User:Adjoajo/melanie

Melanie Scholtz  was born in Cape Town, South Africa. She is a vocalist. She sings operas, jazz, pop, r&b and classical music. She is a classically trained Opera singer, a songwriter, music teacher, composer, and a dancer. She attended the Opera School, in Cape Town, South Africa. She graduated Cum Laude in 2000. Her band is called 'Love Apples'. She performs in her country, South Africa, and she was performed in Czech Republic, Germany, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, France, Italy, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Holland, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Slovakia, and the United States of America. Melanie incorporates her South African Folk music as well as her mother tongue 'Xhosa' language click sounds and rhythms.

Melanie is an opera singer, and she has sung with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. She collaborates with other artists nationally and internationally. She has taught music in Prague, Czech Republic at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory.

Early Life
Melanie came from a musical family. She started playing the piano at the age of five. She studied with the EOAN group in South Africa at the age of 16. The EOAN school is a performing arts school in South Africa. In 1997, at the age of 17 Melanie enrolled in the Opera School at the University of Cape Town. She graduated in 2000.

Career
Melanie graduated from University of Cape Town in 2000 with a Performer's Diploma in Opera. She taught at the University of Cape Town from 2004 to 2005. Melanie performs locally in South Africa. She has performed in concerts in Holland, Germany, and Norway. She has performed for the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra with Joe McBride, Gerald Veasley, Sverre Gjørvad, and Sibongile Khumalo. She has performed for the SABC's "Woman of the year", awards. She has performed with Al Jarreau on "the Felicia Show", and sang the South Africa National Anthem during the Presidents Cup in George for Nelson Mandela. Melanie has been involved with the Grahamstown, South Africa National Arts from 2008 to 2014 as a performer, teacher, and mentor. Melanie has been a part of the Artscape Youth Jazz program from 2006 to 2013. Which is a mentoring program.

She studied opera with May Abrahamse at the Eoan Group. At the South African College of Music she studied with Angelo Gobbato and Virginia Davids with the Cape Town Opera. Melanie has performed with Jimmy Dludlu on his album "Afrocentric". She collaborates with other artists nationally and internationally, such as with the Ramon Alexander Trio, Ivan Mazuze, etc. She has taught music in Prague, Czech Republic at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory. Jo Skaansar bass player is on two of Melanie's 2010 albums; 'Connected', and 'Living Standards'.
 * 2009 - Live album recording with Inkala at the Jazz Festival in Norway
 * 2010 - Composed 'Hypnotized' for Laugh It Off Musical Interlude, African Dope Publishing
 * 2011 - AnJazz Jazz Festival in Hamar, Norway
 * 2013 - Juan Festival in Nice, France
 * 2018 she was a part of a concert at Dizzy's at Jazz at Lincoln Center program honoring Nelson Mandela. The project was called 'The Descendants - An African Sextet in New York.

Albums

 * 2006 - Melanie's debut solo album "Zillion Miles"
 * 2009 - Ole Jorn Myklebust
 * 2009 - Connected
 * 2010 - Living Standards
 * 2013 - "Freedom Child" a poetry and jazz project with the poetry of James Matthews (writer)
 * 2014 - Our Time

Awards

 * 2002 - Winning the "Old Mutual Jazz Encounters", for "best jazz vocalist".
 * 2010 - Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz
 * 2012 - Won three Jazz Awards at the Juan Revelation competition in Juan Les Pins in France