Levels Taught:
Flute & Saxophone: ALL (Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced)
Piano & Music Theory: Beginning
More Information:
Melissa is a classically trained flute and piccolo player, and holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS. She studied with flautists Elizabeth DuBois-McCartney and Christine Feierabend, as well as other members of Symphony Nova Scotia. Melissa also has a flute studio where she teaches beginner through advanced students (including piccolo). She has also played the saxophone for more than 20 years, and has studied music theory and music history. In addition to flute and piccolo, she also offers saxophone lessons, and beginning piano and music theory lessons designed for each individual student's needs.
A regular performer, Melissa has appeared at the Summer Concerts at Saint Gaudens National Historic Site, WCCMA's Summer Concert Series at Union Church, as well as other solo and collaborative engagments in New England. She has collaborated on projects with internationally acclaimed musicians Jose Lezcano, Dinuk Wijeratne, Kinan Azmeh, and Nicholas Halley and works regularly with area musicians Angela Biggs, voice, and Kirsten Becker, piano. Melissa is a member of the Windham Orchestra, Claremont American Band, and Claremont Jazz Band, and has appeared with the Keene Chamber Orchestra and the Sage City Symphony. In 2014 Melissa performed the world premiere of a new work for solo flute and orchestra by internationally acclaimed composer Kinan Azmeh, commissioned for Claremont's 250th Anniversary. In 2015 she was awarded the NH Governor's Award for Distinguised Arts Leadership. Melissa helped to create the Bach Tree Intensive of Collaborative Musician together with award winning musicians Dinuk Wijeratne and Nicholas Halley, a new approach to creating music and collaborating for students and professional musicians.
Melissa is the Executive Director of the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts, and the Music Director for the Saint-Gaudens Memorial Summer Music Series at Saint-Gaudens National Historical Site.
Information provided on 12/29/2017
