Duo Apollon

Aaron Haas and Anastasia Malliaras of Duo Apollon perform art song repertoire for voice and classical guitar. With grace, poise, and fearless expressivity, they bring new life to repertoire originally written for voice and piano, and showcase song cycles rarely heard written specifically for the voice and guitar ensemble. The pair met while studying music at the University of Southern California and began by performing The Divan of Moses ibn Ezra by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. After playing a number of recitals at the University, they began to branch out and play at various venues throughout Los Angeles. The Sundays Live series at LACMA is one of the first concert series that the duo was featured on. They were selected as winners of the 2019 Beverly Hills National Auditions, which gave them the opportunity to perform in various concert series in Los Angeles and the surrounding communities. Since then, they perform regularly in concert series throughout Southern California and their debut album, FOLKSONGS will be released in August 2023 with Navona Records.

Soprano Anastasia Malliaras, eager and grateful to return to the stage, is gracefully exploring new depths of her artistry and voice. With a beautiful blend of warm and bright colors, her timbre is distinctive and her vocal tone is elegant and natural. Her voice has led her to play operatic roles such as Nannetta, Olympia, Zerbinetta, Marie, and Frasquita, to name a few. In the spring of 2022, Malliaras will be an apprentice at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis where she will be covering the role of Despina in Mozart’s iconic Cosí fan tutte and singing Mrs. Hayes in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. Malliaras has been a Studio Artist at Central City Opera where she played Ruth Baldwin in Musto’s Later That Same Evening and has previously participated in the Young Artist Vocal Academy at Houston Grand Opera as well as the iSing! International Young Artist Festival. She has placed in prestigious competitions including the Loren L. Zachary Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Los Angeles District and Western Regionals. Malliaras is a graduate of the University of Southern California where she earned a Master of Music degree in Vocal Arts.  

Aaron Haas is a classical guitarist currently based in Seattle. A skilled communicator and expressive performer, both his teaching and music serve the purpose of connecting us to what it feels like to be alive and human. From a family of singer-songwriters he understands the power of a musical narrative, and with extensive background in meditation he strives to create music from a place of silence and aliveness. Haas has studied at some of the most prestigious schools in the world, including the Accademia Chigiana in Siena with Oscar Ghiglia, at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana with Lorenzo Micheli, and at the University of Southern California with William Kanengiser and Pepe Romero. His efforts to combine his meditation practice with his musical practice resulted in an article published in the Journal of Singing in 2018 entitled “Creativity Through Silence: Exploring the Use of Meditation in Musical Performance.” He is also a meditation teacher with the online yoga studio, Yoga for All Musicians and will begin teaching with Mindful USC in the Fall of 2023.