Two Guitars Sharing an Artistic Vision: The Journey of Adam and Strzępek
- WOMCO
- Jun 30
- 3 min read
Adam Michalak and Eliza Strzępek were awarded the Absolute First Prize in the Duo Performance category of the 2025 Season 2 World Melody Music Competition.
Biography
The guitar duo, consisting of Eliza Strzępek and Adam Michalak, was formed in 2024 during their studies at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. The duo began their concert activity by receiving notable awards at competitions, i.a. KraCamera 2025 and Baltic Guitar Days 2025. Since then they have performed numerous concerts presenting a diverse and engaging program of guitar music.
Their repertoire frequently features, i.a. Spanish music, arrangements of works by Fryderyk Chopin, as well as transcriptions of orchestral pieces adapted for two guitars. In their interpretations they aim to combine stylistic sensitivity with a creative approach to musical form and the tonal possibilities of guitar duo.
When and why did you form your duo, and does playing music together hold a special meaning for you?
Our duo was born out of a shared need to express emotions, which are sometimes difficult to convey with just one instrument. From our point of view, the classical guitar is an incredibly intimate and personal means of expression. It quickly became clear that we shared a very similar approach to music, which naturally led to joining forces and forming a duo. We met during our studies and from the very beginning we felt a strong musical connection and a deep understanding of shared artistic values.
Our repertoire is based primarily, i.a. on Spanish music, as well as the arrangements of orchestral and piano works adapted for classical guitar. Since May 2024 we have been working together to realize our artistic vision and promote the diverse and ambitious concert program. The project holds special meaning for us - it allows two distinct guitar personalities to merge into one cohesive musical voice. It is the sharing of our passion and love for guitar music that means the most to us.
Could you tell us more about your award-winning video performance of Andrew York "Evening Dance" and Manuel de Falla "La Vida Breve" arr. Emilio Pujol? For instance, how did you prepare for it, collaborate, bring it to life, or are there any interesting behind-the-scenes stories you’d like to share?
Preparing a stylistically diverse repertoire is not an easy task. However, through many hours of rehearsals, we managed to find a shared language of expression and artistic sensitivity. Working on La Vida Breve by Manuel de Falla - originally composed for symphony orchestra was a particularly meaningful experience for us.
By listening to various orchestral recordings, we explored how ‘symphonic’ colors and textures could be translated into the language of the guitar. We found great satisfaction in attemption to imitate the sounds of other instruments form strings to winds using only our guitars.
Forming a guitar duo has opened up new performance possibilities and created a space for creative dialogue, where each of us contributes something unique.
Would you like to share your experience participating in our competition and anyone you'd like to thank?
We are truly grateful for the opportunity to take part in the World Melody Music Competition. Participating in this event was not only a great honour but also a valuable artistic experience for us.
We are delighted to have been able to present our interpretation of the selected repertoire and to share what matters the most to us - our genuine passion for guitar music. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the entire WOMCO for their professional organization and support.
