My name is Melanie Taylor.  I am a wife, mother, opera singer, choir director, music teacher and passionate educator.  I began my education journey in Langley, B.C., where I spent the first 15 years of my life.  I did not enjoy elementary school very well, until Grade 5.  It was this year that I had a very empathetic and engaging teacher as well as a phenomenal music teacher who opened my eyes to all sorts of fun, like Orff, handbells and school choir.  I would not feel excited about school again until Grade 10, when I moved to Calgary, Alberta and enrolled at William Aberhart High School.  I walked into the the counselors office and she said “What would you like to take as your electives?  We have art, drama, computers, choir…”  I could not believe my ears.  Taking choir as a class had never been an option for me before.  At my old school, it was purely an extra-curricular, and if you wanted to be involved, you had to show up at 7am before classes started.  As soon as I had finished enrolling in the classes, the counsellor called down to the choir class which was happening at that very moment and had someone from the class come show me where I was going.  That day was the beginning of my journey as a professional musician.

I later went on to get a Bachelor of Music from the University of Lethbridge and a Master of Music from the University of Manitoba.  I had the privilege of studying with some of the best vocal technicians in the country.  I have sung and studied opera all over the world.

After completing my masters, I decided to settle down in Prince George with my husband.  Since 2012, I have started my own voice studio, Northern Vocal Arts Academy and am also the artistic director for the North Capital Chorus.  I also brought my love of opera to Prince George and started an opera company called Fraser Lyric Opera.  Since 2015, we have been staging full operas and hosting opera workshops where we bring in world class singers to teach and perform opera.  Most recently, I embarked on a degree in education.  This journey began as a way to ensure I had job security in the future but has turned into so much more.  My eyes have been opened to what education in the public system can look like and how I can make a difference.  I am excited about inquiry based learning and I am hoping to be able to apply this style of learning to my practicums as well as my future practice.  It is an exciting time to be a teacher in British Columbia and I am so glad I am learning and developing my philosophies at this time.