Melissa Barnard

Born in Vienna to Australian parents, Melissa holds degrees with Distinction from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, New England Conservatory, Boston and the Mannes College of Music, New York. As a soloist and chamber musician she has performed at major international festivals in the UK, the US and Europe including the Tanglewood Festival, Marlboro Festival, Yale Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Gubbio Festival, the Prussia Cove International Seminars and the Manchester International Cello Weekend. She has twice been an Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada and spent a year as Artist-in-Residence at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, teaching and performing in a piano trio and performing as a guest artist with The Fine Arts Quartet. As a member of the Ives Piano Trio she recorded for WGBH-Boston, National Public Radio (NPR) and performed in recital in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum concert series, in Jordan Hall and at Harvard University.

Melissa has appeared as soloist with major Australian orchestras including the ACO, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. She is the winner of several awards including the ABC Young Performers’ Competition String Finals, Radio 2MBS-FM Listener’s Award and a British Australian Big Brother Award. A recipient of the Australia Council Performing Arts grant, she has recorded frequently for ABC Classic radio in recital and in collaboration with local and international artists.

Melissa has performed string quartets on a ‘gourmet’ river rafting trip along the Green River in Colorado/Utah, in a 12-cello ensemble touring Australia and Europe, in schools across greater Sydney and interstate, and she enjoys mentoring and teaching with the ACO’s Emerging Artist and Academy programs. She collaborated with composer Elena Kats-Chernin and director Sandie Eldridge for the ACO Families original production How to Catch a Star and enjoys these varied and enriching experiences alongside the ACO’s mainstage concert tours.