Melissa Richmond

Recognized as an innovative and effective leader and arts professional, Melissa was awarded the 2015 Governor's Arts Award for Distinguished Arts Leadership. An experienced non profit executive leader, educator, and performer, she is active in her local and regional arts networks. Her passion for collaboration and access for all drives her approach to program creation, creating world class performance presentations, and multi-faceted education programs. In performance she is regarded as a sensitive collaborator and engaging soloist.

Melissa was born in Claremont, NH where she lived until attending Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS, Canada. She graduated in 2008 from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Music Degree as a flute major, and in 2012 with an MS Management Degree in Non-profit Leadership from New England College. During her undergraduate she studied five years with Elizabeth Dubois McCarthy, the former principal flute in the Atlantic Symphony. She studied flute and piccolo with Christine Feierabend, piccolo and second chair flute of Symphony Nova Scotia. Patricia Creighton, principal flute in Symphony Nova Scotia, was also a frequent advisor along with many other woodwind players in the symphony. Melissa studied conducting with the internationally renowned Dinuk Wijeratne, pianist, composer, and conductor in residence of Symphony Nova Scotia at the time. She studied orchestration under composer Jérôme Blais, and her graduation paper advisor was the author and musicologist Dr. David Schroeder for her paper “Picturing Beethoven: A Comparison of Fantasia and Fantasia 2000”
Melissa currently lives in Claremont, NH, and is working to enhance music and arts in the area. Along with her role at WCCMA she is also the Music Director for the Summer Concert Series at Saint-Gaudens National Historical Site. She performs at the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts, as well as being freelance soloist, a frequent member of the Claremont American Band, the Claremont Community Jazz Band, the Windham Orchestra, and Sage City Symphony. In Nov 2014 she perform as soloist for the world premier of the acclaimed Kinan Azmeh's “Concerto for Flute and String Orchestra,” a work she helped to commission as part of the Claremont 250th Celebration. An experienced educators, Melissa is an instructor of flute, saxophone, and basic piano/musicianship. She also appears locally in local theater production pit bands, and consults with local organizations and individuals on music and organization topics.

Melissa's other professional experience includes serving two years as the Executive Director of the Greater Claremont Chamber of Commerce. She serves on several local boards and City committees, including the Claremont Master Plan Committee, the Claremont MakerSpace steering committee, the Claremont Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, and most recently the board for the NH League of NH Craftsmen Gallery in Hanover, NH. She is devoted to expanding WCCMA to provide music programs to enhance the budget-challenged school music programs, and to bringing together the community of creative professionals currently living in the greater Claremont region.