Music & Dance
ALEX MEIXNER
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Polka
Alex Meixner carries on a family polka tradition brought to America four generations ago by his Austrian violin- and cornetplaying greatgrandfather, Leopold, who emigrated from the Austrian province of Burgenland to the U.S. in the mid-1920s. Home to Germanic, Hungarian, and Croatian-speaking inhabitants, Burgenland’s blend of diverse musical traditions shaped Leopold Meixner’s repertoire and that of subsequent generations of Meixner musicians, including Alex’s grandfather Alfred.
In the early 1950s, Alfred (known as “Skeeter”) brought his four-year-old son Al (Alex’s father) into the family polka band. Performing in an American setting heavily dominated by other polka traditions such as Polish and Slovenian, the Meixner’s Austrian sound evolved and the band’s repertoire expanded. The younger Meixner became an extremely versatile performer who toured with his own band for many years. In 1982, just as his father had before him, Al brought his son, Alex, 6, into the family band, along with his two sisters Christi and Katie. In recent years, Al, also a former Duquesne University Tamburitzan (an Eastern European folk music & dance troupe), partially retired from the business and turned the reins over to Alex.
Only 32, Alex already has an impressive career spanning almost 25 years. He has appeared at festivals throughout the U.S. and Canada, on the Tonight Show, with the London Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared on over 40 recordings. In 2007, Alex received a Grammy nomination for his work with Bubba Hernandez on Polka Freakout! Equally at home with German “oompah” as with a horndriven Polish style, the dynamic Alex Meixner Band sings in 11 languages including German, Slovenian, Croatian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Polish and English.
Links
http://alexmeixner.com
http://cdbaby.com/cd/meixneralex
Return to Music and Dance page
Go to Next Artist- The Bernstons
