AtmosTrio

Flutist Melanie Chirignan worked for three years in a duo with improvisational pianist Melanie Hardage, and for four years in a duo with cellist Laura Melnicoff. All three came together to form AtmosTrio.

Atmos — ?τμ?ς (atmós), Greek, meaning vapor.

This program will feature some eclectic repertoire: the Prelude by J. S. Bach; Handel-Halvorsen's Passacaglia; an Indo-western piece called Torrent (created by Melanie Hardage and Indian classical guitarist Susmit Sen, adapted by Laura and Melanie); the Jewish traditional piece Rochamano; a newly commissioned piece with fixed electronics by Josh Hummel called Where the Petals Fall; a couple of meditative pieces with tongue drum; Flow by Pamela Sklar for flute and cello; and a rendition of Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan.

Program:
- Bach Prelude in G minor (1st half flute, second half cello) — J. S. Bach
- Stella — Melanie Hardage and Melanie Chirignan
- Snowmelt — for tongue drum, flute, cello, piano by Atmospirit Trio
- Sunbeams — for tongue drum, flute, cello, piano by Atmospirit Trio
- Flow — Pamela Sklar
- Rochamano — Jewish Traditional
- Passacaglia — Handel-Halvorsen
- Where the Petals Fall — Josh Hummel
- Torrent — Susmit Sen, adapted by Trio
- Pink Pony Club — Chappell Roan

Melanie Hardage is an American, western classically trained pianist. She writes and performs original music described as 'moody and flowing' and 'Rachmaninoff meets Tori Amos in an art museum.' Her training in Western classical music informs her original compositions, which include free-form improvisations and expressive interpretations. Melanie moved to India in 2016 and began collaborating with Indian musicians, notably guitarist Susmit Sen. She has been featured in Rock Street Journal as a female artist who 'smashed gender barriers,' and has represented Amnesty International and Yamaha Music during her time in India. She has been a private piano and voice instructor with studios in New York, Rhode Island, Mississippi, and India, and has conducted student choirs in both the U.S. and India. Her stated goal is to create music that makes you feel.

Flutist Melanie Chirignan is a chamber musician at her core and enjoys collaborating with other musicians and media. She supports performances in non-traditional spaces to build community, speak about music, tell stories, and make music accessible. She believes strongly in innovation, commissioning, and premiering new music, and has received grants from the Schenectady Community Arts Council, the Saratoga Community Arts Council, and the New York Women Composers Seed Money Grant.

Melanie has worked with many composers and projects, including premieres and collaborations with Alex Ford, Ralph Raymond Hays, Sean Pallatroni, Kary Contreras Galindo, Joshua Hummel, Masatora Goya (world premiere recordings on Dream Of Sailing), Nolan Stolz (Princess Ka'iulani, released on SCI/Parma Recordings), and the Latin Heartbeat Orchestra. She recorded an EP, Radiations, of partially improvised compositions with pianist Melinda Faylor (available on Bandcamp), and is recording an album of flute and guitar music by women composers with guitarist Scott Hill. As a member of the wind quintet Quintocracy she premiered music for silent films Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and presented a program of music by women composers at SUNY PAC. She collaborated with Stringwynde (cellist Laura Melnicoff) in Duo Envol and with improvisational pianist Melanie Hardage as Atmospirit Duo.

Melanie has performed with orchestras including the New York Chamber Players Orchestra, Albany Pro Musica, Octavo Chamber Orchestra, Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, Garden State Philharmonic, the Chelsea Symphony, Gateway Classical Music Society, S.E.M. Ensemble, and Hartt Independent Chamber Orchestra. As a soloist she has been featured with the Chelsea Symphony performing Poem by Charles Griffes.

She has performed at venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, the DiMenna Center, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Tenri Cultural Center, the Connecticut Guitar Society, the New Britain Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, and the Wadsworth Museum of Art.

Melanie is a teaching artist. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in music performance and music education, graduating magna cum laude from SUNY Fredonia, and a Master of Music in flute performance from the Hartt School. She has taught general music, chorus, and orchestra from elementary through conservatory/college levels, offered workshops (including on the Origins of South American Folk Music with Alturas Duo), and was an adjunct faculty member at the College of Saint Rose. She maintains a private teaching studio, was an artist in residence at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall with Quintocracy, and offers workshops for schools through BOCES. She co-taught improvisation workshops with pianist Melanie Hardage at Big Picture Learning Schools thanks to a Schenectady Arts and Education grant.

Laura Melnicoff, a Manhattan native, began cello at age 6. She was part of the pilot class at Special Music School and attended LaGuardia Arts High School. She holds a Bachelor of Music from The Mannes School of Music, where she studied with Timothy Eddy, and completed a Master’s degree in Israel studying with Hillel Zori. She was a member of Tel Aviv University’s resident string quartet and interned as a cellist in the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival, Keshet Eilon, Kyiv Summer Music Evenings, the Madrid Cello Forum, Your Body Is Your Strad, SababaFest, Junity, KlezKanada, and Yiddish New York. She has taken masterclasses with Richard Aaron, Anthony Elliott, Yehuda Hanani, Gary Hoffman, Israel Edelson, David Geringas, and Barbara Stein Mallow, and has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall. She has held frequent contracts with the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene and appears on recording projects including the cast album of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish.