Melissa has been making
music ever since she can remember.
Her favorite thing to do
as a child was not play with dolls or
run around with the other
kids....Melissa loved to sing. She would
sit on a swing and sing; she would sing
while doing chores; she would even sing
at the dinner table (her parents had to
make a “no singing at the table” rule).
Melissa started playing piano at age 6
and has enjoyed it ever since.
(Although, she admits, her parents used
bribery for practice incentive when she
was young). She began playing and
singing in church at age 12 and picked
up guitar in her high-school years with
which she played traditional old-time
music with a bluegrass band. Choir was
also one of Melissa’s loves in high
school and college.
She spent a lot of time making music
with her family, in the form of car
sing-alongs, living-room jam sessions,
special music for church, and impromptu
kitchen dance sessions.
Melissa began teaching piano at age 14
when the parents of the kids she was
babysitting began asking for lessons for
their kids. Although she enjoyed her
high school piano-teaching job, she
realized she needed more education.
Melissa attended Portland State
University to study pedagogy with Mary
Kogen.
After graduating with a BA in Music,
she began working part-time in the
nursery at a drug and alcohol treatment
center, where she was able to see the
amazing effects music can have on
children – even those as young as
newborns! She became certified as a
Kindermusik teacher in order to learn
more about how to incorporate music into
the lives of very young children. She
added Kindermusik to the classes offered
through the small music school she
started in Portland.
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After moving to Prineville, Oregon, in
2011, Melissa was hired as the Music and
Arts Director at First Baptist Church of
Prineville, where she currently leads
the congregation in worship through
music and art. She particularly enjoys
leading and encouraging the teen youth
band. In 2022 she finished a fellowship
with Portland Piano International,
through which she became a Nationally
Certified Teacher of Music.
Currently, Melissa has a piano
studio of over 25 students, holds the
office of chapter president in the
local Oregon Music Teachers
Association, and is working on
becoming a certified piano Syllabus
adjudicator.
She also is a mom to two
fascinating and busy teenage boys. In
her spare time Melissa enjoys running,
spending time in the great outdoors
with her friends and family, and
playing music of all kinds (her
instruments include violin/fiddle,
piano, mandolin, guitar, and voice).
She also loves reading, traveling, and
cheering on her kids at their various
sports and music activities.
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