Meet Isaac and Nora, two French kids who are big in Latin American music

About 1,000 people came to see Isaac and Nora on a recent Saturday night at Mexico City’s Sala Cantoral. The audience was mesmerized throughout the concert, especially when Nora spoke to them in Spanish. She told the audience: “It’s the first time I sing and play on my own. I’m going to sing a song by Violeta Parra called Volver a los 17 and it’s a bit strange I’m singing a song about being 17 since I’m only 10 years old.”

It wasn’t always this way. Isaac and Nora’s father, Nicolas Restoin said he still remembers when they posted the video of the song Veinte Años on Youtube, in late June 2019. “I think this is a very important date in our lives because everything changed. It changed the way we play music.”

Veinte Años has been watched by millions on social media.YouTube

They learned Spanish two years ago and play music by ear

Restoin attended a music school in France but said he wanted a different experience for his kids. “Isaac and Nora don’t know how to read music, they don’t know music theory, they do it all by ear.”

Over the years, Nora’s mom has fallen in love with Latin American classics. That’s how they got into playing the song Veinte Años. A few months after the video of this song went viral, they recorded their first album titled Latin & Love Studies. The album includes classics, such as Brazil’s Manha de Carnaval, Colombia’s Arroz con Coco, and Cuba’s El Cuarto de Tula. But there’s also a pop song by Mexico’s Natalia Lafourcade called Hasta la Raíz.