Born in Buenos Aires, Fabiana and Paula began their music studies in Argentina at Santa Ana Institute with Nelida Sánchez. They graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the National University of Arts and with a Master’s Degree in Performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance under the guidance of Gabriele Baldocci, Martino Tirimo and Christine Croshaw. During they postgraduate studies, they were both recipients of a scholarship from the National Fund of Arts of Argentina.
Fabiana and Paula have participated in numerous master classes and seminars of prominent pianists including Rosalyn Tureck, Miguel Angel Estrella, Elsa Púppulo, Eduardo Hubert, Ivan Citera, Pascal Rogé and Rolf Hinds.
The Chavez twins have given concerts in various prestigious venues in their home country as well as internationally. In Buenos Aires they have performed in La Usina del Arte, the French Alliance of Mar del Plata, the Argentine Library for the Blind, Fernández Blanco Museum, the Golden Hall of La Plata’s Town Hall, the Dante Alighieri Association, the School of Fine Arts of Pergamino, the Scientific Society, and the Argentine Hebrew Society Theatre among many others. They have also been awarded with the 2017 and 2020 Notable Bars Prize, which enabled them to participate in its renowned annual concert series. Abroad, they have appeared in the UK at the St Martin in the Fields, The Chapel of St Peter & St Paul in the Old Royal Naval College, St Alfege Church, Faversham Assembly Rooms, Jeffery Hall of the UCL Institute of Education, the Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB) and St James's Piccadilly Church among others. In Paris, they have played at Maison de l’Argentine the Cité Internationale Universitaire. In the Netherlands, they have performed at Waalse Kerk in Breda, and in Spain, at the Dr. Espriu Club Hall in Barcelona.
In 2015 the pair represented the Argentine Republic at the Visually Impaired Musicians Lives Conference (VIMLC) at UCL, Institute of Education by mixing their piano skills with their motivational talks. In 2019 they have had the honour of being nominated for the "Women of the Year Lunch and Awards", which was held on Monday 14th October at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.
Fabiana and Paula’s career has been widely promoted through worldwide mainstream media such as BBC Radio 3, Radio Nacional Classica, FM Millennium, RNIB Connect Radio, Daily Mail (UK), Mail Online, Clarin Newspaper, Globo International, BBC Brazil, Arpeggio TV, Telefe Argentina TV, TN TV, El Nueve TV, BBC Breakfast and ITV News.
The pair started losing their sight as teenagers as a result of a rare genetic disorder called “Stargardt Disease”, which eventually left them completely blind. This new condition allowed Fabiana and Paula to commence a unique research activity to help visually impaired music students to find the best way to learn new pieces and improve their playing. Therefore, this piano duo has set up a project called “Piano sin Barreras”, which focuses on the relationship between music training and visually impaired students, to break down barriers and obstacles. This exciting project includes recitals, conferences and workshops at music schools, conservatoires, and universities all over the world.
Fabiana and Paula not only feel a great passion for music, but they are also thoroughly interested in sharing their music research findings about piano practice related to vision loss.
The following is a list of their published works:
"Las Herramientas Tiflotecnológicas Aplicadas a la Música", by Fabiana Chavez. (2010). IX Annual Meeting of the Argentine Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music. Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
"Estrategias de Estudio Utilizadas por Pianistas Ciegos", by Paula Chávez. (2010). IX Annual Meeting of the Argentine Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music. Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
"La Inclusión de Personas con Discapacidad Visual en Instituciones Educativas Musicales" and the workshop "La Enseñanza de la Música a Personas con Discapacidad Visual", by Fabiana and Paula Chávez. (2010). I meeting of Music at the National University of Rosario-Faculty of Humanities and Art. Rosario, Argentina.
"A Prática Musical e suas Possíveis Adaptações diante da Perda da Visão", by Fabiana and Paula Chávez. (2010). I Meeting “Art for Everyone” at Padre Chico Institute for the Blind, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
"Acquisition and Development of New Skills in Piano Practice After Vision Loss", by Fabiana and Paula Chávez. (2015). VIML) Visually Impaired Musicians’ Lives conference, UCL Institute of Education. London, UK.