MARMELI Retreat — The Art of Relating

The MARMELI Retreat is a unique immersive experience designed for both couples and individuals who wish to explore what it means to cultivate healthy, conscious, and fulfilling relationships.

Created and led by world-class musicians Mel Semé and Marta Cascales Alimbau—a married couple—MARMELI uses music as a living thread to open meaningful conversations around love, partnership, communication, intimacy, and personal growth. Through live performances, guided dialogues, reflective practices, and shared experiences, participants are invited to deepen their connection with themselves and others.

Designed for both individuals and couples, the program offers practical tools for communication, commitment, and connection—the foundations of healthy, evolving relationships. Through shared ritual and reflection, participants are invited into self-discovery and relationship as a living practice.

For couples, it is an opportunity to reconnect, strengthen communication, and nurture a shared vision for the future. For singles, it offers space to explore relationship patterns, deepen self-awareness, and prepare for meaningful future connections.

At its core, MARMELI invites relationships to be experienced as an art form—cultivated through beauty, intention, and the universal language of music.

LIVE PERFORMANCES

YOGA

SIGNATURE SILENT DINNER

ÁGORA TALKS

WOMEN & MEN CIRCLES

WORKSHOPS

PIANO BATH

SAUNA & PLUNGE

NATURE WALKS

| Limited to 10 Couples & 10 Singles |

This retreat is for anyone who wants to deepen their relationship with themselves and others.

Whether you’re in a committed relationship, navigating a new connection, single and curious about how you relate, or simply longing for more meaningful connection in your life — you’re welcome here.

We gather at The Thyme, a beautiful and intimate retreat space surrounded by nature in the Berkshires.

For a few days, we step away from the noise of everyday life and create space to breathe, reflect, move, listen, and be together. Think cozy spaces, nature walks, yoga, music, deep conversations, laughter, stillness, and evenings around the table.

A place where you can truly slow down and be present.

Food is an important part of the experience — not just nourishment, but another way of connecting.

We’ll share wholesome, seasonal, nourishing meals designed to bring people together around the table. Vegetarian and vegan options are available, so everyone can feel well nourished throughout the weekend.

And as part of the retreat, we’ll experience a Signature Silent Dinner — an invitation to slow down, put conversation aside, and experience the simple act of eating through presence, awareness, and the senses.

Food is an important part of the experience — not just nourishment, but another way of connecting.

We’ll share wholesome, seasonal, nourishing meals designed to bring people together around the table. Vegetarian and vegan options are available, so everyone can feel well nourished throughout the weekend.

And as part of the retreat, we’ll experience a Signature Silent Dinner — an invitation to slow down, put conversation aside, and experience the simple act of eating through presence, awareness, and the senses.

Friday, October 16 · Arrival between 5:00–6:30 PM

Take your time arriving at The Thyme, settling into your room, and getting comfortable before we gather for our first dinner together.

5:00–6:30 PM — Arrival & check-in

6:30 PM — Dinner

8:00 PM — Welcome gathering

– Arriving a little later than 6:30 PM is absolutely fine — just let us know in advance so we can coordinate with you.

Getting there:

🚗 By car: The Thyme is approximately 2½ hours from NYC or Boston.

🚆 By train: Take Metro-North to Wassaic, NY, then arrange a taxi or rideshare for the approximately 30-minute ride to The Thyme.

✈️ By plane: The closest airport is Albany International (ALB). Other options include Hartford (BDL), Boston (BOS), or the NYC airports (LGA, JFK, EWR).

Mel Semé: Grammy award winner, born in Cuba to Haitian parents, is currently starring in the Broadway musical Buena Vista Social Club. He is also a member of the band Gone Gone Beyond, has appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk, and works as a producer and multi-instrumentalist.

Marta Cascales Alimbau: Born in Barcelona, Spain, is a composer, pianist, yoga teacher. A Grammy Awards voting member and Deutsche Grammophon artist who collaborates with choreographers and filmmakers, and is the creator of her signature Piano Bath experience.

### Together

Having been together for seven years, Marta and Mel have explored the many layers of partnership — communication, intimacy, individuality, growth, and shared purpose.

From their own journey, they developed the MARMELI Framework to cultivate healthy, nourishing, and conscious relationships, centered around the 3 C’s: Communication, Commitment, and Connection.