About Me
Robert menzel (*1980) is a versatile saxophonist. After studying some guitar and piano at early age he lost interest in music until he listened to a mind-blowing concert of clarinet master Giora Feidman in Dresden in '96. He decided to play clarinet and by '98 switched to tenor saxophone due to the more voluminous sound of the instrument.
Since then, he has been studying with Peter Materna and Gunnar Plümer in Bonn during his time of alternative civil service and got accepted at the College of Music in Dresden in 2001 where he learned from Prof. Friedhelm Schönfeld, Prof. Marko Lacker, Finn Wiesner and many musicians around him. In 2004 he spent some time in NYC to study with Bill McHenry. Later that year he moved to Brussels to study with John Ruocco and Jeroen van Herzeele at the Royal Conservatory on an Erasmus-Grant. After moving back to Dresden in 2005 he continued to work with belgian musicians both in Germany and Belgium on a regular basis.
In February 2007 he graduated from Dresden College of Music "summa cum laude" in jazz performance as well as pedagogics and received a full tuition scholarship from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) to also graduate from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels' Master Programme, which he did in June 2008 with distinction.
After his belgian intermezzo he moved to Berlin to continue to work with his groups "Schulbus", "Aldimenz" and "Brumcalli". In January 2009 he was accepted as master student in the class of Günter "Baby" Sommer which includes a teaching assignment at the Dresden College of Music. In February 2009 he received the "Carl-Maria-von-Weber-Grant" for oustanding achievements in the field of music (being the first jazz musician to receive that honor).
By playing music in very various styles from jazz to pop, salsa, "Neue Musik", noise-rock and free imrovised music, he got the opportunity to work with many very interesting musicians like Georg Gräwe (in whose "Quicksilver" chamber opera production with the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden he was featured imroviser), Erik Vermeulen, Richie Beirach, Joachim Kühn, Michael Griener, Christian Mendoza, "Baby" Sommer, Eve and Lionel Beuvens, Joao Lobo, Augusto Pirodda, Nicola Lancerotti, Mario Gonzi, Clemens Pötzsch, Derreck Gardner, Lewis Nash, Gunter Hampel, Els Vandeweyer, Yannick Peeters, Marc Ducret in many european countries and Israel on festivals and in clubs.
enjoy to listen....
"great playing young cat" - John Ruocco
"...Klasse!!!..." - Bert Noglik ;)
"this guy plays great. i would love to here more from him in the future" - John Hollenbeck
