Check Out Anastasia Malliaras’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anastasia Malliaras.

Hi Anastasia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
A little bit of info about classical art song: Our duo performs classical art songs – by definition, art songs are songs written to be performed in a classical concert setting typically with voice and piano and text from a poem. However, our duo performs art songs either written originally for voice and guitar or transcribed from piano to guitar.

Aaron and I met at USC while he was pursuing his Doctorate in Guitar Performance and I, a Master in Vocal Arts. Aaron was in search of a singer as a duo partner. From the first rehearsal, our personalities and musicality meshed and we began to play small shows in the LA area. Our first gig was at Stan’s Music Parlor. Stan is an incredible supporter of young musicians in Los Angeles and hosts intimate concerts in his home. From there we began to play at various classical concert series throughout Los Angeles, later expanding to playing throughout all of California. All of our concert experience led us to record our debut album, “Folksongs” which was released this past August with Navona Records.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our greatest challenge as a duo has been recording our first album. As performance majors, neither of us had any experience with recording so the road was filled with many bumps, on-the-job learning, a fully recorded album that ended up being completely scrapped…some more bumps, and finally a beautiful album to commemorate the journey.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What sets us apart, specifically in the classical world is the makeup of our duo. The guitar/voice combination is very rare but makes so much sense! In an operatic setting – which is the type of vocal training I had – it is not possible to showcase the most intimate parts of the voice as the performance halls are so big. With the guitar, I feel like I am able to express a very beautiful and personal part of my voice which is complimented perfectly by the guitar. In this setting, my voice does not have to compete against a huge orchestra, and I can really focus on detailed vocal expression.

Contact Info:

• Website: duoapollonmusic.com
• Instagram: @duoapollonmusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/duoapollon

Image Credits
Jeff Hilliard