BIOGRAPHY

Melissa Douglas (b.1992) is an Australian composer, pianist and piano teacher currently based in the United Kingdom. Her compositions have been performed internationally in Australia, the UK and Europe. Melissa has been commissioned by a variety of soloists, chamber ensembles and festivals. She has written for ensembles such as the BBC Singers, pianists Clare Hammond and Grace Francis, the Magnard Ensemble, the Polaris Duo and the Royal Northern College of Music’s Brand New Orchestra.

Melissa studied her BMus at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. After receiving an Ian Potter Cultural Trust Award and RNCM Scholarship to study Composition abroad, she continued postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom at the Royal Northern College of Music (2014-16). She studied Composition with Professors Adam Gorb, David Horne and Paul Patterson, graduating with an MMus in Composition with Distinction in 2016. She was the recipient of the Royal Northern College of Music Patricia Cunliffe Composition Prize in 2015.

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Composer website: http://www.melissadouglascomposer.com

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FEATURED WORKS

Glint, for saxophone quartet.

Glint features bright harmonies and syncopated rhythms. Initially the saxophone quartet function as one instrument, gradually unraveling to a contrapuntal texture of rapid lines weaving throughout the quartet, unity dispersed.

Featured in Jazz-World Waves – November 2017

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Solo Gratia, for solo piano.

Solo Gratia is in two sections which evoke a dramatically different character, essentially depicting a progression from darkness to light. Though the original latin translation for ‘Grace Alone’ is ‘Sola Gratia’, the title is a word play on the piece being a solo piano work for English pianist Grace Francis. The work was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2015 and features on Grace Francis’ album ‘SACRED’, for which it was specially composed. The album received digital release on iTunes in March 2015.

– Melissa Douglas

Featured in Piano Waves- October 2019