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Assoc Prof Melissa Forbes

Name Melissa Forbes
Position Associate Professor (Contemporary Singing-Music)
Section School of Creative Arts
Office Y225
Location Toowoomba Campus
Phone +61 7 4631 1153
Extension 1153
Email
Qualifications BA Qld , BA(Hons) Qld , LLB(Hons) Qld , BMusic Griffith , PhD QldConservatorium
Homepage http://www.melissaforbes.com
The views expressed on staff homepages may not reflect the views of the University.

Biography

Melissa is currently on secondment to the Academic Quality Unit, having worked in the music discipline within the School of Creative Arts at USQ for over ten years. As a music educator and through her PhD research, Melissa helped establish collaborative learning in music at USQ which values the learning and teaching contributions of both teachers and peers. She supervises PhD, DCA and Honours students on a broad range of topics related to singing and music pedagogy and practice. As a singing voice pedagogue, Melissa has been the recipient of fellowships and awards, including the Churchill Fellowship. This Fellowship enabled Melissa to travel to the USA in 2011 where she studied with leading contemporary singing pedagogues Jeanie LoVetri and Robert Edwin. Melissa has introduced many local and national singing teachers to the work of Jeanie LoVetri through hosting the LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework ™ at USQ in 2017 and 2019. In 2012, she was also privileged to study with eminent voice scientist Professor Johan Sundberg at a short course held at his summer house in rural Sweden. Melissa’s research explores how people experience singing, with a focus on singing and wellbeing. She has published research in international scholarly journals on elite jazz vocalists, community singers and singing group facilitators. She is proud to have been involved in the formation of Toowoomba’s first singing group for Parkinson’s disease, “Park ‘n Songs”, which is facilitated by graduates of the USQ music program. As a singer, Melissa began her career as a lead singer in numerous hard-working bands, gaining extensive experience within the corporate entertainment industry. Past performance highlights include appearances at the Queensland Music Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival, Brisbane International Jazz Festival, Women In Voice 21 and 23, featured vocalist with David Hobson and singing backing vocals for Michael Buble with a cappella super group Naturally 7. Melissa has performed nationally and internationally in Japan, Singapore and the USA. She has recorded two albums—No More Mondays, and The Intimacy of Distance (a collaboration with Brazilian singer and guitarist Bianca Obino). Her Spotify royalties from these releases fuel her much-cherished coffee habit! In a former life, she was a corporate lawyer of little renown.

Research Career


  • Curriculum and Pedagogy not elsewhere classified ( 130299 )
  • Performing Arts and Creative Writing not elsewhere classified ( 190499 )
  • Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified ( 179999 )
  • Music not elsewhere classified ( 360399 )
  • Other Psychology not elsewhere classified ( 529999 )
  • Other Psychology ( 529900 )
  • Music ( 360300 )
  • Music Cognition ( 360301 )
  • Music Performance ( 360304 )
  • Music Education ( 360303 )
  • Music Composition And Improvisation ( 360302 )

singing, health and wellbeing
jazz singing and improvisation
contemporary commercial music singing voice pedagogy
collaborative learning
higher music education


Australian National Association for Teachers of Singing (ANATS)
Australian Music and Psychology Society (AMPS - Early Career Researcher Development Chair
International Society for Music Education (ISME)
Society for Education and Music Psychology Research (SEMPRE)
European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM)
Somatic Voicework ™ The LoVetri Method Teachers’ Association
Churchill Fellows Association of Queensland Inc


  • Institute for Resilient Regions (IRR)
  • Centre for Heritage and Culture (CHC)

Teaching


Melissa is currently seconded to the Academic Quality Unit and not teaching any undergraduate courses.


10 Years

Supervision


  • Curriculum and Pedagogy not elsewhere classified ( 130299 )
  • Performing Arts and Creative Writing not elsewhere classified ( 190499 )
  • Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified ( 179999 )
  • Music not elsewhere classified ( 360399 )
  • Other Psychology not elsewhere classified ( 529999 )
  • Other Psychology ( 529900 )
  • Music ( 360300 )
  • Music Cognition ( 360301 )
  • Music Performance ( 360304 )
  • Music Education ( 360303 )
  • Music Composition And Improvisation ( 360302 )