Melissa has a passion for teaching grounded in science and healthy use of the voice while achieving the demands of musical theatre performance. Her lessons are specifically tailored to meet each individual singer’s needs and goals through functional exercises. With over fifteen years of singing and performance experience, Melissa is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy’s Musical Theatre Integrated Program and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) She completed all three levels in Somatic Voicework ™: The LoVetri Method for Contemporary Commercial Music and actively continues to attend teacher training courses with internationally recognized voice teacher Jeannette LoVetri. Melissa also studied vocal pedagogy at the Mannes College of Music with Dr. Kate Maroney and The Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah University. An active performer, Melissa has been acting and singing in cabarets, TV/film, and Off-Broadway productions, including principal roles at the Harry De Jur Playhouse, Manhattan Repertory Theatre, and Times Square Arts Center. in Communicative Sciences and Disorders at New York University (NYU) with a specialization in treating the professional musical theatre singing voice and conducting voice-related research. She provided singing voice rehabilitation at Mount Sinai West ENT and the Lions Voice Clinic. Melissa received her certificate in Performing Arts Medicine: Vocal Performance from the Performing Arts Medicine Association and the American College of Sports Medicine. She was formally trained by Dr. Katherine Verdolini Abbott in Voice Therapy Spectrum (VTS), which includes Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy (LMRVT) and Casper-Stone Confidential Flow Therapy (CSCFT). Additionally, Melissa participated in Dr. Edie Hapner and Dr. Aaron Ziegler's phonation resistance training exercises (PhoRTE) workshop. Melissa is a proud member of the New York Singing Teachers' Association, Voice Foundation, National Association of Teachers of Singing, Somatic Voicework (TM) Teachers' Association, Music Educators' Association of New York City, and Association for Popular Music Education.
