Music is already serious for Isaac and Nora

The original children’s duo promotes “Latin & Love Studies”, an album of Latin American classics

Photo: Courtesy

There is no television in the Restoin family home. But there is a lot of music.

“We try to listen to a lot of music, Latin music,” said Nicolás, the person responsible for his children, Nora, from 10 years, and Isaac, from 13, now be a social media sensation.

In 2019, these brothers, who live in Quimper, in Brittany, a town in western France, recorded “Veinte años” –a Cuban song by 1935 – accompanied by his father’s guitar. It was a home video of which Catherine, the children’s mother, was the cameraman.

The video was shared first among the friends and family of the Restoins, and later This reached all corners of the world. The song, with Nora’s very sweet voice, and with Isaac in the choirs and on the trumpet, went viral and left many wanting to know more about these children with Asian features, French accent and singing in Spanish.

It turns out that Nicolás was born in South Korea, and was adopted at age 4 by a French couple. He is not a professional musician but he plays various instruments, and also speaks, apart from French, some English and some Spanish. It was never his intention that his children became artists, although they began to lean towards that art from a very young age.

“I am not and will never be a professional musician,” he said. Nicolás from his home in France. “I play the trumpet and the tuba in a local restaurant, and most of the songs we play are Cuban.”

Hence the idea of ​​recording songs in Spanish, a language that Isaac and Nora are now learning, who recently released their first album under the name “Latin & Love Studies”. It is an album of Latin American classics, among them “Gracias a la vida”, “Lágrimas negros”, “El Cuarto de Tula” and “Veinte años”.

The only one Contemporary song is “Hasta la Root”, by Mexican singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade, one of Nora’s favorite artists.

“I like it a lot,” Nora said in Spanish. “I also sing ‘Never enough’, but that is not on the album.”

Now, Isaac and Nora are clearer with their desire to continue in music. They both believe that this is the path his life will follow, she as a singer and he as an instrumentalist, although he also sings.

For now they are quite excited about the tour they will do in a few weeks to various cities in Spain. Then other parts of Europe and possibly other continents follow. In order not to lose the school year, the parents plan to teach their children from home.

Isaac and Nora are gradually perfecting their Spanish, a language they have learned with the help of applications, and that will surely improve with his imminent trips to Spain and Latin America, where the majority of his followers are.