Grammy-winning pianist Tal Cohen and Latin Grammy-nominated professor Martin Bejerano are handing their stage to the next generation of jazz musicians three more Tuesday nights this month, free of charge, at The Betsy Piano Bar on Ocean Drive.
The Piano Masters & New Voices series pairs upper-level undergraduate and graduate jazz pianists from the University of Miami's Frost School of Music with established professionals for live performances and mentorship sessions, according to the series listing on Soul of Miami. The series runs 6 to 11 p.m. every Tuesday through Aug. 25 at The Betsy Hotel, 1440 Ocean Drive, in the Art Deco Historic District.
No cover. No minimum.
Cohen and Bejerano, listed as University of Miami professors on the series page, select the student performers. Cohen won the Barry Harris National Piano Competition during his master's studies at Frost and has since performed with Terence Blanchard, Greg Osby and Joe Lovano. His latest album, "Gentle Giants," earned a four-star review from DownBeat Magazine. Bejerano, a Miami native of Afro-Cuban heritage, heads the Jazz Piano Studio at Frost, where he has been tenured faculty since 2010. He has performed with Roy Haynes, Christian McBride, Dave Holland and Pat Metheny over a career that included an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.
"I'm also very proud of the students that I teach at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, who all work incredibly hard, and leave the program as fantastic musicians with great careers ahead of them," Bejerano said in a 2022 VoyageMIA profile about his teaching career.
The series is backed by The Betsy Community Fund at The Miami Foundation and the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation CreARTE Program, which has invested more than $16 million in Miami-Dade arts organizations. In 2025, the Pérez foundation awarded $100,000 to The Betsy's Writers Room program to support resident artists and community programming, according to the foundation's grant records.
The Betsy, a family-owned boutique hotel co-owned by Jonathan Plutzik, operates what it calls the longest-running live music series on Miami Beach. "We're a place that plays beautiful jazz of all different kinds," Plutzik told WSVN in a July 29 feature about the hotel.
Three Tuesday dates remain: Aug. 11, Aug. 18 and Aug. 25. RSVPs are available at eventvesta.com/events/157108/t/tickets.
More free music on Ocean Drive: The Ocean Drive Association presents Haitian American pianist Assel Jean-Pierre Jr. and his trio at Lummus Park, between 14th Street and 14th Place, at 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9. The Betsy's full performance calendar is at thebetsyhotel.com/calendar.
