Melissa was a scholar at the Royal College of Music, where she completed the two-year Master of Music in Performance course in one year. This was achieved with the support of an Audrey Piggott Award and the St Marylebone Educational Foundation. She studied with Amanda Truelove (cello), as well as Richard Tunnicliffe and Catherine Rimer (baroque cello).
Her Bachelor of Music in Performance (Honours) at the same institution was supported by a full scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Singapore. Prior to her studies at the RCM, she was enrolled in the Young Artist Programme at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Qin Li-Wei and Ng Pei Sian, with a full National Arts Council – University of Music scholarship.
Melissa has had the rare honour of performing for H.R.H. Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. Performances have taken her to all major performing venues in London and Singapore, including Florence, Milan, Aberdeen, Guildford, Salzburg, and New York’s Carnegie Hall. Melissa was a baroque soloist in performances as part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival. She performed the UK premiere of Henze’s Kleine Elegien as part of RCM’s CONSORT 21, which explores contemporary works for period instruments. She was awarded a full scholarship from the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg for participation in the Internationale Sommerakademie. Past recitals have been supported by the National Youth Council, with all proceeds donated to Very Special Arts.
She was also the only cellist selected for the prestigious English National Opera Evolve Scheme in 2015, where she participated in productions of The Mastersingers of Nuremberg and The Queen of Spades. She also performed alongside the Chamber Orchestra of Europe as part of the Singapore International Festival of Music in 2016. As principal cellist, she has led all major RCM orchestras, the London Graduate Orchestra, University of London Symphony Orchestra, The Philharmonic Orchestra Singapore, and Orchestra of the Music Makers (Singapore). She is privileged to have worked with inspiring figures such as Sir Bernard Haitink, Edward Gardner, and Vladimir Jurowski.
Melissa is also a firm advocate of chamber music. Notably, her string trio has twice performed at Cadogan Hall as part of the Zurich International Orchestral series, and was awarded a scholarship to participate in the Chilingirian Quartet Summer Course. As an educator, she has led in-school outreach workshops for RCMSparks, and Family Chorus and Orchestra workshops for the BBC Proms. She currently tutors the cello sections of the National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra (NUSSO) and Hwa Chong Institution (JC) String Ensemble.