Tara A. Melvin is the Director of Community Partnerships and Education for New Orleans
Opera. An accomplished soprano with extensive experience in operatic and art song
repertoire, she is a passionate educator and researcher who has taught for 15 years.
She has also given masterclasses at universities across the south, including week-long
artist-in-residence stints centering on composers of African descent. Dr. Melvin holds
a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from the University of New Orleans, a Master’s
Degree from Southeastern Louisiana University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Texas
Tech University.
I chose Southeastern to study with Dr. David Bernard. He was also a U.N.O. alum and
was known for singing at the Metropolitan Opera for ten years, being one of the youngest
to sing there. I could study with him, concentrate on learning what my voice did and
get the classes that I needed.
The Pottle Music Building was my home. I knew every classroom and practice room, and
by the end of my tenure, I had even worked in the main office, taking over while the
staff administrator was sick.
My fondest Southeastern memories are entwined with the friends that I made. There
were seven master’s students in music performance, and we hung out together, took
tests together, had regular study groups, and even had movie-watching parties We became
our support system, and six of us graduated together. I don’t think I would have made
it without them.
My theory teacher, Dr. Stephen Suber, inspired me. He was genuinely knowledgeable,
but he was also very kind. He treated everyone with respect, even the singers, often
a rare occurrence in a music school. He never assumed anyone was anything other than
competent, and if he did, he never showed it. He was also the first teacher to ask
what we may want to study, and he took the recommendations seriously. I took a semester
seminar on Igor Stravinsky and a seminar on African American Classical Composers in
the same year. It was transformative, and I learned so much. He taught such a wide
range of subject matter and treated it equally.
I am knowledgeable of music history and style. I never feel out of my depth when I
stand in a room full of composers, conductors, or other musicians. I am also very
comfortable letting people know when I don’t know something, but I am willing to learn.
Southeastern had such a wide variety of people with different interests and from different
places that I knew it was ok to let others shine. That didn’t take away from what
I was doing. Everyone has their turn, and everyone knows something.
I am inspired every day, and I get to follow that inspiration, sometimes with others
and sometimes alone. I create programming that highlights opera’s history and New
Orleans’ contribution to classical music. And the fact that we not only created jazz
but refugees from Sainte-Domingue (Haiti) brought opera to the new world decades before
anyone else had it. I get to teach, be taught, perform, and watch performances within
the same space. It’s a blessing.
I would say to be patient, flexible, and listen to your intuition more than society
says. So often, people give you advice based on their life experiences. That’s great
and sometimes helpful, but you are the only person who feels when something is for
you or not. Be patient, the process is the process, and often the things that look
and feel like failure are bumpers diverting you to another path you don’t see yet.
Build a team of people personally and professionally that you can trust. These people
should not agree with everything you do and should not be afraid to communicate with
you openly.
I ignore anything that is a “societal” norm — the shoulds. You should be married.
You should have kids. You should have this or that at a certain age. “Should” doesn’t
exist. It automatically puts you into comparison with something that doesn’t exist.
I write a lot. I have an article coming out in Classical Singer Magazine soon, but I also write fiction. I sing a lot. I enjoy being creative, but I also
know it’s not healthy always to be “doing.” Sometimes the most enjoyable thing is
enjoying a meal with friends or being by myself to meditate, do yoga or lay on my
couch and watch a superhero movie. I also love to travel and Costa Rica is one of
my favorite places to visit.
My mom was a huge British movie and tv fan, so I’ve seen every James Bond movie, every
Dr. Who, every Hercule Poirot, every Ms. Marple, every episode of The Prisoner, and
every episode of the British tv show from the ’60s, The Avengers.
If you hit shuffle on my iTunes, Yung Buck, Cardi B, Lauren Daigle, Megan Thee Stallion,
Chalie Boy, Old Dominion, Sam Hunt, Aerosmith, Little Big Town, Ha-Sizzle, Giuseppe
Verdi, and Disturbed songs are all there. I listen to them on shuffle because music
is just music.
