ABOUT US
Passepartout Duo is the musical project of Nicoletta Favari and Christopher Salvito. The group has been on a nearly continuous world tour ever since they began collaborating in 2015, performing across more than 60 countries while writing music for percussion, keyboards, and electronic instruments they design themselves.
Across their performances, the instrumentation and location change but the music persistently returns to the same ideas: delicate interlocking rhythms, minimalistic repetition, pensive melodies and the physical exchange between two performers sharing one instrument.
Their discographic releases trace different stages of this approach. Argot places the peculiar inflections of a 1970s Serge synthesizer alongside acoustic piano; Radio Yugawara (Tonal Union), made with Japanese ambient music pioneers Inoyama Land, emerged from a spontaneous improvisation session. Their 2026 project Pieces from Places gathers compositions written over several years in locations stretching from Taipei and Tokyo to Fes, Kolkata, and Tbilisi.
Their most well-known instrument is the Chromaplane, an electromagnetic synthesizer played using pickups. This instrument became the centerpiece of their live set before being developed into a commercial instrument with Berlin-based KOMA Elektronik. In 2025, it received first prize at the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition. Passepartout Duo’s continuing work on the interface has since led to the Haloplane, a new electromagnetic sampler instrument.
After more than a decade on the move, Passepartout Duo has grown around a simple way of working: making music, building the tools needed to play it, and carrying both from one place to the next. What began as a practical response to life on the road has gradually become the identity of the group: two musicians developing their own instruments and their own musical language, while continuing to test both in front of audiences around the world.
Contact Us
Nicoletta Favari & Christopher Salvito
T +39 379 140 9157
passepartoutduo@gmail.com
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Sónar+D (es)
Ruang MES 56 (id)
Gyeonggi Ceramic Biennale (kr)
Salt Beyoglu (tr)
USF Verftet (no)
WIP Festival (cy)
Begehungen Festival (de)
Experimance Festival (de)
KCCC (lt)
Snartespace (cn)
Narva Art Residency (ee)
Casino Luxembourg (lu)
Movement Exposed Gallery (nl)
Livraria Térmita (pt)
Aarhus Artspace (dk)
Fanrong Museum (cn)
The Nakanojo Biennale 2021 (jp)
XuHui Art Museum (cn)
Spazio PierA (it)
Xinqiao Art Complex (cn)
CAA – Inter-World-View (cn)
VO Museum – chóng zhòng (cn)
The Nakanojo Biennale 2019 (jp)
The Factory – Hótel Djúpavík (is) -
Culture Moves Europe
The US Consulate Hong Kong & Macau
The Asia-Europe Foundation
Movin'up Spettacolo
Nordisk Kulturfond
Nordic Culture Point
The Danish Arts Foundation
Help Musicians UK
Kirsten Scott Memorial Trust
The Hope Scott Trust
Nicholas Boas Trust
The Peabody Institute
The Deablitz Fund
The Banff Centre
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KIAC (jp)
Eksibir (tr)
Crosstown Arts (us)
NART (ee)
Imagining Godzilla (fi)
Q Bank Gallery (au)
Parramatta Artists Studios (au)
UNCOOL (ch)
Treasure Hill Artist Village (tw)
Gate 27 (tr)
Bemis Center (us)
Art Basis (am)
Trafo Art Gallery / tekhnē (pl)
NY20+ (cn)
GMEA (fr)
YUI-PORT (jp)
Ikalto Micro Art Residence (ge)
Footnote Centre (rs)
Cyens Thinker Makerspace (cy)
Scoala de-Acasa Hundorf (ro)
Kaalo.101 (np)
Chander Haat (in)
Paradise AiR (jp)
Elektronmusikstudion EMS (se)
Nawat Fes (ma)
Lademoen Kunstnerverksteder (no)
Studio éole (fr)
Sala 752 (pl)
EKWC (nl)
Casa Ocea (mx)
Ensayo Abierto (uy)
El Paradero Cultural (pe)
The Watermill Center (us)
Rogers Art Loft (us)
OFFCity AiR (cz)
Dar Meso (tn)
Interface Inagh (ie)
De Liceiras 18 (pt)
Cel del Nord - Virtual (es)
Immensiva VR/AI Residence (es)
AIR Niederösterreich (at)
ICCI Shanghai Jiao Tong University (cn)
The Swatch Art Peace Hotel (cn)
Embassy of Foreign Artists (ch)
Dimensions Art Center (cn)
Semi-Underground Space (cn)
The Studios of Key West (us)
Leveld Kunstnartun (no)
De Grote Post (be)
RaumArs AiR (fi)
AiR Kunstnerhuset Messen (no)
Serde Residency (lv)
Kunstort ELEVEN Residency (de)
Kammari Residency (cy)
Fiskars AiR (fi)
Eckerö Post & Tullhus (fi)
Bau 4, Schärholzbau (ch)
Listhús Artspace (is)
Avaloch Farm (us)
Hill & Hollow Music (us)
La Casa del Herrero (es)
Dar Slimane (ma)
The Hill House (us)
The Banff Centre (ca) -
First Prize - Guthman Musical Instrument Competition (us)
GCB Prize - Gyeonggi Ceramic Biennale (kr)
Best Original Music - Bordeaux International Independent Film Festival (fr)
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Florent Meng Lechevallier (film / visual art)
Marta Forsberg & Andreas Dzialocha (music)
Cristian Boffelli (print-making)
Tori Lawrence + Co. (film / dance)
Casey Wang / 王帅 (visual art)
Akiko Nakayama (live painting)
JNBY (fashion)
Hiromi Hoshino (print-making)
Jia Jing / 贾靖 (visual art)
Mari Aspola (print-making)
Yannis Zhang & Yumo Wu (visual art)
Jacob Storer (dance)
Anna Van Riel (animation) -
GAUNG (id)
Lingnan University (hk)
Conservatorio di Trieste (it)
Tangible Music Lab (at)
Monash University (au)
Sydney Conservatorium of Music (au)
University of the Sunshine Coast (au)
The Szczecin Art Academy (pl)
Pharos Arts Foundation (cy)
Osaka University (jp)
American Language Center (ma)
University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna (at)
Universidad Austral de Chile (cl)
Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (ar)
Universidad de La Serena (cl)
Universidad Católica San Pablo (pe)
Institut Supérieur de Musique de Tunis (tn)
Kazakh National Conservatory (kz)
Mahidol University (th)
Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music (th)
Three Shadows Art Centre (cn)
Silpakorn University (th)
School of the Arts Singapore (sg)
Universiti Putra Malaysia (my)
YST Conservatory of Music (sg)
Hong Kong Baptist University (hk)
The University of Miami (us)
Vanderbilt University (us)
ACES Education Center for the Arts (us)