Michaela is a Czech music manager, producer, video-editor, vocalist and founder of “Release the Kraken” based in Berlin. She is the author of Strategies of Micro-Enterprises in the Recording Industry: How Independent Jazz Labels Navigate the Music Landscape (Springer 2025).
As the founding manager of Kurt Rosenwinkel’s Heartcore Records, for eight years, Michaela handled creative project management, artist management, business planning, and label branding. She launched the philanthropic initiative Heartcore for the World in 2017, providing music education to underprivileged children and collaborating with the world's most renowned jazz artists.
She lectures at Janáček’s Academy in Brno on independent record label processes, merging theory with industry practice. As a recording vocalist, she collaborated on various cross-genre projects and performed with Kurt Rosenwinkel’s band at Eric Clapton’s Guitar Crossroads in LA in 2023.
MICHAELA DRNEK BÓKOVÁ
VOJTA
DRNEK
Vojta is a Czech accordionist, music editor, graphic designer, and video editor based in Berlin. He is the musical editor and assistant at Kurt Rosenwinkel’s Heartcore Records, where he has worked on major releases, including the editorial work on Kurt Rosenwinkel's Ultimate Book of Compositions, Shedding with Kurt, and the graphic design of multiple releases on the label. He also works in the marketing department of the Jazz Goes to Town festival, contributing to its branding and promotional strategies.
Vojta is a manager and co-founder of Ma Records, a label dedicated to jazz, experimental, and improvised music. Beyond his work in label management and visual media, he is an accomplished jazz accordionist, having performed at Jazzfest Berlin, JazzFest Brno, and leading multiple projects such as the chamber jazz trio Treetop, the swing project Hot Brew, and various experimental projects in Berlin.
Kervin M. Dockendorf is a creative entrepreneur and the founder and managing director of the digital distribution company Fangtasia Music based in Germany. Dockendorf has over nine years of experience as an employee in the “formal” music industry and more than seventeen years of experience as a freelancer/entrepreneur in the independent music industry, working with catalogs, rights management, royalties, record labels, music publishers, and booking/management agencies.
In 2016, he started his own company, Fangtasia Music, which delivers music and video distribution services to labels, bands, and artists.