Melissa Weikart

Melissa Weikart is a French/American vocalist, keyboardist and composer currently based in Strasbourg, FR. Her musical approach is shaped by her passion for experimental vocal harmony and formative training as a classical pianist. Melissa’s solo songwriting project has been described as a playfully intimate dialogue between voice and piano, inviting listeners into a rich, raw world of twisted melodies and exposed dissonance. Following her debut EP Coffee, Melissa released her debut full length album Here, There, on Northern Spy Records in (New York) in May 2022. She is the recipient of the 2022 Nancy Jazz Pulsations Emerging Artist prize and the 2023 Concours National de Jazz à la Défense Instrumentalist prize.

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Melissa enjoys collaborating with artists across many disciplines. Upon her arrival in Strasbourg, she formed Beatrice Melissa, a duo making left-field electronic pop, who released their first EP Surprise in March 2023 on Midnight Special Records (Paris). She has shared the stage with Carla Kihlstedt, performing in her large ensemble projects Necessary Monsters (2021) and Black Inscription (2019), and was composer in residence for Kickbal, the San Francisco contemporary dance company. As a DJ, Melissa hosts her monthly radio show "Effet Désirable" on Z·est Radio and has mixed on The Lot Radio (New York) and Tsugi Radio (Paris).

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While pursuing her Master’s in Contemporary Improvisation at New England Conservatory in Boston (M.M. ’18), Melissa studied with Carla Kihlstedt, Anthony Coleman, Dominique Eade, Ran Blake, and Hankus Netsky, and co-founded the collective Students Advocating for Gender Equity.