Ask friends, fans and family and they will tell you there are some everlasting truths about Melissa. She’s serious. She’s committed. There is a fierce determination behind the quiet façade. Those qualities are increasingly apparent with the release of her new album, Far Beyond the Pacific.

As a musician—a singer-songwriter and pianist—she shares her thoughts, feelings and views of the world through her songs in a very subtle but resolute manner. While a continuation of the themes of her first album—a search for self with a renewed sense of hope and a clearer direction of the path she is taking—it’s clear from the outset that Far Beyond the Pacific is the work of a more mature and confident musician.

As in her first album, No Perfect Time, it’s the exquisite voice that attracts first and then the lyrics begin to take hold.

She explains that while Far Beyond the Pacific continues the search started in the first album for the dream of a life of possibilities, love, stability and promise, it is an optimistic journey. “It’s about learning to be true and honest and excited for life's true calling.  Although it is an uncertain road, it is a passionate one,” she says.

A classically trained pianist and vocalist, she draws on a range of musical genres so that her sound can’t be placed under the heading of jazz or rhythm & blues or pop-rock or even urban folk. She’s none of these and all of these, an infusion of sound and emotion that flows freely. The powerful combination of expressive lyrics and a beautifully lyrical voice that can span three octaves charms and captivates her listeners.

Born and raised in White Plains, N.Y., Melissa began piano lessons at age four. She discovered her love for singing when she hummed melodies of the classical works she was learning for the piano as a child. Her passion grew as she explored everything from musical theatre and pop to opera and jazz. She released her first album during her senior year at George Washington University, where she majored in classical voice and attended as a Presidential Arts Scholar in voice. She has lived in New York since 2002 where she performs both solo and with a band at area clubs.

Prior to her solo career, she performed with a group at the White House, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, at the Vice President's Mansion and at a series of concerts across Spain. She has also been heard by listeners of WPKN-FM, Bridgeport, CT; WVOX-AM, New Rochelle, NY; and on a Voice of America broadcast to all Chinese-speaking countries.