MELISMA is a Belfast-based eight-voice choir. Melisma’s performances span a variety of genres and styles, with an emphasis on solo vocal lines, bringing together eight musical personalities to create unique interpretations of vocal repertoire. Recent highlights in their calendar have included recording a new Keith Getty arrangement for Songs of Praise and providing the backing vocals for the latest album by The Priests: Alleluia. They have given concerts throughout Northern Ireland and beyond, including residencies at cathedrals including Ripon, Winchester, Gloucester, Dublin and New York and have performed with Sir David Willcocks and Barry Rose. In November Melisma took part in Ardee Baroque Festival with Musici Ireland and are looking forward to future collaborations with the ensemble. A regular guest on Radio Ulster, Melisma featured in a special Christmas edition of “Classical Connections”.
TANYA HOUGHTON took over the reins as artistic director of Melisma three years ago. Originally from Birmingham, she studied music at Cambridge and then moved onto postgraduate performance study in the harp, both in Paris and at London’s Royal Academy of Music, where she also attended Patrick Russill’s choral conducting workshops. She is a qualified music teacher and has been working as an ABRSM examiner for eight years, however her main employment is as a freelance harpist, playing with orchestras including City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Ulster Orchestra and the RTÉ orchestras amongst others. She has extensive experience accompanying choirs, working with conductors and composers including John Rutter, Bob Chilcott and David Hill and has performed live on Radio 3 accompanying the BBC Singers. She also enjoys accompanying vocal soloists and made her Wigmore Hall debut in 2013 accompanying Nicholas Mulroy in Britten’s centenary concert. She was elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 2015. She has lived in Northern Ireland for 5 years, having married Melisma’s first tenor!
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TANYA HOUGHTON took over the reins as artistic director of Melisma three years ago. Originally from Birmingham, she studied music at Cambridge and then moved onto postgraduate performance study in the harp, both in Paris and at London’s Royal Academy of Music, where she also attended Patrick Russill’s choral conducting workshops. She is a qualified music teacher and has been working as an ABRSM examiner for eight years, however her main employment is as a freelance harpist, playing with orchestras including City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Ulster Orchestra and the RTÉ orchestras amongst others. She has extensive experience accompanying choirs, working with conductors and composers including John Rutter, Bob Chilcott and David Hill and has performed live on Radio 3 accompanying the BBC Singers. She also enjoys accompanying vocal soloists and made her Wigmore Hall debut in 2013 accompanying Nicholas Mulroy in Britten’s centenary concert. She was elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 2015. She has lived in Northern Ireland for 5 years, having married Melisma’s first tenor!
SIGN UP FOR OUR MAILING LIST HERE.
