was born in Moscow to Cuban parents in 1982. At the age of seven he began his cello studies in Havana at the Escuela Elemental Paulita Concepcion and at the Escuela Elemental de Música Manuel Saumell (music focused elementary schools), then later at Amadeo Roldan (considered to be the most prestigious music school in Cuba) and the Instituto Superior de Arte. From a young age, Melendez was interested in mixing and fusing rhythms such as jazz, Cuban traditional music and Afro-Cuban music. In 2006, he moved to Barcelona where he discovered flamenco, music from the Middle East and free jazz, all of which served to greatly expand his already robust musical vocabulary. This helped him to collaborate with musicians and artists of different disciplines: cinema, dance, theatre and poetry. The Martin Meléndez Trio plays original music which combines various jazz and Cuban styles. Joining Martín, pianist and singer Lucia Fumero graduated from the Amsterdam Conservatory and the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC). She is a very versatile improvisor and vocalist. Drummer Gabriel Gonzales graduated from the ESMUC conservatory specializing in contemporary and classic percussion. He plays a wide variety styles with subtle intuitiveness.

Meléndez has collaborated on more than 40 albums and shared the stage with artists such as Pablo Milanés, Chano Dominguez, Interactive, Darol Anger, Yusa, Descemer Bueno, Antonio Rey, Kinan Azmeh, Alasdair Fraser, Rony Barak, Pasion Vega, Dave Samuells, among others, taking him on tours around the world. Some of his most recent projects are The Dreams of Ravel (jazz), Elephant Tiny Obsession (african jazz) and Caguama Trio (jazz).

was raised in a German-Mexican family in southern California and Germany. She took up the cello at a young age, then dropped it as a teen, choosing instead electric guitar, punk and flamenco. Later, she studied classical cello, and in that time, developed a serious addiction to jazz cello. Susanne has developed a vibrant, colourful playing style which combines groove, improvisation and innovative cello techniques. Her musical focusses are jazz, Brazilian music, flamenco, tango, funk, baroque, Italian folklore and punk.

Susanne is the bandleader of the MOVE String Quartet and regularly shares the stage with Uwe Kropinski, Etta Scollo and the Julia Hülsmann Octet. She has also collaborated with Michel Godard, Arkady Shilkloper, String Thing, and Georg Breinschmid, and has recorded a number of CDs. She also teaches jazz, improvisation, and tango for string players (e.g. at the Bruckner-University Linz, since 2012) and has authored and published music and teaching material (e.g. “Groovy Strings”).

At New Directions 2018, Susanne will be performing with Sicilian singer-songwriter Etta Scollo, who beautifully blends Sicilian folklore, Arabic poetry, jazz and canzone. Paul often tours   with Scollo’s quartet. Their duo is called “Scollo con Cello”. http://www.groovecello.de/

Cello / Vocals / Synths. Hannah grew up in a musical family, singing before she could talk: her mother was a classical music teacher; her father, a folk musician and luthier. Her sisters and brother all played instruments and brought a diverse and eclectic record collection to the table. At age four, Hannah took up the cello, and thanks in part to three brilliant and intuitive teachers, was inspired with a life-long love of the instrument. Hannah started writing songs and music early on, influenced by Björk, P.J. Harvey, Frank Zappa and Ella Fitzgerald, and classical composers such as Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Holst and Bartók. She founded Moulettes in 2002, as the main songwriter and creative driving force, and they went on to co-produce, record and arrange four studio albums, alongside her string arrangement work for The Levellers Abbey Road album, Hull City of Culture 2017, and forthcoming records for Arthur Brown, T. S. Idiot, Alabaster DePlume and Kristin McClement.

For the New Directions Cello Festival 2018, Miller and regular Moulettes member, electric guitarist Raevennan Husbandes, are pleased to welcome Mike Simmonds (viola, violin & nyckleharpa) and Jules Arthur (viola; synths). Both are satellite members of Moulettes, and have also worked with Alice Russell, Nick Cave, Disraeli and the Small Gods, and Timothy Didymus. For this special show, the group is going by Moulettes-Detours. http://www.moulettes.co.uk/