), they have performed to packed houses, in venues such as Steinway Hall, Athens Concert Hall, Bristol Cathedral, Chamber Music Weymouth, Portsmouth Cathedral, Southbank, Fairfield Halls, St John’s Smith Square, St-Martin-in-the-Fields, and St James Piccadilly.

In 2024 the duo took part in the successful attempt to establish a Guinness World Record for the longest livestream of works by women composers (February 2024, Embassy of Brazil, Donne Foundation). In July 2024, the duo also performed Busoni's Fantasia Contrappuntistica in the extended version proposed by prof. Larry Sitsky in consultation with him (section additions transcribed by P. Archontides from Sitsky's The Compleat Busoni in three volumes; Sitsky is one of the last pupils of Egon Petri). Making Music has selected them for inclusion in their Recommended Artists Guide 2025.

Women of the World Festival 2013, Southbank. The Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble pianists are pictured here sat in one piano alongside composer Lola Perrin and pianist-pedagogue Nadia Lasserson for a performance of Perrin's Octopus Music (for eight hands in one piano).
Octopus music 2013. Women of the World Festival 2013, Southbank, with Lola Perrin & Nadia Lasserson.

Since 2023 they are the Co-Artistic Directors of the successful PianoPlus International Recital Series, which aims to develop audiences in south London, while providing young pianists opportunities to not only listen to musicians of the highest level, but also interact and learn from them at masterclass. Previous guest artists include: Ian Pace, Karl Lutchmayer, Julian Jacobson, Robert Markham, etc.

A young Panayotis Archontides performing Carl Orff's Carmina Burana (in version for choir, vocal soloists, two pianos and percussion) under the direction of George Hadjinikos. Photo from the live performance, The American College of Greece, 1993-11-08.
A young Panayotis Archontides performing Carl Orff's Carmina Burana under the direction of George Hadjinikos (version with two pianos). The American College of Greece, 1993-11-08.

Recordings

  • Thomi Baltsavia: Mystery for Two Pianos (written for and premiered by the Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble; broadcast live on Hellenic Radio ERA-3, 1999).
  • Romantic Dance Music for Piano Duo (released through CDBaby available also on Spotify and Amazon). Recorded live at Pierce College Theatre of the American College of Greece and released in 2009.
  • Helen Hagan: Piano Concerto in C Minor (transcribed from manuscript by Lola Perrin and Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble; used in the Yale Goes to War: Helen Hagan documentary released on YouTube, 2017).
  • Hugh Shrapnel & John E. Lewis: Elements of London (Convivium Records, 2020).
  • Hugh Benham: For Piano (Convivium Records, 2021).
  • George Arthur & Clive Osgood: Rooted Time (Convivium Records, 2022).
  • Rhapsody: 20th Century Violin Masterpieces (Lisa Archontidi-Tsaldaraki, violin/ P. Archontides, piano/ Convivium Records, 2023).
  • Hugh Shrapnel: Piano Works (Convivium Records, 2023).

Further Reading

  • Profile: Ivory Duo piano ensemble and “Lunchtime Live!” at Portsmouth Cathedral
  • Advice for Young Pianists and their Parents: On Teachers, Elite Training, Competitions and Aspirations
  • At the Piano With... Natalie Tsaldarakis
  • A Piano Teacher Writes: P is ... for Piano, Parents & Practising
  • Martin Roscoe – Interview with Natalie Tsaldarakis
  • Classical Music Performance: Meaning and Relevance in Modern Society: Conference panel discussion convened by Natalie Tsaldarakis and chaired by Professor Alexander Lingas (City & St George's, University of London, Monday 22 June 2020). The panellists were Natalie Tsaldarakis (City & St George's, University of London), Ian Pace (City & St George's, University of London), Dr Izabela Wagner (University of Warsaw), Professor Ratko Delorko (pianist), Ben Johnson (tenor).

External Links

References

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