BIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Melissa Reiner brings her unique musical sensibilities to a wide variety of professional endeavors around the world, from solo performances with Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, to recording TV and film scores in Los Angeles and London, like The Family Guy and The Theory of Everything. She also tours, records and performs with a diverse range of pop and classical artists, such as Calvin Harris, Adele, and Andrea Bocelli. As a screenwriter, one of Melissa’s TV scripts was chosen by All3Media as part of the New Writers Collective 2023 and she was a featured delegate at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

EDUCATION

Classically-trained since the age of two, Melissa began intensive studies during high school with Isador Tinkleman of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and in the summers at the Aspen Music Festival, under the tutelage of Dorothy Delay and Piotr Milewski of the Juilliard School. Melissa then received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, studying with Shirley Givens, Violaine Melancon, and Earl Carlyss (formerly of the Juilliard String Quartet). She toured and performed extensively while a student, including performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, and as the Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

After pursuing additional graduate studies at the Peabody Institute and a stint in Paris, Melissa decided to move to Los Angeles, which seemed to be the perfect city in which to explore her curiosity about her art outside the confines of the classical music world. She has been lucky enough to expand upon her fantastic training in a vast number of multi-genre professional projects (please see the Credits page for a complete listing) and continues to employ her additional skills, such as improvising and arranging.

During her time in Los Angeles, Melissa performed at the Grammy Awards and on American Idol, The Tonight Show, Mad TV, on Canada's Much Music, the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, and MTV numerous times, including the Janet Jackson Icon Awards. She was the featured violinist for several videos and recordings with David Lee Roth, and is on the albums of numerous artists, such as Mary J. Blige, k.d. lang, Kelly Clarkson, Belle & Sebastian, and three Christina Aguilera albums. 

In addition to her exciting foray into the world of popular music in Hollywood, Melissa continued to play in numerous symphony orchestras, both in the studio (commercial jingles and film/tv scores including Rocky Balboa and American Dad) and in concert halls around the world. She toured Japan three times with the Percy Faith Orchestra, and was a member of the New West Symphony, which enabled her to perform with such notables as Pinchas Zukerman and Christopher O'Riley. In addition, she was the lead violinist on the summer 2008 tour with sensational young stars, The Jonas Brothers. 

Melissa was featured in the Departures exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum in a film about a string quartet performance, and has given many recitals as a soloist and chamber musician. Her first solo album is available to purchase on iTunes and can be streamed on Spotify. Melissa’s distinctive abilities brought her to the attention of The Los Angeles Times, and she was the subject of a cover article in the Sunday Calendar section in July 2005.

After twelve fulfilling years in Los Angeles, Melissa decided to make the most of her dual US/UK citizenship and accomplish her lifelong dream of moving to London, England. Within months of arrival, she began working on numerous illustrious projects, including film, TV and video game recordings at Abbey Road and Air Lyndhurst studios, such as The Hobbit and The Hunger Games; playing in the pit orchestra for musicals such as Phantom of the Opera and Wicked in the West End; and performing with artists like Michael Bublé, Rod Stewart, and Ellie Goulding on British TV. 

Since 2012, Melissa has enjoyed more opportunities to perform internationally as a soloist and chamber musician in India, Thailand, Sweden, Finland, and throughout the Mediterranean and Caribbean. In addition, she was thrilled to go on tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to Africa, China, Moscow, and the Middle East, besides performing with them in and around London.

Melissa is a novelist, having received a Masters in Creative Writing from City University London. She is also a screenwriter and director, with her first scripted short selected for festivals around the world, from Brighton to Sydney.

In 2015 she was invited to speak at TEDxLondonBusinessSchool. Check out her talk: “How to Listen Like a Musician”.

PRESS

LOS ANGELES TIMES 

"PLAYING THE FIELD"

[ Low Res / High Res ]

Violinist.com 

"On tour with the Jonas Brothers"