Melanie Ohm, mezzo soprano, specializes in North American and Brazilian Art Song repertoires, and has performed throughout the U.S. and Canada, in Brazil and Italy over the course of her career. An early interest in art song provided opportunities to work with living composers, such as Jonathan Chenette, Edward Hupton, Marion Verhaalen, George Crumb, George Walker, and Ronaldo Miranda. Ms. Ohm premiered Chenette’s Posthumous Orpheus, and is featured performing a selection from his work Oh, Millersville! on a special CD edition of “Music in the Midwest.” 

Her interest in Brazilian art music was originally stimulated and cultivated by Rúbia Santos, her partner in Duo Braziliana. Several research trips to Brazil focused on interviewing; collecting scores, music, and other resources; coaching; and gaining experience in the culture and language. In Brazil, Ms. Ohm is a member of the Associação Brasileira de Canto. As a voting member, she participated in the development of Brazilian-Portuguese diction standards for singing at the 4° Encontro Brasileiro de Canto: Português Brasileiro Cantado in São Paulo, Brazil in 2005. She received coaching in diction and interpretation from Brazilian singers Lenice Prioli and Adélia Issa. Grants received from Arizona State University and Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation supported this work.
           
Melanie Ohm is a doctoral candidate in vocal performance at Arizona State University where she studied with Darleen Kliewer-Britton and received coaching on Brazilian musical style with Caio Pagano. Other teachers influential in her development are Robert Shewan, Judith Coen, April Harrif, Wayne Mitchell, Jonathan Retzlaff, Mary Sue Hyatt, and Carol Stewart Iverson. Her final doctoral project in progress is a CD of Brazilian art song with a companion document focused on diction for singing issues in Brazilian Portuguese. She holds a master of music degree from Drake University, and won the Drake Artist Competition in 1991, performing Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.  In 1995 Ms. Ohm was selected for  the National Association of Teachers of Singing Internship Program at Florida State University, and in 1996 the Wesley Balk Singer-Actor Institute in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, College Music Society, Mu Phi Epsilon Phoenix Alumni Chapter, and the Latin American Art Song Association.

Melanie Ohm is a partner in Concepts Consulting Group, Inc., specializing in group facilitation, ideation, and holistic participatory processes in the social and educational sectors. Her work in participatory arts and community development is extensive, building upon almost 10 years with Arizona State University, developing partnerships and programs that connected students and faculty with the broader community. She is a cofounder of the Arizona Cultural Arts Coalition; serves on numerous boards, advisory groups, and panels for arts and cultural groups in the greater Phoenix area; and presents regularly at national conferences supporting the field of community arts and cultural development. Ms. Ohm is a member of the Carefree Cave Creek Chapter of Rotary International, the International Association of Facilitators, the Arizona Association of Facilitators, the Society for Organizational Learning, and the Association of American Cultures.

.