The Spanish Susana Prieto and the Greek Alexis Muzurakis made their
debut as the Guitar Duo Melis in 1999 at the International Guitar Festival of
Volos (Greece). Since then they have performed in such prestigious halls as the
Philharmonie in Berlin, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tchaikovsky
Hall in Moscow, the Megaron in Athens and the Merkin Concert Hall in New
York. They have been invited to play concerts and give master classes in
international guitar festivals in Europe and America.
Susana, from Spain, and Alexis, from Greece, have won numerous
prizes, both individually and together. In 1999, as a duo, they won first prize
at the International Guitar Duo Competition of Frechen (Germany). The next
year they won the prestigious Guitar Duo Competition of Montelimar (France)
as well as the 21st International Guitar Duo Competition “Mauro Giuliani”
(Italy). In 2001 they captured the Duo/Ensemble prize at the Chamber Music
Competition of Leipzig (Germany) and the same year were the winners at the
International Guitar Duo Competition of Paris (France). In 2003 they recorded
their first CD after winning the recording prize “Citta di Verona” at the
International Chamber Music Competition “Gaetano Zinetti” (Italy). In 2005
they successfully auditioned for the Yehudi Menuhin Society Live Music Now.
The Guitar Duo Melis has collaborated with international orchestras like
the Berliner Symphoniker, the Neubrandenburger Philharmonie, the
Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie, the Radio Orchestra of Bucharest and the
National Orchestra of Thessaloniki conducted by Leo Brouwer. Their wide
repertoire spans from the baroque music to the music of A. Piazzolla or A.
Ginastera, and also includes concertos for two guitars and orchestra by
Rodrigo, Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Vivaldi and the newly composed concerto
of Marek Pasieczny dedicated to Duo Melis.
Their venues in the USA include the Guitar Foundation of America’s
Annual Convention, and recitals in Chicago, St. Louis, Austin, Scranton,
College Station, Houston, Brownsville, and Detroit. They have appeared twice
for both OMNI Concerts in San Francisco and the Cleveland Classical Guitar
Weekend. They were featured artists at the Bethlehem Guitar Festival in
Pennsylvania. In Europe they have presented recitals in Italy, Greece,
Germany, Poland, Russia, Spain, Rumania, Holland, Check Republic, Austria,
Norway, Sweden and France. Following their performance at the GFA
Convention in 2008, Mark Switzer wrote in Soundboard:
“The performance of Duo Melis was one of my favorites of the conference;
their playing was technically superb, musically convincing, and demonstrated
fantastic ensemble”.
Susana and Alexis have studied in Spain and Greece respectively. After
that, they have made postgraduate studies as duo and as solo at the Koninklijk
Conservatorium in The Hague (Holland), at the High Conservatory “Felix
Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig (Germany) and at the High Conservatory
“Hanns Eisler” in Berlin (Germany).
Since 2006 Alexis and Susana have taught at the Conservatoire National
de Strasbourg in France.