Duo Melis

Susana Prieto and Alexis Muzurakis, respectively from Spain and Greece, formed the Duo Melis in 1999 during the Volos Guitar Festival (Greece). Since then, they have performed in many prestigious concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, the Megaron in Athens and the Merkin Concert Hall in New York. They are regularly invited to give concerts and master classes at international guitar festivals across Europe and America. Susana and Alexis have won numerous awards, both as soloists and as a duo. In 1999, they won first prize in the competition for Duo de guitare de Frechen (Germany). The following year they also won first prizes in the prestigious competition for Duo de guitare de Montélimar and in the 21st edition of the competition for guitar duo “Mauro Giuliani” (Italy). In 2001, they won first prize at the Leipzig Chamber Music Competition, duo/ ensemble category (Germany) and first prize at the Paris International Duet Competition. In 2003, after winning the recording prize “Citta di Verona” in the international chamber music competition “Gaetano Zinetti” (Italy), they recorded their first CD. In 2005 they successfully auditioned at the Yehudin Menuhin association, Live Music Now. The Melis Duo has collaborated with international orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic, the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie, the Bucharest Radio Orchestra and the Thessaloniki National Orchestra conducted by Leo Brouwer. Their repertoire ranges from baroque music to the music of Astor Piazzolla and Alberto Ginastera and also includes concertos for two guitars and orchestra by Rodrigo, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Vivaldi and a work recently composed by Marek Pasieczny, dedicated to the Duo Melis. ““Their playing was technically superb, musically convincing, and demonstrated fantastic ensemble”. Both Susana and Alexis studied in Spain and Greece and further developed their skills as soloists and duo artists at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Hague (Netherlands), the “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Higher Conservatory in Leipzig (Germany) and finally at the “Hanns Eisler” Higher Conservatory in Berlin (Germany). Since 2006, Alexis and Susana have been teaching at the Conservatoire national de Strasbourg (France).