Melanie Starkman:  

After high school I attended Brevard Junior College and graduated University of Florida in 1976 with a Bachelor's Degree in Music (Composition and Conducting.) I enlisted in the USMC, made the highest score ever by a Woman Marine at Air Traffic Control School. In 1979 I was selected for Officer Candidate School. I spent six years in the USMC and was medically retired after a training accident blew out both knees and both shoulders. I returned to Titusville and worked at Kennedy Space Center until the Challenger accident. I went to graduate school in Nashville, Tennessee, and received a Master of Music degree in Conducting. I studied with Robert Shaw and Helmuth Rilling, conducting at the Oregon Bach Festival. My conducting career has included the St. Louis Symphony and Chorus; the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus; several Boston, Los Angeles, Nashville, St. Louis, and Denver choirs. I conducted the Bra...Expand for more