Originally from Bremen, Germany, Goetz studied at University of North Texas and started his career as a studio/ live drummer and percussionist in Germany before relocating to South Florida in 1992.

He quickly became embedded in several camps of the South Florida music scene, from Jazz to Blues as well as Latin and Pop music styles. He received a Grammy nomination playing with Sammy Figueroa in 2005 and has since then supported a variety of artists like, Raul Midon, Randy Brecker, Toots Thielemann, Bobby Lee Rodgers, Claudio Roditi and Rose Max to name a few. 

Previously an adjunct faculty member at FIU’s Jazz department, he enjoys teaching drums as well as Latin percussion.

Hendrik Meurkens, a virtuoso on both the chromatic harmonica and the vibraphone, is the most important jazz harmonica player since Toots Thielemans. German-born but now based in New York, Meurkens’ recordings and performances garner worldwide acclaim because the transcendent beauty of his music has universal appeal.

A two-mallet player in the tradition of Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson, Hendrik Meurkens was en-route to being an instantly recognizable vibraphonist when he heard Toots Thielemans. Inspired by the sound of Thielemans’ harmonica, he taught himself the difficult-to-master instrument.

Hendrik Meurkens’ other life-changing musical experience was his introduction to samba and bossa nova. He was so moved by Brazilian music that after perfecting his unique musical voice at Berklee, as a vibraphone major, he moved to Rio in the early 80s to totally immerse himself in music and culture of Brazil.

A regular Monday night gig at the popular Rio club, Bar 21, soon demonstrated his acceptance by Brazilian musicians. Meurkens’ poignant, emotionally affecting harmonica proved to be a sound that Brazilians strongly embraced, and during his Rio days, he met many musicians who later became collaborators in both Europe and New York.

Back in Germany by ’83, he became a respected studio musician, recording with European Radio Orchestras and leading his own groups, as well as accompanying visiting legends like Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison and Buddy Tate.

Within ten years, he had established himself as the “new jazz harmonica voice,” and moved to New York, thanks to an exclusive contract with the prestigious label, Concord Records. He has since recorded fifteen albums, and continues to perform as both a guest artist, and with his own groups, both in festivals and clubs globally.

Hendrik Meurkens’ profound involvement in both jazz and Brazilian music resulted in a very personal and instantly recognizable version of Samba jazz. This music, a cross-cultural amalgam guaranteed to touch the heart, features his harmonica and vibes along with piano, bass and drums, playing his stirring originals and arrangements. The group has been documented on a number of CDs, most notably the Hendrik Meurkens desert island disc, October Colors.

As a featured artist, he has recorded with Charlie Byrd, Jimmy Cobb, Ivan Lins, Monty Alexander, Claudio Roditi, Manfredo Fest and Mundell Lowe, as well as backing such leading artists as Astrid Gilberto and Olivia Newton John and touring with the Ray Brown Trio, Paquito D’Rivera, Oscar Castro Neves, Herb Ellis, Herbie Mann, Charlie Byrd, and James Moody among many others.

Also a successful composer (his compositions have been recorded by other artists and featured in the Hollywood movie, “Dolores Claiborne,”) Hendrik Meurkens remains equally at home playing jazz or Brazilian music. “My mission is simple,” he explains. “I want to create music of great beauty.”

Like any great musician, Hendrik Meurkens still practices incessantly, yet his music remains very melodic and rhythmically pleasing. “I like beautiful music, Sinatra, Jobim, Charlie Parker, so I concentrate on playing things that the audience can enjoy. Complicated music doesn’t really mean anything except for professionals who want to analyze it. I want people to feel what I do and the best way to do that is to play something touches their hearts.”

Max Emanuel Cencic is one of the most fascinating and versatile singing artists in the world today, and one dedicated to the revival and performance of the music of the 18th century.

