Our Vocal Coaches
All Music Styles
Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced
MELANIE SCHOLTZ – TEACHES VOICE, SONG PERFORMANCE, SONGWRITING AND MUSIC PRODUCTION AND PIANO.
I am excited to have joined the amazing team at Voice Academy NYC and to be working with all the wonderfully diverse voices this city brings.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE :
Melanie Scholtz is a South African born, Multi Award winning jazz singer and composer. Melanie started playing the piano from the age of 5 and went on to study Opera at The University of Cape Town Opera School where she graduated Cum Laude with a Performer’s Diploma in Opera in 2000. Melanie has released five successful solo albums and has been a featured artist and guest songwriter on many albums nationally and internationally. She has been a professional musician for over 20 years and has performed all over the world including her native country, South Africa, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, Poland and the United States. Her most recent performances include touring with Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra in their 2019/2020 season, with shows in New York, Chicago, South Africa and Vienna. She released a new album called “Kindred” on a very successful tour in Czech Republic and Poland in Nov 2021.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE :
Melanie has been involved in the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa from 2008 – 2014 as a performer and teacher as well as part of the mentor-ship program with the Artscape Youth Jazz program from 2006- 2013. She also went on to teach at the University of Cape Town from 2004-2005. She has taught Internationally at annual Jazz Camps in The Czech Republic, where she lived for 2 years.
She currently resides in East Village, New York and gives workshops and develops Songwriting, Music Production and Visual Arts curriculum for the 92Y Centre for Arts Learning and Leadership. She is also frequently invited by Jazz at Lincoln Centre as a featured singer/musician giving workshops for conferences and events.
Melanie is also working for The Leadership Program, a New York based Teaching Artist DOE approved organization, for the past 3 years as a music and visual artist teaching artist, teaching across the board from Kindergarten to High School. She has also hosted workshops showcasing Music Production, Electronic Looping , Visual Art , and Improvisation at CUNY, the University of Pennsylvania, and Smith College. Melanie is also a South African Junior Champion in Ballroom and danced Latin and Ballroom for more than 10 years.