DOUGLAS, Melissa

Melissa Douglas is an Australian composer based in Melbourne. Her compositions have been performed in Australia, the UK, US and Europe. She was the 2023 Cybec Young Composer in Residence with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Melissa has been commissioned by a variety of musicians, chamber ensembles and festivals. She has written for the BBC Singers, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the London Women of the World Festival, PLEXUS, Eliza Shephard, pianists Clare Hammond and Grace Francis, the Magnard Ensemble and Polaris Duo.

Melissa’s music is evocative, dramatic and versatile. Her piano piece, Solo Gratia, performed by Grace Francis, was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2015 and digitally released on Launch Music International and iTunes.

Her composition for alto saxophone and harp, Spheres, was commissioned by the Polaris Duo and features on their debut album 'illuminate', released in April 2018. The work received its Croatian premiere at the 2018 World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb.

​Melissa studied Piano and Composition at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. She continued postgraduate studies in Composition at the Royal Northern College of Music (2014-16) in the United Kingdom, graduating with an MMus in Composition with Distinction in 2016.

Melissa was the recipient of the RNCM Patricia Cunliffe Composition Prize in 2015. She is a Represented Artist with the Australian Music Centre.