"Two women, two guitars, too superb not to love," said the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram of Duo Erato. In October 2000, long-time friends and former Manuel Barrueco protégées Risa Carlson and Martha Masters reunited at the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Solo Competition in San Antonio , where both emerged as individual prizewinners. Since that time, both women have enjoyed success as soloists. The Baltimore Sun described Ms. Carlson's recent performance at Goucher College as "...moody, often virtuosic, brilliantly articulated," and the American Record Guide praised Ms. Masters' playing as having "...an intimacy and tenderness that can be thoroughly affecting."
In duo, the women's evocative styles seamlessly blend into one, "so tightly coordinated that it often seemed that the two women were playing a single instrument" (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram). Named for the muse of lyric poetry and music, Duo Erato has continued to impress audiences and critics alike since they won first prize in the 1994 National Guitar Summer Workshop Competition for chamber ensembles and were finalists in the 1994 Baltimore Chamber Music Awards. Today, the duo's extensive repertoire embraces works from all periods of the genre's history, as well as new works and transcriptions.
In addition to sharing their passion for music as performers, both women are also dedicated teachers: Ms. Carlson at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. and Ms. Masters at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Duo Erato's self-titled debut disc, to be released in 2004, will include the recording debut of Ernesto Cordero's Sonatina Tropical , Johan Padowecz's Variations on the Carnival of Venice, and a transcription of Cesar Franck's Prelude, Fugue and Variation, among other works.
