Hello! Nice to meet you.
"As an educator, I find pride in seeing my students grow within their own self expression. It is my ultimate goal to nurture them in an environment where they find the ability to explore and create while developing a strong sense of self worth. I strive to work towards new and creative ways to reach each student that I teach. It is my belief that this individual attention is not only positively reflected in a lesson, but will teach a student to react compassionately to the world around them." - Melissa Curtis
Hi, I’m Melissa Curtis! I’m a youth voice teaching specialist, solo artist, yoga teacher, and cat mom living in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis. Although a recent transplant to the Twin Cities, I have maintained a thriving music studio for the last 18 years, teaching students throughout the Chicagoland area and online via my studio Mindful Voice and Body.
I teach young adults who are experiencing vocal issues, lacking artistic clarity, and feeling physical anxiety to come back to their body/mind and spirit in full autonomy so that they may feel empowered to live full and happy musical lives. I use evidence based vocal pedagogy that ties together voice research, my vocal expertise and my student’s goals to produce sustainable and authentic vocal technique.
Melissa Curtis’s love for music and education was fostered during her course of study at Millikin University. As a Commercial Music Major with a Vocal Performance Emphasis, she was awarded the opportunity to sing with the University’s vocal jazz group, “One Voice” (DownBeat Magazine Award and ICCA 2004 Winner), as well as the university's prestigious "University Choir". Throughout her studies, she also worked countless hours in the recording studio singing, producing, and writing original music.
Upon graduating, she was accepted to study and perform early music in Italy at Centro Studi Urbania. She is a sought after soprano and is known for her variety of vocal stylings. She was a founding member of the early music ensemble "The Marion Consort" and has performed with the "Wicker Park Choral Singers", "Chicago Chamber Choir", the female vocal jazz quartet, “Sundown” and the band “Revolutionary Lion”. Her admiration for chamber singing continued on through the creation of her vocal chamber ensemble "UNUM Vocal Company" where she continued to sing and also act as the organization's Executive Director until 2020. Most recently she performed with and directed select portions of a program for Chicago’s Common Pulse: A community of musicians and advocates creating innovative performance art and building collaborative partnerships to inspire action toward justice and nurture a more connected Chicago.
Melissa also continued her education in contemporary vocal pedagogy by completing the full coursework at The CCM Institute at Shenandoah University, Level 1 of Somatic Voicework™ and continues to study the benefits of The Alexander Technique, Yoga, and Pilates for the singing voice.
Outside of her studio and performance life, Melissa enjoys writing and recording original music, going to concerts, teaching yoga and barre, playing with her ridiculously cute cats and enjoying life with her partner, Dan.