Spanish guitarist Susana Prieto and Greek guitarist Alexis Muzurakis have become one of the most important guitar duos on the musical scene, since their debut as Duo Melis in 1999 at the International Guitar Festival of Volos (Greece). International critics and music lovers have praised Duo Melis’ performances for their emotion intensity, virtuosity and ensemble unity.
Duo Melis has performed in such prestigious concert halls as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, the Megaron in Athens, and the Merkin Concert Hall in New York. They are in great demand for concerts and master classes at international guitar festivals and prominent concert series in Europe, America and Asia.
They have won numerous prizes, both as a duo and solo artists. In 1999, as a duo, they won first prize at the International Guitar Duo Competition of Frechen (Germany). The following 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 that 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. In 2013 they released their most recent album, which has been received with great enthusiasm by guitar connoisseurs. Duo Melis has collaborated with 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 extensive repertoire spans from the baroque music to the contemporary compositions of A. Piazzolla, A. Ginastera, Leo Brouwer, and includes many of their own transcriptions. The concertos for two guitars and orchestra by Rodrigo, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Roland Dyens, Leo Brouwer and Vivaldi as well as the newly composed concerto of Marek Pasieczny dedicated to Duo Melis, are also in Duo Melis’ repertoire. Devoted to historical research, they also perform with period instruments from the 19th century.
Their recent concert schedule included performances in Asia at the Daejeon International Guitar Festival (Korea), the Changsha International Guitar Festival (China) and recitals in Chengdu, Guiyang, Wenzhou, Shenzhen and Tokyo (Japan). In North America they returned to the GFA convention in Denver, the Cleveland Guitar Weekend and performed in Boston, Houston, San Francisco, Columbus, Vancouver and Calgary. In Europe they are regularly invited to the most important guitar festivals and have given recitals in Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, Switzerland, France, Rumania, Slovakia, Poland, Sweden and Norway.
Susana Prieto and Alexis Muzurakis will be celebrating their 20th anniversary as Duo Melis in the upcoming season and will be performing at the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and Megaron (Greece), and will be holding recitals in France, Italy, Poland, Norway, Greece, Rumania and Switzerland. They will be returning to Asia and North America with appearances on the east coast.
After their performance at the Changsha International Guitar Festival in 2018, Gerald Garcia wrote in Classical Guitar:
“...a virtuoso performance by two artists at the top of their game. At times their phrasing was passionate and breathless, at others languid and flowing…”
Susana and Alexis have studied in Spain and Greece. They continued their postgraduate studies as duo and as solo artists at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague (Holland), the "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Conservatory in Leipzig (Germany), and the Conservatory "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin (Germany). In addition to their performance schedule, Alexis and Susana have taught at the Superior Academy of Music of Strasbourg in France since 2006.
