“Both musicians involved are fine players, whose presentation of exquisite repertoire deserves to be heard by the widest audience.”
Don Burrows
Duo Histoire has forged a reputation as one of Australia's most unique and engaging chamber duos. This combination of classical guitar and saxophone features award-winning musicians Murilo Tanouye and Nick Russoniello each accomplished soloists in their own right. The duo's broad repertoire takes audiences from the tango halls of Argentina to the streets of São Paulo, the salons of Paris and the laneways of Sydney.
Since its formation in 2006 Duo Histoire has fascinated audiences with their virtuosity, authenticity and lyricism. As well as appearing at music festivals and concerts across the country for organisations including Sydney Festival, Musica Viva, City Recital Hall and Australian Digital Concert Hall, their album Autumn/Winter can be regularly heard on ABC Classic FM.
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Nick Russoniello is a highly accomplished and dynamic saxophonist, composer, ensemble leader and educator. A graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Conservatorio di Musica “Giuseppe Verdi” di Milano, Nick has appeared as a soloist or guest musician with many of Australia’s premier arts organisations including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Australian World Orchestra, the Australian Opera & Ballet Orchestra, The Metropolitan Orchestra and the Acacia Quartet. He has been the recipient of major awards including the ABC Symphony Australian Young Performer of the Year Award, Fine Music Kruger Scholarship and a finalist for the Australian Freedman Fellowship.
Nick’s projects and ensembles (Duo Histoire, Golden Age Project and his One Man Band live looping show) are highly acclaimed, with appearances for the Sydney Festival, the Royal College of Music (London), Musica Viva Australia, ABC Classic FM, Conservatorio di Milano (Italy), Strasbourg Cité De La Musique (France), The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestras and Australian Digital Concert Hall.
Nick is renowned for his high-impact compositions and his engaging presentation style. He regularly gives composition and creativity classes at leading schools and major universities including the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales. Nick’s original music seeks to bridge the space between audience and performer. In 2023 he completed a Creative Australia project that fused the saxophone concerto medium with elements of contemporary performance art and audience generated soundscapes. These new works were presented by Orange Chamber Music Festival, Queensland Chamber Orchestra, The Metropolitan Orchestra and Steel City Strings. In 2024, supported by Create NSW, Nick will be premiering and touring his new work Air Mass, an immersive composition for saxophone and live electronics.
Nick holds a doctorate from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, is a Yamaha Australia Artist, D’Addario Woodwind Artist and a Represented Artist with the Australian Music centre. -
Born in Brazil, Murilo began his musical career learning Bossa Nova and classical guitar from Renato Candro, a self-taught musician that showed him the guitar style of Brazilian legends such as Baden Powell, Joao Gilberto and Garoto. At 16 years of age, Murilo was awarded a full scholarship to study in the US with distinguished American classical guitarist Carl Bernstein. Two years later he was the recipient of another scholarship to pursue further studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Sydney under the tutelage of Gregory Pikler. In 2007, Murilo successfully completed his B.Mus. performance degree with First Class Honours and immediately began his post-graduate studies upon receiving an Australian Postgraduate Award from the Australian Government.
Murilo’s wide range of musical interests has led him to pursue creative collaborations in a variety of ensembles and musical contexts. His fluency in both the electric and acoustic guitar is showcased in four albums with different groups and ensembles: ‘Black Pearl’ (2013) with Roger Vs The Man, a folk/progressive rock extravaganza with Zappa-esque arrangements; ‘Five Coffees‘ (2012), the energetic self-titled EP that mixes raw funk/hiphop with elements of neo-soul, motown and RnB, ‘Mountain Girl’ (2011) with indie-rock band Civilians and the Duo Histoire.
His performance career across Australia has been extensive and diverse, featuring recitals and concerts with a variety of ensembles and covering cities and regional areas in NSW, QLD, VIC and Tasmania. Performing highlights include an opening show with Civilians for the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes’ Australian tour at FOX Studios, a collaboration with Japanese drumming ensemble TaikOz as guitarist and composer for the Urban Fusion concert series and a tour of Korea and Hong Kong with the award-winning dance company Legs On The Wall performing ‘Symphony’ by theatre composer Stefan Gregory. Murilo is currently Head of Guitar at Sydney’s prestigious Ascham School.
