Accompanists
José Meléndez
Assistant to the Music Director/Librarian
Pianist José Meléndez is in demand as a vocal coach, conductor, and collaborative artist. His professional engagements have taken him to Europe, South and Central America, Asia, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and throughout the mainland United States. He is committed to the artistic development of young and emerging singers, and has been associated with numerous young artist programs, competitions, and training centers.He holds a full-time position at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where he is Assistant to the Music Director, Orchestra Librarian, and part of the music staff. He serves as Assistant Conductor, Collaborative Pianist, and Vocal Coach for various AVA productions and events, and he is also the Music Director of Concert Operetta Philadelphia, an organization dedicated to the performance of operetta in concert.
Mr. Meléndez has held professional positions with Glimmerglass Opera (Principal Coach), Opera Company of Philadelphia, Connecticut Grand Opera, Bay Area Summer Opera Theater (Conductor), Westminster Opera Theater (Music Director), Indianapolis Opera, and Opera de Puerto Rico. He has worked with Opera New Jersey since 2001 as Assistant Conductor and Principal Coach, and as Music Director of the Young Artist Program.
He continues his role as Principal Coach and Pianist for the Puerto Rico Metropolitan Council District and Regional Auditions, a position he has held for over 15 years. He has worked with the Curtis Institute of Music (Music staff), L'Académie Internationale d’Été de Nice (France), Casals Festival (Puerto Rico), Culturarte (Puerto Rico), Francisco Viñas International Voice Competition (Barcelona), and Operalia, Plácido Domingo's World Opera Competition.
As a collaborative pianist, Mr. Meléndez is known for his colorful and sensitive playing, as well as his innovative programming. For the past thirteen years, he has enjoyed a partnership with mezzo-soprano Maya Hoover, appearing in recitals throughout the United States and abroad. They are known for their programs of all Latin American art song, and for their carefully crafted recitals featuring lesser-known repertoire, which often include new arrangements written by Mr. Meléndez. In 2008, they were featured on Hawai`i Public Radio talking about their long history as a collaborative team and performing some selections from their repertoire. Mr. Meléndez is also a frequent guest artist at the University of Hawai`i, where he has presented master classes on the art of collaboration and has played for three consecutive seasons on the Music at Mānoa concert series.
José Meléndez holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico and a Master of Music degree in Piano Accompanying and Coaching from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where he studied with Dalton Baldwin, José Ramos Santana, and J.J. Penna.
Michele Marie Scanlon
Accompanist
Michele Marie Scanlon received her bachelor of music degree from University of Delaware. Ms. Scanlon has served as assistant musical director and musical director for ConcertOPERA Philadelphia, Opera New Jersey, Concert Operetta Theatre and Delaware Valley Opera. She has worked frequently with The Philadelphia Singers, The Savoy Company, Philadelphia Chamber Chorus, The University of the Arts, Temple University, The Jefferson University Choir, Pennsylvania Opera Theater Concerts Program, and the Philly Fringe Festival. Ms. Scanlon has produced over ninety concerts for the Opera Gala Series at Tomasello Winery in Hammonton, N.J.
Tim Ribchester
Accompanist
Tim Ribchester is a pianist, opera coach, conductor, music historian, broadcaster, and lecturer. Trained in Oxford, London, Paris and Buenos Aires, Tim has worked with AVA, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the American Composers Forum. He has served on the faculties of Temple University, Settlement Music School (Camden), and the University of Pennsylvania, where he is currently a member of the Critical Writing faculty and the accompanist/assistant conductor of the University Choir and Choral Society.
He has appeared in duo with clarinetist Ricardo Morales, tenor William Burden and baritones Marian Pop and Troy Cook, accordianist Lidia Kaminska, and throughout the Philadelphia area as a recital collaborator and guest conductor. At AVA he regularly assists Music Director Christofer Macatsoris and voice instructors Bill Schuman and William Stone, and has collaborated with stage director Tito Capobianco. He servces as Music Director of Delaware Valley Opera Company (La Cenerentola and Don Giovanni) and is the principal coach for Center City Opera Theater (Dido and Aneas and L'elisir d'amore). At the Opera Company of Philadelphia, he assisted with music preparation for Orphée et Eurydice and Romeo and Juliet. From 2006-2009 he was Music Director of the Eakins Vocal Consort and the manager of Adult Education Programs with The Philadelphia Orchestra. Recently, he was invited to conduct the Baltimore premiere of Mark Adamo's Little Women for Chesapeake Chamber Opera's 2011-2012 season.
He has also appeared with tango musicians Leonardo Suarz Paz, Hector Del Curto, and Pedro Giraudo at New York's Bryant Park Fall Festival, Five Boroughs Music Festival, and the Usdan Center. His widely acclaimed arrangements of Astor Piazzolla's music has been commissioned by the Dolce Suono Chamber Music Concert Series and aired on PBS at Carnegie Hall.
He recently recorded the CD release of Melissa Dunphy's song cycle Tesla's Pigeon with soprano Jessica Lennick, and performed the work along with several Philadelphia song premieres in the "Voice of the Generation" concerts in the 2011 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
