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.
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