His 2017/18 season will see many exciting projects, including a new production of Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, his debut at the Staatsoper Hamburg as well as Rossini’s La Donna del Lago at the Opera de Lausanne, where the artist will not only sing the demanding role of Malcolm but also function as director. Another high point will be the Europe tour with his new solo programme named Porpora (coinciding with the 250th anniversary of Nicola Antonio Porpora’s death) with concerts in Paris, Halle, Toulouse, Munich, Madrid and other cities. At the opening of the Markgräfliches Opernhaus Bayreuth he will perform the title role in Hasse’s Siroe, and, again, direct the production.

With his remarkable mezzo-soprano voice, Max Emanuel Cencic demonstrates that Baroque singing can be both technically brilliant and at the same time modern and emotionally engaging. For over two decades he has been performing in opera houses of the first rank, including the Wiener Staatsoper, the Theater an der Wien, the Opernhaus Zürich, the Opéra Royal de Versailles, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceu, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris and Brussels’ La Monnaie.
Concert engagements have taken him to the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Carnegie Hall (New York), the Barbican Center (London), Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Wiener Musikverein and Wiener Konzerthaus, and the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. In addition he has sung at numerous festivals worldwide. He regularly works with such conductors as William Christie, René Jacobs, Ottavio Dantone, Diego Fasolis, George Petrou, Emmanuelle Haïm and Riccardo Muti. His education as a singer began as a member of the Wiener Saengerknaben (Vienna Boys’ Choir), with a solo career as a soprano from 1992, and as a counter-tenor from 2001.
On 21st September 2017, Max Emanuel Cencic celebrated the 35th anniversary of his first appearance on stage, with a performance of Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.

Max Emanuel Cencic entrances his audiences with his numerous projects, opera productions, CD recordings, and extensive tours. TV-stations such as Mezzo TV and Arte Concert have also documented several of his outstanding performances, including his revelatory presentation of Handel’s Alessandro (2012). As Artistic Director of Parnassus Arts Productions he is responsible for the conception, supervision and performance of important works of the Italian Baroque, among them the sensational re-discovery of Leonardo Vinci’s last opera, Artaserse, and, more recently, Arminio. As in its premiere in 1730 in Rome, this new production, performed with an all-male cast (including five counter-tenors), was widely praised, both in its live performances and on disc: it received ECHO Klassik awards in 2013 and 2014, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Diapason d‘or, and was nominated for a Grammy. His inspired revival of Vinci’s opera Catone in Utica, with four counter-tenors in the cast, was equally successful, both on stage and as a CD recording. The CD Ottone with Max Emanuel Cencic in title role has been nominated for a Grammy.

His solo-recordings are every bit as riveting: with Venezia he charmed audiences and critics alike with highlights from Venetian opera, while the CD Rokoko contained a fascinating compilation of arias from the extended and virtually unknown opus of Johann Adolph Hasse. Max Emanuel Cencic’s most recent, critically acclaimed CD, Arie Napoletane, is dedicated to masterpieces of the Neapolitan school. His wide-ranging discography includes several world premiere recordings and has received a number of awards, among them the Diapason d’Or, the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, and Croatia’s Porin Prize. His discs have been “Editor’s Choice” in Gramophone magazine on several occasions. 2018, 250 years after Nicola Antonio Porpora’s death, two CD-recordings of the composer’s works will be published: Germanico in Germania in January with Max Emanuel Cencic in title role, and, in March, Cencic’s new solo CD Porpora.
The French Ministry of Culture has made him a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Max Emanuel Cencic is also well on his way to international fame as director, as with the live production of Hasse’s Siroe, which toured all over Europe and was released on CD by Decca. At the Handel festival in Karlsruhe in 2016 and 2017, he again undertook the double role of lead singer and director of Handel’s rarely performed opera, Arminio. In the coming seasons he will extend his directorial portfolio with new productions of Rossini’s La Donna del Lago, as well as Handel’s Il Pastor Fido and Xerxes. Also on the horizon is the release by Warner Classics of arias recorded by Max Emanuel Cencic as a boy soprano.

WHEN Monday, January 28, 2019 – 7:30pm

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WHAT  Amour

7:30pm ACT 1: Enjoy an open wine bar generously offered by Barton & Guestier and connect around one-of-a-kind hors d’Oeuvres with Chef Vincent Catala from our 2019 exclusive partner: EverCook.

