Teaching
I have a great passion for helping dedicated, talented and competitive singers of all ages discover the full potential of their voices through classical vocal technique! My dramatic training, multiple language diction coaching abilities and technical vocal approach has been gained through over 20 years of experience both performing and since the attainment of my Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance at the world leader of performing arts education, The Juilliard School. My career as a lead soprano in the United States, Germany and operas and concerts abroad allows me the confidence to establish and maintain singers vocal health, beauty and excitement factors for audiences. I prepare singers for all styles of music (operatic, Broadway, jazz, country, gospel, personal song-writing) and work on commercial style preparations as well as full role studies. If you're interested in consulting with me regarding working together in the Nashville, Tennessee area (in-person or virtually), please contact me for details and rates at mkshippen@aol.com.
I'm so excited for all the successes and upcoming engagements of everyone in the studio, especially as we celebrate studio singers:
- European and U.S. contracts and solo tour offerings for summer festivals
- professional recording contract offerings
- casting in lead and supporting roles in Broadway and operatic productions
- full scholarship awards at competitive music colleges, including admissions into Doctoral programs for vocal studies
- national and local vocal competition wins and awards
- attaining Vocal Faculty positions at university
-"Soprano Melissa Shippen and tenor Matthew Garrett are the appealing and lyrical romantic leads, Marenka, the bride, and Jenik, the ostensible barterer. Shippen’s heroine is aptly feisty when crossed, but delighted to pull the wool over the eyes of silly Vasek (Jeremy Little). She has a strong enough instrument to carry off this spinto part, complete with dramatic, disillusioned aria, “How dark the day” (“Ten lásky sen”). The three soprano-tenor collaborations, Shippen’s early love duet and later angry, fiercely Slavic exchange with Garrett’s Jenik and the comic encounter with his half-brother and putative rival, Little’s Vasek, are among the performance’s highlights." ~ Theaterscene.net 2005, Bruce Michael-Gelbert