Miller-Porfiris Duo
The Miller-Porfiris Duo (MP2) has been delighting audiences since 2005. Residents of Iceland since 2023, the duo has given seminars and masterclasses at festivals and institutions across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Recent seasons have seen tours around the United States, Iceland, Taiwan and Israel; with critically acclaimed performances on the Spitalfields Festival in London, Chamber Music of Little Rock, Chamber Music Pittsburgh, Tel Aviv Museum, and Icelandic Chamber Society series.
Their “MP2 on the Silver Screen” series has reintroduced modern audiences to the compelling interplay of silent film and live music. The pandemic 2020-21 season saw them expanding to a true global audience. During this time, MP2 commissioned, premiered, and streamed over ten new pieces by women and underrepresented composers.
Their second album, Eight Pieces, was deemed “A fine new recording” “wonderfully smooth ensemble work” “vibrant and focused playing" by Gramophone and Audible Audiophile Magazines. Fanfare Magazine reviewed Divertimenti, their third album: "their playing is a lightning bolt, full of color, fire, and passion." Their fourth album, Threaded Sky, was deemed by American Record Guide to be “in the top ten of all albums I’ve ever reviewed.”
In 2025 MP2 was featured in the Grand Teton Music Festival's "On the Road" series with five newly commissioned duos by Errollyn Wallen, Hildigunnur Rúnarsdóttir, Anne Guzzo, Ken Steen and Stephen Gryc, a program that will be repeated in Scotland and Iceland.
Miller-Porfiris Duo (MP2) hefur glatt áheyrendur síðan árið 2005. Tvíeykið hefur verið staðarlistamenn og haldið námskeið og meistaranámskeið á hátíðum og við stofnanir víðs vegar um Bandaríkin, Evrópu, Mið-Austurlönd og Asíu. Á síðustu tónleikavertíðum hefur tvíeykið farið í tónleikaferðir um Bandaríkin, Ísland, Taívan og Ísrael, og hlotið jákvæða dóma á meðal annars Spitalfields-hátíðinni í London, Chamber Music of Little Rock, Chamber Music Pittsburgh, Tel Aviv Museum og Kammermúsikklúbbi Íslands. Raðtónleikar þeirra „MP2 on the Silver Screen“ hafa vakið athygli fyrir að kynna nútímaáheyrendum á ný hinn heillandi samruna þöglu kvikmyndanna og lifandi tónlistar.
Árið 2025 verður MP2 hluti af „On the Road“ tónleikaröð Grand Teton Music Festival, þar sem frumflutt verða fimm ný tónverk fyrir tvíeyki eftir Errollyn Wallen, Hildigunni Rúnarsdóttur, Anne Guzzo, Ken Steen og Stephen Gryc. Þessi dagskrá verður einnig flutt í Skotlandi og á Íslandi. Á heimsfaraldurstímanum 2020–2021 bauð MP2 upp á tónlist í streymi og fékk töluverða áheyrn úti um heim. Á þessu tímabili pantaði, frumflutti og streymdi tvíeykið yfir tíu nýjum verkum eftir konur og tónskáld úr jaðarhópum.
Önnur hljóðritun þeirra, Eight Pieces, var lýst sem „frábærri nýrri útgáfu“ með „undursamlegum samhljómi“ og „líflegum og einbeittum flutningi“ af Gramophone og Audible Audiophile tímaritunum. Fanfare Magazine skrifaði um þriðju plötu þeirra, Divertimenti: „flutningur þeirra er eins og elding, fullur af lit, eldi og ástríðu.“ Fjórða platan, Threaded Sky, var sögð af American Record Guide: „í topp tíu allra platna sem ég hef nokkru sinni skrifað um.“
www.ritaporfiris.com
"Violinist Anton Miller and violist Rita Porfiris sailed through the piece with admirable expressive flair and technical poise, smoothly backed by conductor and ensemble. The soloists tossed in a welcome encore -- a souped-up version of the Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia that included a wry touch of Piazzolla -- and played the heck out of it"
-Baltimore Sun
"The troupe navigated the complex counterpoint well in movement one. Soloists play well together, assisted by their constant attention to each other’s performance nuances.
The attention produced an excellent show for the Miller-Porfiris Duo with standing, cheering patrons wanting more." - Lincoln Journal-Star