Melissa Brun

Melissa Brun standing in a wooded clearing and holding her cello
Faculty

Music Education (MM)

Melissa Brun (Salerno) is a freelance cellist, singer, educator, mom, Hufflepuff, cat-lover and wearer of many musical hats. She is a string clinician and supervisor for D’Addario Orchestral’s Educational Outreach program; manages the Chester County Youth Orchestra; hosts her own private teaching studio; and is a founding member of chamber-folk sextet, The Sound Accord, among many other things. 

Biography

Melissa Brun is a professional cellist and freelance teaching artist who holds a Bachelor of Music degree and a performers certificate from SUNY Purchase College Conservatory, New York. She has recently been on faculty at Millersville University, Pennsylvania and Waldron Mercy Academy, Merion Station, Pennsylvania, and currently hosts her own private studio. 

Brun has performed and soloed with various orchestras and choral associations in the Philadelphia suburbs and manages the Chester County Youth Orchestra. Non-classically, she is a founding member of the chamber-folk sextet The Sound Accord and is a current member of Irish trio Maggie’s Boots. As a co-creator of the children’s music duo Big Idea Committee, Brun  blends musical theater vocals and live cello instrumentals to create an interactive and theatrical experience for kids ages 3–8 with everyone’s favorite musical friend, Karl the Cello.

Also an avid pit musician and member of Local 77, she has performed at various professional theaters in the Philadelphia region, including American Music Theater, Fulton Opera House and Walnut Street Theatre, and has played with several Broadway touring companies, like Cinderella, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Matilda, and has soloed with Broadway stars Kristin Chenoweth and Jonathan Groff.

Brun has been a string clinician with D’Addario Orchestral since 2018 and has recently taken on the role of supervisor of the Educational Outreach program. She travels throughout the Philadelphia region delivering Strings 101, a workshop dedicated to giving students and educators a toolkit to make educated choices in the strings and gear they use.

Brun lives in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Chris; daughter, Hazel; Karl the Cello; and cat, Mac.

Experience

Brun’s previous teaching engagements include 

  • Conferences: American String Teachers Association, National Conference Continuing the Conversation and Harvard University’s Arts Ed Conference

  • Music schools: Waldron Mercy Academy, Merion Station, Pennsylvania; Darlington Fine Arts, Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania; The Music Workshop, Berwyn, Pennsylvania; The Music Centre, Exton, Pennsylvania

  • Colleges/universities: Millersville University, Pennsylvania (adjunct faculty); West Chester University, Pennsylvania; Kutztown University, Pennsylvania; and University of Delaware, Delaware; Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey

  • Music camps: Mike Block String Camp, Vero Beach, Florida; Kenosee Lake Kitchen Party, Saskatchewan, Canada; Flapping Fiddle School, Pennsylvania

Her administrative positions have included

  • D’Addario Educational Outreach supervisor,

  • D’Addario Strings 101 clinician and

  • Chester County Youth Orchestra operations manager.

Visit Melissa Brun’s website. 

Check out Brun’s Facebook profile. 

Follow her on Instagram: @CelloGal

Awards & Accolades

Brun has won

  • an Honorable mention, The International Songwriting Competition with The Big Idea Committee (Kindness Rocks, 2023); 

  • The John Lennon Songwriting Contest with The Big Idea Committee (Spring!, 2022);

  • the Theodore Presser Award, SUNY Purchase College (2009); and 

  • the Bach-Handel Competition, Shenandoah University (2007).