Melissa Gill
Melissa Gill is a singer, conductor, workshop facilitator, singing teacher and voice coach. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, Jazz and Popular Voice from Queensland University of Technology, a Classical Singing certification from Trinity Guildhall, London and a Master of Music Studies (with Distinction) in Vocal Pedagogy (teaching) from The Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. Melissa has over 30 years’ industry experience working in Australia and overseas.
During the last 10 years, Melissa has established and directed award winning choral ensembles in the community and overseas. Melissa’s work as a Community Arts Practitioner began in 2014 with her appointment as the Program Leader of the Upbeat Arts’ Absolutely Everybody choirs. Upbeat Arts is a nationally accredited provider of mental health services that creates pathways to well-being, education and employment through the delivery of robust programs that teach artistic skill, provide opportunities for connection, and empower participants to take risks and try new things in a supported environment.
In 2022, Melissa combined her experience designing and delivering the Absolutely Everybody choir programs with her lived experience of caring for a family member with dementia to create, SING SING SING, Queensland’s first choir for people living with dementia. The choir consists of people diagnosed with Dementia, the family member that cares for them and volunteers singing side-by-side. The choir exists to provide its members with access to the many and varied wellbeing benefits of groups singing. The choir does that by providing members with opportunities to connect with others and establish supportive relationships, stemming the tide of loneliness that accompanies this disease. The choirs’ purpose is to provide a meaningful and joyous activity that members with a diagnosis and their carer can engage in together, something that serves as a diversion from the routine that dementia demands. As a performance choir, SING SING SING provides its members with the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to their community through sharing the music that they make. The choir is focused on reducing stigma and demonstrating that people with dementia can live meaningful and productive lives irrespective of their medical condition.
Melissa is passionate about the positive health and well-being impacts of group singing that she witnesses week after week. She is highly skilled at turning non singers into accomplished singers and performers. Melissa engages with authenticity, candour, warmth, empathy and humour. She invites the people she works with to stretch without knowing that’s what they’re doing.
Abstracts this author is presenting: