Marjorie Melnick
Senior Artist Teacher
Email:
melnick@music.umass.eduMarjorie Melnick, mezzo-soprano, earned the Master of Music in cello from the Juilliard School. While in New York City, she studied voice privately with Nicolas DiVirgilio. She also spent many summers studying and performing at the Aspen Music Festival where her teachers were Olga Rhyss and the revered mezzo-soprano, Jan DeGaetani. In 1985, as a member of the Opernstudio Zürich, Ms. Melnick made her debut at the Zürich Opera under the baton of Nello Santi. After singing several smaller roles with the
Zürich Opera, she won a contract to sing as mezzo-soprano soloist at the Saarländisches Staatstheater in Saarbrucken, Germany. Among her many roles in that theater she sang Rosina in
The Barber of Seville, Cinderella in
Cenerentola, Octavian in
Der Rosenkavalier, and Hänsel in
Hänsel und Gretel. Among her various guest appearances in Europe, Ms, Melnick has performed at the Nationaltheater Mannheim in Strauss'
Elektra and at the Theater Bremen in Schnittke's opera,
Leben mit einem Idioten. Her recent performances in the United Stated include the role of the Mother in
Amahl and the Night Visitors, a performance of Beethoven's
Missa Solemnis at Harvard, and the Mozart
Requiem at Mount Holyoke College. She has also been active as a recitalist and has given several performances of vocal chamber music at the Musicorda Festival in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
Ms. Melnick lives in Amherst where she is also a member of the voice faculty at the University of Massachusetts and at Smith College.