Teacher

Melissa is a singing voice specialist with a passion for teaching grounded in science and healthy use of the voice while meeting the demands of musical theatre performance. Her lessons are specifically tailored to meet each individual singer’s needs and goals through functional exercises and repertoire coaching.

Melissa completed all three levels of certification in Somatic Voicework ™: The Lovetri Method for Contemporary Commercial Music. 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, she participated in Dr. Edie Hapner and Dr. Aaron Ziegler's phonation resistance training exercises (PhoRTE) workshop. Melissa regularly attends vocal pedagogy courses, events, and conventions to continue her knowledge of the science and art of singing.

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.) from The New School University. When not teaching, she is working on her Master of Science (M.S.) in Communicative Sciences and Disorders at New York University (NYU) so that she can also work with injured performers' voices and conduct voice-related research. She has been performing steadily Off-Broadway, including principal roles in productions at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre and Times Square Arts Center.