Melissa was appointed in December 2023 as Director of Music at Trinity Wall Street. She is the first female appointed to this role in Trinity’s long history. Previously, she served as Director of Music Education and Outreach, a program she built upon since 2011, serving over 750 school age children in the public schools each season, as well training many young singers in the Trinity church community as conductor of the Trinity Youth Chorus. During her next chapter at Trinity she will continue her work in music education, creating educational offerings with Trinity’s collaborative partners and raising up the next generation of young musicians. She is an advocate of lesser known composers and giving voice to their works, and will revitalize a culture of congregational singing within the Trinity community. Melissa will serve as principal conductor of The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, NOVUS NY, and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra.
Melissa originally trained as pianist and classical singer, adding conducting later in her career. Praised by the New York Times as a “rich-toned alto who brought a measure of depth to her performance”, Melissa Attebury appears regularly as soloist in concert and oratorio across the country. She is in particular demand for her skill in music of the Baroque and is a regular soloist in Messiah, the Bach passions, and other choral masterworks. Ms. Attebury is a featured soloist on the Grammy-nominated Israel in Egypt with the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Ralf Yusuf Gawlick’s Missa Gentis Humanae for 8 voices, and the choral works of Trevor Weston. A skilled ensemble musician, she is heard on two Pulitzer Prize-winning works; Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields and Ellen Reid’s Prism, as well as Trinity’s Bach Motets. She has conducted performances at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, the Herbst Theater in San Francisco, with Bang on a Can and the Long Play Festival, and regularly for many events and services at Trinity Wall Street.
