Melanie grew up in Denver and started singing in choirs at her large Lutheran church when she was five. She continued to have a passion for choral music and chose to attend Concordia College, Moorhead, MN. She received a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance, and had the privilege of singing under and studying choral conducting with Paul J Christiansen, son to the renowned F. Melius Christiansen who founded the St. Olaf Choir.
Melanie has conducted choirs since graduating from college and has held full time Director of Worship positions at St. John’s Lutheran, Denver and Victory Lutheran, Mesa, AZ. As the Choral Conductor for West Hills Universalist Unitarian from 2014 to 2019 she grew the choir membership from 14 to 33 members. She comes to us from First Christan Church where she has been the Director of Worship since 2019. Melanie has been vocal staff for the Portland Symphonic Choir and toured Europe several times as a paid soloist. Her claim to fame as a choral singer is that she performed in the Sistine Chapel–surreal!
Melanie is also Project Coordinator for the Department of Pediatrics at OHSU. She has 3 children, the youngest of whom will graduate from PSU spring of 2023l. They are her crowning joy and she loves spending time with them. Dancing, hiking and theater are her hobbies.
Melanie is so pleased to be joining the staff at Bethel! Building strong choirs and meaningful worship continues to be her passion and vocation.