The Eroica Duo’s program includes works by Chopin, Brahms and Piazzolla. Courtesy photo

Former members of the Grammy-nominated Eroica Trio, pianist Erika Nickrenz and cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio, now tour as the Eroica Duo.

Performing a wide range of classical music, often focusing on passionate, energetic interpretations, their name was inspired by Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, titled “Eroica,” meaning heroic.

Friends since childhood, they formed the Eroica Trio in 1986 with violinist Adela Peña, while students at the Juilliard School. The group climbed steadily in the ranks of classical music, and in 1991, they won the prestigious Naumburg International Chamber Music Award.

“We have always been a duo, years before we formed the trio,” Sant’Ambrogio explained. “We first met at age 12 when Erika came to my family’s music camp in the Berkshire Mountains. Erika had already been playing with our original violinist, Adela Peña, since they first started studying at the same Greenwich Village music school at age 9. When we all showed up at the Juilliard School, we thought, ‘Well, we have been playing in duos for years now. Why not a trio?’ The rest is history.”

One of the first all-female chamber ensembles to reach the top of their field, Eroica helped break down age and gender barriers, and images of chamber music as stuffy and elitist.

“As soon as we started to advance in our career, we definitely noticed that there were no other women at the top in chamber music,” Sant’Ambrogio recalled. “That realization, and all the negative attention to what we looked like rather than how we played, forged us into an ensemble that as The New York Times said, ‘play every note with an edge of your seat intensity.’ We knew there were no second chances for us, so we played every concert as if our life depended on it, and frankly, our musical life did.”

For Maui, they promise “a super romantic program.”

“Speaking as a true romantic, playing this program with my dear friend Sara is deeply satisfying,” said Nickrenz.

They open with Schumann’s “Fantasiestücke” (Fantasy Pieces), Opus 73, followed by Mendelssohn’s “Song without Words in D Major, Op. 109.”

“I hear my grandmother whenever Erika and I play Schumann or Mendelssohn, and these two pieces are just perfect in their expression,” said Sant’Ambrogio.

The first half will close with “Sonata No.1 in E minor, Op. 38,” by Brahms.

“We first played the Brahms E Minor Sonata when we were 12 years old,” she noted. “It is one of Brahms’ masterpieces, and it just keeps getting better each time we play it together. The second half, if possible, is even more lusciously romantic.”

The duo will open the second half with Chopin’s “Étude Op. 25, No. 7 in C-sharp minor.”

“We start with two pieces by Chopin, both unbelievably beautiful in the arrangements for cello and piano,” she said. “I feel like the Chopin Etude Op. 25, No. 7 is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking pieces ever written. After the Chopin, we dive into a Latin and Spanish set.”

First, the virtuoso cello work “Requiebros” by Gaspar Cassadó. “Cassadó wrote his ‘Requiebros’ for Pablo Casals, the greatest cellist in the world at the time,” she explained. “I feel like a bullfighter entering the ring when I enter in the ‘Requiebros’ after Erika’s introduction.”

“Oblivion” is a 1982 composition by Argentine tango composer and bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla. It has been extensively arranged for various instruments and recorded by numerous classical and jazz artists, including Yo-Yo Ma and Arturo Sandoval. Critic Stephanie von Buchau called it “the most beautiful tune written in the 20th century.”

It’s followed by “Orientale (Spanish Dance No.2)” by Enrique Granados, one of the greatest Spanish composers, and the evening will close with “El Amor Brujo (Ritual Dance of Fire)” by Manuel de Falla. Known for its rhythmic intensity, the piece simulates a ritual to exorcise a ghost.

“We end with the explosive De Falla ‘Dance of Fire,’ which is a real tour de force for both cello and piano,” said Sant’Ambrogio. “We will be really disappointed if the audience doesn’t jump to their feet shouting at the end of it.”

The Eroica Duo will perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the MACC’s Castle Theater. Tickets are $27 to $67 at mauiarts.org.