Melanie Edwards is an award-winning singer, songwriter, pianist, violinist and music practitioner. She holds a master’s in media and performing arts from The Savannah College of Art and Design and was awarded the Artistic Achievement Fellowship to secure her MFA in Performing Arts there. Furthermore, she was a Morehead-Cain Scholar Nominee at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she secured a BA in broadcast journalism, furthering her news career as a Carolina Week Reporter and later becoming a weather anchor for local news in eastern North Carolina. Likewise, she was the NCSU’s Department of Nuclear Engineering Investigators’ Program Award Recipient in Nuclear Technology at NC State University where she focused on nuclear physics. Additionally, she holds a BA in Spanish from Universidad de España, in Sevilla, Spain. Melanie is certified in Mental Health First Aid USA by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and has 29 years experience as a performing artist and expressive, musical healer with several partner charities and organizations, such as: National Theatre DC and Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. She recently started a healing arts business providing “Musical Mending” workshops and services to nursing homes, assisted living quarters, hospices, hospitals and underprivileged communities. In addition, she is the resident pianist for St. Regis Washington DC, The Willard and has performed at Gypsy Sally’s, The Henley Park Hotel, Beacon Bar and Grill and Peruvian Ambassador Castilla’s Residence in Washington, DC. In the wake of the pandemic, she humbly received a grant from the Recording Academy / GRAMMYs and MusiCares for the CoVid-19 Relief Fund, a grant from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities (CAH) and National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in addition to a DC Small Business Recovery Microgrant gifted by Mayor Bowser and the DMPED, an award by TheatreWashington and a is a FY21 Relief and Recovery Fund (RRF) Grant Recipient via DC (CAH).

Music practitioner leading healing arts workshops and sessions at Prosperity Eating Disorders & Wellness Center - an outpatient treatment program specializing in eating disorders.

Currently serving as the 'Community Stage Connections Artist' with the prestigious National Theatre. The program connects communities that have limited access to the arts with live arts experiences for nearly 30 years. They currently work with non-profit organizations that serve communities with limited resources and arranges theatrical and musical performances for the residents + communities of these venues. With the help of a generous donor that has been supporting this program throughout its tenure, the artists are paid an honorarium for their work.

Melanie plays bedside performances in hospitals, hospices, assisted living quarters, nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities. Edwards services include specialized songwriting to children with autism and terminal illness, as well as senior citizens suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s. She composes and co-writes music with patients as a means of coping to alleviate emotional, mental and physical stress during different stages of recovery.

Melanie is the pianist for select dates at The St. Regis Washington, D.C.

Melanie is the pianist for select dates at InterContinental the Willard Washington D.C., an IHG Hotel

https://www.arts.virginia.gov/roster_Melanie-Edwards.htmlMelanie Edwards holds a master’s degree (MFA) in music from The Savannah College of Art and Design and is certified in Mental Health First Aid USA by the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. She has 25 years experience as a performing artist and expressive healer with several partner charities and organizations, such as: National Theatre DC, Children’s National Hospital and Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. In addition, she is the resident pianist for Clyde’s Restaurant and has performed at Gypsy Sally’s, The Henley Park Hotel, Beacon Bar and Grill and Peruvian Ambassador Castilla’s Residence in Washington, DC. She is also a regular performer at Rockwood Music Hall, in New York City.

Melanie is the pianist in the Audubon Bar every Friday night and some select Saturdays at Clyde’s Willow Creek Farm.

Selected as one of nine panelists for the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities FY17 artist grants and was chosen as a panelist for The 31st Mayor’s Arts Awards; the most prestigious honors in the nation for individual artists, teachers, nonprofit organizations and patrons of the arts.

Translated over a hundred contracts from Spanish into English with little to no revisions neededLearned several systematic and technical software protocol to assist in translation sharingAble to work remotely and independently without supervision or monitoring

Secured new and existing clients for 25+ general business products and services to senior management professionals. Assisted marketing manager in various marketing coordination projects including collateral management and event/venue management.Surpassed sales goals resulting in top salesperson for each quarter for five consecutive years Used QuickFill CRM to schedule, track, and manage accounts through the sales and renewal processExperienced in B2B sales and front end development

Professor of Arts and HumanitiesTaught English Comp, Sociology, Film Studies and Performing ArtsVoted 'Best Humanities Professor" by student population