A. Kori Hill
When Melissa White saw Itzhak Perlman play violin on Sesame Street, she knew she wanted to play too. After begging her mom for two years, she started lessons and never looked back. She won the junior division of the Sphinx Competition in 2001. She has a Bachelor of Music from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philly and a Master of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
Melissa is a soloist, teacher, and ensemble player. That means she plays a lot of concertos and chamber music. She’s a founding member of The Harlem Quartet, playing music by Walter Piston, Chick Corea, and Jeff Scott (and won some GRAMMYS!). As a member of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, she’s played music by Amy Beach, Florence Price, and more.
As a soloist, she’s performed Max Bruch’s G minor concerto with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the West Virginia Symphony, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s third violin concerto with the Cincinnati Symphony. And in April, she’ll make her Austrian debut next month, performing Chen Gang and He Zhanhao’s The Butterfly Lover’s Concerto (1959) with Mei-Ann Chen and the Recreation Orchestra.
Melissa also likes to try new things. When she played The Butterfly Lover’s Concerto with Mei-Ann and the Chicago Sinfonietta, she did so in style. She collaborated with Chicago designer Carley Brandeauxon a dress designed to unfold like a butterfly from a chrysalis – as Melissa was playing the concerto! At certain parts in the music, Melissa would rebutton or shift parts of the dress to turn from a chrysalis into a butterfly. It’s not clear if she’ll be wearing the dress during her performances in Austria; fingers crossed!
Melissa is a yoga practitioner, which helps her balance her body, mind, and spirit. With her friend, Elena Urioste, she founded a program called Intermission, where musicians spend a week incorporating yoga and mindfulness into their creative practice. In addition to her busy schedule, she teaches at New York University, the University of Buffalo, and the Sarasota Music Festival. She’s also active on Instagram; ask your parents if you can check out her videos from her 100-day practice challenge!
For more than twenty years, Melissa has been building a career that not only allows her to play music with people who brings her joy, but to build programs that help her colleagues, share her knowledge with students, and engage with music beyond listening.