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8:10pm ACT 2: The concert will start at 8:15pm – Featuring pianist Konstantin Soukhovetski, violinist Anne Chicheportiche and cellist Ashley Garritson, this concert uncovers relationships between specific composers and performers that influenced the historical “French Style” of playing during the Belle Epoque.
The concert explores works by composers Cécile Chaminade, Claude Debussy, Camille Saint Saëns and Gabriel Fauré.

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9:20pm ACT 3: After the concert, Thierry Isambert Culinary and Event Design will present a fabulous farandole of desserts.

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WHERE
The M Building
194 NW 30th st
Miami, FL 33127

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TICKETS
$55 online | $65 @ the door

The price of the ticket includes a concert, hors d’oeuvres, wine and desserts.
The online price will be available until April 9th at 3pm. Tickets are non refundable.–

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* Hors d’oeuvres generously sponsored by EverCook. ** Wine tasting generously sponsored by Barton & Guestier. *** Desserts generously sponsored by Thierry Isambert Culinary & Event Design **** Piano generously sponsored by Euro Piano Naples & Dr. Fred Jonas.

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Performers & Chefs

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musimelange is proud to have the constant support of the magical and beautiful Wynwood treasure, The M Building.

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This 2020 season would not be possible without the generous help of our Gold Sponsors: Dr. Marvin Sackner, Pay Cargo and The M Building, our Bronze Sponsors: Dr. Fred Jonas, Barton & Guestier and EverCook, as well as all other supporting sponsors.

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Season 9 promises an extravaganza of different music genres, soaring from the Baroque era to Abba, with a Latin flavor flyby, all performed by wonderful musicians from Miami and all over the world. 

In keeping the tradition of our 3 acts experience, musimelange will continue to pair each multi-sensory concert with the sophisticated wines from Barton & Guestier, and succulent culinary delights by Chef Vincent Catala from EverCook.

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We can’t wait to see you!

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PURCHASE THE ENTIRE SEASON FOR ONLY $210 (A $30 SAVINGS)

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I. Monday, January 27, 2020: 

Diamonds are… | From Rachmaninoff to Abba with Konstantin Soukhovetski, piano – Anne Chicheportiche, violin and Ashley Garritson, cello.

II. Monday, February 24, 2020: 

Melodies with Susana | An evening with the hypnotic Susana Behar.

III. Monday, March 9, 2020: 

Flourished  | an evening with Reginald Mobley, countertenor & Amanda Crider, mezzo-soprano accompanied by Joe Monticello, flute – Claudio Jaffe, cello – Anne Chicheportiche, violin – Brandon Acker, guitar.

IV. Monday, April 6, 2020: 

Tutti | a concert based on friendship showcasing musimelange’s Artists and their friends.

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WHERE
The M Building
194 NW 30th st
Miami, FL 33127

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TICKETS

$60 RSVP | $65 Regular | $70 at the door

The price of the ticket includes a concert, hors d’oeuvres, wine and desserts. The “RSVP” price is available until a week before the event. The “Regular” price is available until the Sunday before the event. 

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WHEN Monday, April 9th, 2018 – 7:30pm

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WHAT  Storm & Shadows

7:30pm ACT 1: The event begins at 7:30pm with an open wine bar by Barton & Guestier paired with Gourmet Bites by Riviera Focacceria Italiana.

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8:10pm ACT 2: The concert will start at 8:15pm – an evening with

Vivica Genaux, mezzo-soprano – Anne Chicheportiche violin – Claudia Cassogne violin – Mari Liis Pakk viola – Jason Calloway cello – Brandon J. Acker guitar.

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9:20pm ACT 3: Mingle around delicious desserts by Gail Beckham.

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WHERE
The M Building
194 NW 30th st
Miami, FL 33127

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TICKETS
$55 online | $65 @ the door

The price of the ticket includes a concert, hors d’oeuvres, wine and desserts.
The online price will be available until April 9th at 3pm. Tickets are non refundable.–

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* Vivica Genoux performance was made possible by the generosity of Dr. Marvin Sackner. ** Hors d’oeuvres are generously sponsored by Riviera Focacceria Italiana *** Open wine bar generously sponsored by Barton & Guestier. **** Desserts are generously sponsored by GB Catering.

