Bios
Melanie Alpert, voice
A graduate of Cal Poly Pomona, Melanie Alpert has won acclaim and awards for her singing throughout Southern California. She has been a frequent soloist with area concert bands, choirs and symphony orchestras as well as performing in operatic leading roles and recitals. Some of her favorite roles are Violetta in La Traviata, Rosalinda and Adele in Der Fledermaus, Norina in Don Pasquale, Laetitia in The Old Maid in the Thief, Carmen Ghia in The Stoned Guest and Isabellle/Madeline in the west coast premier of Henry Malicone’s opera, The Face on the Bar Room Floor. She has been the featured soprano soloist in such works as the Bruckner Te Deum, the Pergolesi and Bach Magnificats, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Regina Coeli and Solemn Vespers, Debussy’s The Blessed Damoiselle, the Poulenc Gloria, the Brahm’s Requiem, and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Ninth Symphony. Among her awards, Melanie has received the first place prize in the Metropolitan Opera District Auditions.
Though Melanie still enjoys performing, (she most recently won rave reviews for her portrayal of Lady Thiang In Performance Riverside’s The King and I), she now dedicates most of her time to teaching. She founded and conducted the popular Kids Chorale and vocal performance classes for the City of Rancho Cucamonga Community Services. Melanie now brings music to over 2000 students a year in the Alta Loma School District where she conceived and implemented the choral music program. More recently she had donned a new hat as music director and in the last few years has directed several musicals, including Cinderella at the Candlelight Pavillion, The Wizard of Oz through the city of Rancho Cucamonga and most recently the sold out production of Beauty and the Beast at the summer theater conservatory at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga. She is currently the music director for the performing troupe Broadway Experience, who were recently selected to perform at the Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World.
Melanie continues to enjoy a busy private vocal studio. Her students have been winners or finalists in several prestigious local and regional vocal competitions, including the Los Angeles County Music Center Spotlight Awards, Southern California Vocal Association, Professional Opera Singers Association, Intimate Opera, John Child Walker, San Bernardino County Solofest, and the Chaffey Joint Union High School District Solofest. She is a proud member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Southern California Vocal Association, Professional Opera Singers Association, San Bernardino County Music Educators Association and the Pomona Valley Musicians Club and is a multiple recipient of the PTA’s Honorary Service Award.
Bill Alpert , violin
Bill Alpert, violinist, and teacher, is a lifelong musician from a musical family. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from Cal Poly University and UCLA. He is professionally active in the American String Teachers Association and the Suzuki Association of America, and is credited with five units of violin pedagogy training from the Colorado Suzuki Institute and the California Suzuki Institute at Occidental College.
Mr. Alpert performs extensively across southern California as a symphony and recording musician. He has performed as violinist in the American Suite vocal/instrumental performance troupe and also creates musical arrangements for vocal and instrumental ensembles. He performs a wide variety of music including classical, jazz/blues and traditional fiddle styles.
He has received violin training from Stanley Plummer, Eugene Gratovich, Donald Ambroson, Claire Hodgkins, and Lyndon Taylor. Pedagogical colleagues include Nancy Lokken, Liz Arbus, Nancy Jackson and Stevie Sandven.
Teaching has always been integral to his career from specialized seminars to public school and community college classroom instruction. He maintains a private teaching studio and is a founding faculty member of the Foothill Suzuki Strings. Mr. Alpert especially enjoys working with young students and emphasizes enjoyment as part of the learning process. His approach for students young and old is to provide all the tools that, over time, will enable the student to establish a personal artistic vision.
