Guitarist Jon Mendle and mezzo soprano Melinda Martinez Becker perform eclectic, imaginative programs of uncommon repertoire. Utilizing both historical and modern instruments, their concert programs span genres and centuries - from Renaissance lute songs to reimagined jazz standards and music by contemporary classical composers. Jon has toured as the guitarist for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble and won second prize in the 2021 Concorso di Musica Antica “Maurizio Pratola” international lute competition in L’Aquila, Italy. Melinda’s New Mexican and Jewish heritage has shaped her career as a performer of art song in Spanish, Ladino, Yiddish and a variety of other languages. She is recognized for her expressive interpretations of diverse repertoire, from mariachi to baroque, to new music. Sponsored by the Walsh Family, Renegade Duo will perform a chamber music program for voice, lute, and guitar featuring music of the Baroque era, as well as Sephardic songs in Ladino, Ashkenazi songs in Yiddish, and arrangements of music by Amy Winehouse, Leonard Cohen and Regina Spektor. Based in San Francisco, Renegade Duo has performed for a variety of concert series in the Bay Area and beyond, including Trinity Chamber Concerts in Berkeley, Classical Guitar Series at the Davis Arts Center, the San Francisco’s Red Poppy Art House and the San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center.