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STORM & SHADOWS Performers 

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Claudia Cagnassone is a graduate of three of Italy’s most prestigious conservatories, the Giuseppe Verdi Music Academy in Torino, the Romano Romanini Foundation in Brescia and the Pinerolo Music Academy.

Her teachers included Sergio Lamberto, Sthephan Gheorghiu, and most notably Dora Schwarzberg.

Claudia was a founding member of II Quartetto Casorati, a string quartet enthusiastically received by audiences and critics at the Unione Musicale and Polincontri Classica music festivals, as well as the chamber music halls of Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Russia, Hungary, Romania, Greece and South Africa.

Claudia has appeared regularly as second principal with the Arpeggione Chamber Orchestra in Austria, and with many orchestras in her native country, including the Regio Theatre Orchestra in Torino, The Philharmonic Orchestra of Torino, I Musici Estensi and I Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra in Milano. She was featured as soloist on recordings and live performances with several Symphony of the Americas Summerfest presentations.

Currently she is a member of the Florida Grand Opera and the Palm Beach Symphony.

Estonian violinist Mari-Liis Pakk has appeared around the world as soloist and chamber musician.  A laureate of numerous international competitions, she has been heard in concert in Austria, Finland, and Germany as well as throughout the Baltic states and the U.S.  Ms. Pakk has performed as soloist with orchestras across her native Estonia as well as with the Meadows Symphony in Dallas and, as winner of the European String Teachers Association competition, gave a solo recital at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris.  She has as well given concerts throughout the Netherlands as a two-time recipient of a full scholarship to the International Holland Music Sessions and has appeared at festivals including the Salzburg Mozarteum and Burg Feistritz.

A graduate of Tallinn Music High School, Ms. Pakk holds graduate degrees from both Southern Methodist University and Temple University, where her primary teacher was Eduard Schmieder.  She is a core member of the iPalpiti Orchestra of International Laureates, under Schmieder’s direction, in which capacity she has appeared at the first International Chamber Music Festival of Eilat, Israel and in Jerusalem with violinist Ida Haendel and at Carnegie and Disney Halls, as well as in chamber music live on KMZT (Los Angeles) radio.  Ms.  Pakk has played chamber music with artists including Luis Biava, Andres Diaz, Nathaniel Rosen, and Jeffrey Solow.

Among her many artistic endeavors, Ms. Pakk is committed to the dissemination of the wide variety of little-known repertoire of her native Estonia as well as to the enlargement of the contemporary literature for violin/viola and cello duo alongside her husband, cellist Jason Calloway.  Among her recent performances may be counted recitals of contemporary music at the Summer  Solstice Festival of Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Arts; Princeton University; tours of Estonia and Serbia with Trio Andante; and a program of violin and cello duos, featuring a newly commissioned work by Yehuda Yannay, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Ms. Pakk is as well a committed teacher of violin and chamber music, having given masterclasses at numerous institutions and maintained a private studio at the Leopold Mozart Academy until 2010.  She is a native of Tartu, Estonia.

Cellist Jason Calloway has performed to acclaim throughout North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East as soloist and chamber musician. He has appeared at festivals including Lucerne, Spoleto USA, Darmstadt, Klangspuren (Austria), Acanthes (France), Perpignan, Valencia, Citta’ della Pieve (Italy), Jerash (Jordan), Casals (Puerto Rico), Blossom, Brevard, Colima (Mexico), Great Lakes, Kingston, Rockport, Sedona, Sarasota, Music Academy of the West, the New York String Seminar, and Encore. Mr. Calloway is currently cellist of the Amernet String Quartet, Ensemble-in-Residence at Florida International University in Miami, and was previously a member of the Naumburg award-winning Biava Quartet, formerly in residence at the Juilliard School.

