Helen Marketti’s
Music Corner
Melissa Manchester
Sandusky State Theatre will welcome Grammy Award winning artist, Melissa Manchester on Friday, May 2, 2014.
Melissa Manchester has a career
spanning over forty years with many
hit songs. Her beautiful and powerful
voice can be heard and felt on, Don’t
Cry Out Loud, Fire In The Morning,
Midnight Blue, You Should Hear
How She Talks About You, Looking
Through the Eyes of Love (theme
from Ice Castles) and many more.
Melissa knew in her heart that
she wanted to sing by the tender
age of five when she discovered
Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland.
“Ella and Judy were the musical
Godmothers for me,” said Melissa.
“They formed my soul in terms of
Judy’s deep well of emotion and
Ella’s beautiful and honest command
of the lyrics. As for the male artists,
I always loved Frank Sinatra, Tony
Bennett and Nat King Cole.”
Melissa’s work over the past several years has included composing,
acting, singing and songwriting. “I
came from a family with a musical
background. My father was a bassoonist for the Metropolitan Opera
and my mother was one of the first
women to own a clothing design
and manufacturing firm on Seventh
Avenue. I grew up during the wonderful Golden Age of Hollywood where
there were actors like Cary Grant.
They all seemed to be groomed a
little more magnificent than us mere
mortals.” (Laughs)
“I am filled with joy and gratitude
for what I do,” said Melissa. “I also
spend time teaching as well. I teach
one day per week at the Thornton
School of Music, which is at the
University of Southern California.
I am an adjunct professor so that
keeps my schedule open to continue
with my other projects. I work with
students who are singers and songwriters and teach them whatever they
want to learn whether it’s discussing
a composition or a vocal performance. I find that everything I do
fulfills the creative urge to commu-
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Lifestyles 2000
nicate ideas. Inspiration for my work
comes from life experiences, eavesdropp