Praised by The Washington Post as playing with “marvelous virtuosity,” Alturas Duo is recognized as one of the most engaging ensembles performing chamber music today. Bringing together the worlds of South American folk, Western classical, and contemporary music, guitarist Scott Hill and violist and charango player Carlos Boltes have performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Central and South America to great acclaim. As Christopher Zimmerman, Music Director of The Fairfax Symphony, notes: Scott Hill and Carlos Boltes as “the Alturas Duo are the quintessential 21st century artists.”

 

With its unusual combination of viola, charango, and guitar; Alturas Duo creates spirited and passionate programs that move with ease between the Baroque of Bach, South American melodies and rhythms learned through the oral tradition, and newly commissioned repertoire. Their performances oscillate from the beautiful and serene to strong and pulsating, taking audiences on a journey to new musical heights and to earn Alturas Duo numerous awards from First Prize at the New England International Chamber Music Competition, a CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, and the 2020 World Folk Vision popular vote award and jury selection for best Latin Music Band.

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Their quest for new musical experiences has led Alturas Duo to exciting performances with artists and ensembles as diverse as guitarist and composer Horacio Salinas, charango virtuoso Ernesto Cavour, flutist

Nicole Esposito, quena virtuoso Marcelo Peña, pianist Polly Ferman, Argentine bandoneón legend and Piazzolla bandmate Daniel Binelli, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, the Voce Choir of Hartford, the Washington Choral Arts Society, and Fairfax Symphony Orchestra. When joined by Andean woodwind specialist and flutist Gonzalo Cortes, the Alturas Duo becomes the Elqui Trio. They have also joined forces with French soprano and pianist Alexandra Aubert to form the ADAA Trio.

 

As their instrumentation is quite unique, Alturas Duo works regularly with composers to broaden the repertoire and expand possibilities.

This has led to 50+ additions to the repertoire featuring the guitar, viola, and/or charango in chamber music settings as well as works for the choral and orchestral worlds. Collaborations with composers include Ronald Pearl, Thomas Schuttenhelm, David Macbride, Dan Román,

José Lezcano, Javier Farías, and Raimundo Penaforte to name a few. Some of the most significant works Alturas Duo has commissioned and premiered include Farías’ Oceana (for guitar, viola, charango and mixed chorus) and El Vuelo de tu Alma (for guitar and charango, alt. with string orchestra), David Macbride’s No mas muertes, and Ronald Pearl’s The Places We Left Behind (for guitar and viola).  

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Their work with such performers and composers has had the Alturas Duo performing in venues and for presenters such as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, the Smithsonian Institute, the Historic Asolo Theater, Le Petit Trianon (CA), La Maison de Mai (Paris), the

34th International Viola Congress, La Guitarra California, and Music Mountain.

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The 2020-21 concert season will be...interesting. Alturas Duo will be giving lectures on South American folk music and perform online and at socially distanced outdoor concert series. They will premiere pieces by; Sergio Berchenko, Guillermo Zalcman, Esteban D'Antona, Povilas Syrrist-Gelgota Arild Jensen...and Scott Hill! 

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Alturas has been recorded for release on the Brioso, Con Brio, and Ravello Records (PARMA) labels in addition to its collaboration with Joseph Holt and the Choral Arts Society of Washington for an award winning release of a collection of works by the celebrated Argentinian composer Ariel Ramírez, including Misa Criolla, for Naxos.

 

The Alturas Duo was founded in 2001 while Carlos Boltes and Scott Hill were pursuing their graduate studies at the Hartt School of Music. In addition to its performing and commissioning new music, Alturas Duo embraces its role as educators and music advocates with students in elementary school to university level and beyond. At various points during its history, Alturas Duo has had the pleasure to serve as a “Goodwill Ambassador” for the Chilean-American Foundation and as Artist-in-Residence for Intempo in Stamford (CT), an organization that promotes music education through multiculturalism, with the goal of incorporating native South American instruments into different styles of music. The name Alturas, Spanish for “heights,” is derived from the poem “Alturas de Macchu Picchu” by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.