He has collaborated in chamber music with members of the Cleveland, Curtis, Juilliard, and Miami quartets and with principal players of most of the world’s leading orchestras, as well as with artists including Shmuel Ashkenasi, Robert deMaine, Roberto Diaz, Guillermo Figueroa, Pascal Gallois, Gary Hoffman, Ida Kavafian, Kim Kashkashian, Seymour Lipkin, Ricardo Morales, Michael Tree, and the Penderecki and Tokyo quartets. Mr. Calloway gave his Carnegie Hall recital debut under the auspices of Artists International and has also been heard in New York at Alice Tully Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Steinway Hall, the Museum of Modern Art, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the 92nd Street Y, and the Polish Consulate; in Los Angeles at Disney Hall, the Bing Theatre, the Skirball Center and Pepperdine University; in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center and at Strathmore; in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music, the Ethical Society, and the Kimmel Center; and live on NPR, WFMT (Chicago), KMZT (Los Angeles), WQXR (NYC), WFLN (Philadelphia), and RAI television (Italy) as well as on recordings for Bridge, Naxos, and Albany records.

A devoted advocate of new music, Mr. Calloway has performed with leading ensembles around the world as well as alongside members of Ensemble Modern, Klanforum Wien, and the Arditti and JACK quartets, and with the New Juilliard Ensemble both in New York and abroad, in addition to frequent appearances in Philadelphia with Bowerbird, Soundfield, and Network for New Music and in Miami for FETA and Acoustica 21. Among the hundreds of premieres he has presented are solo and ensemble works of Berio, Knussen, Lachenmann, Pintscher, and Tüür, and he has collaborated intensively with some of today’s most important composers including Birtwistle, Carter, Davidovsky, Dusapin, Henze, Hosokawa, Husa, Franke, Rihm, Roustom, Ueno, and Yannay. As a dedicated supporter of young composers, he has frequently presented concerts of solo cello works newly composed for him, most recently at Drew, Harvard, and Temple universities, and at Spoleto USA gave the public premiere of Yanov-Yanovsky’s Hearing Solutions for cello and ensemble, in addition to appearances at Bowdoin College, the College of Charleston, Princeton University, and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. In the past season, he also established a partnership with the bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann in the premiere of Helena Tulve’s new quintet at the Järvi Festival.

Mr. Calloway prizes his work with Pierre Boulez and the Ensemble InterContemporain, both at the Lucerne Festival and at the Zug (Switzerland) Kunsthaus in Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and Serenade as part of a major Kandinsky/Gerstl exhibit, in addition to his collaborations with violinist Gilles Apap, tap dancer Savion Glover, and Cantor Netanel Hershtik. He is artistic director of Shir Ami (www.shiramimusic.com), an ensemble dedicated to the preservation and performance of Jewish art music suppressed by the Nazis and Soviets, with which he appears frequently across the US and in the ensemble’s varied performances in Austria, Hungary, and Italy. He has also performed across the US, Estonia, and Serbia in a duo with his wife, violinist Mari-Liis Päkk, which explores the rich contemporary literature for violin and cello. Jason Calloway is a graduate of the Juilliard School and the University of Southern California, where his teachers have included Ronald Leonard, Orlando Cole, Rohan de Saram, Lynn Harrell and Felix Galimir. Mr. Calloway performs on a 1992 Michèle Ashley cello, a copy of the famous Sleeping Beautyof Montagnana, formerly owned by his teacher, Orlando Cole. Mr. Calloway is a native of Philadelphia.

Brandon J. Acker is a soloist, collaborator and lecturer on the classical guitar and early plucked instruments like the lute, baroque guitar and theorbo. Recent achievements include three CDs released by Jester Recordings.  The newest CD includes music for harp and guitar by his duo, Strung Up.  Brandon has toured through England and Scotland with Chamber Opera Chicago and performed with notable groups like the Newberry Consort, Third Coast Baroque, Bella Voce, Florentine Opera, the Bach and Beethoven Ensemble and more. He has been featured live on WFMT 98.7 and has premiered several works and arrangements on WDRT 91.9. In 2010, Brandon received 1st prize in the Society of American Musician’s Competition.