Formed in 2021, Regency Duo comprises violinist Eliza Nagle and guitarist Declan Hickey. While owing its name to the early 19th century, the duo is equally devoted to contemporary music. Current programmes include works by Poul Ruders, Effy Efthymiou and Stephen Goss, with whom they have worked closely, alongside their own transcriptions of Schubert sonatas, Fauré songs, Debussy piano works, and Hot Club of France Quintet standards. In January 2024 they premiered a three-movement work for violin, guitar and soprano by Declan Molloy, based on the texts of Jemma Borg. Their repertoire extends to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, including composers both obscure (Sebastián Vidal, Antoine de Lhoyer) and familiar (Paganini, J. C. Bach).

Between them, the duo studied at the University of Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Royal College of Music, where they both won a number of prizes and scholarships as soloists. In 2023, they were made Young Artists of the International Guitar Foundation, and performed at IGF festivals across the country in the 2023–24 season. Through the IGF, Eliza and Declan are engaged in outreach work in schools across England, and have received guidance from distinguished guitarists Sean Shibe and David Russell. They have performed at such venues as Kings Place and St James’s, Piccadilly, alongside a string of 19th-century institutions as part of their ongoing exploration of Regency Britain.

Listen to their performance of Goss’s American Pastoral here.