Alex is both a composer and a multi-instrumentalist specializing in a variety of stringed instruments. He is well-known for his work on steel-string acoustic guitar with its unique heritage and tone coloring. Originally from Chicago, IL, Alex was influenced from an early age by the city's diverse musical offerings. He blends together musical styles from various cultures, and you can hear in his music a nuanced mix of classical, jazz, blues, and Eastern traditions. Alex has frequently collaborated with Swiss free-jazz pianist Guerino Mazzola, dancer/choreographer Judith Brin Ingber, and his wife, taiko drummer and composer Isis Shiraishi. Alex's compositions have received close to 500 performances on six continents - you can hear some of his PARMA release SPECTRAL BLUES (http://ravellorecords.com/catalog/rr7865/) in this YouTube sampler:.jpg)
Maja is also a School of Music faculty member at the University of Minnesota and is also an advocate of blending together classical and jazz techniques in addition to Balkan and early Baroque musical traditions. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, and having played guitar since the age of nine, Maja has won various awards in school festivals and competitions from childhood up through higher education; recently, she won second prize at the 2009 Latin-American Music Competition and was included on two compilation CDs in production at the Latin-American Music Center at Indiana University. Maja received her M.M. from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where she is currently a candidate for D.M. as well.Both members of this guitar duo are well-versed practitioners of improvisational technique; check out this video for a glimpse of what to expect at their Festival performance:
