MELISSA ONG

Melissa has had the rare honour of performing for then H.R.H. Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace, as well as for former Presidents Dr. Tony Tan and S R Nathan, Singapore Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong and Lee Hsien Loong, and Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith at the Istana. Performances have taken her to all major performing venues in London and Singapore, including Florence, Milan, Aberdeen, Guildford, Salzburg, and New York's Carnegie Hall.

​

As soloist and baroque soloist, Melissa has performed as part of the London Philharmonia Orchestra’s Stravinsky: Myth & Rituals series, and with the RCM Baroque Orchestra and Choir, the Asian Cultural Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Collective, and Singapore National Youth Orchestra.

​

Melissa has performed in masterclasses by Johannes Goritzki, Nicholas Jones and Julius Berger, among others. In 2012 she was awarded a full scholarship from the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg for participation in the Internationale Sommerakedemie. Past recitals in Singapore have been supported with a Young ChangeMakers grant from the National Youth Council, with all proceeds donated to Very Special Arts Singapore.

Melissa was the only cellist selected for the prestigious English National Opera Evolve Scheme in 2015, where she participated in ENO productions of The Mastersingers of Nuremberg and The Queen of Spades. As principal cellist, she has led all major RCM orchestras, the London Graduate Orchestra, University of London Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Lyric Opera, The Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Music Makers. She has also performed as co-principal cellist with Re:Sound Collective, and as a freelance cellist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO). Melissa is privileged to have worked with inspiring figures such as Sir Bernard Haitink, Edward Gardner, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jac Van Steen, Andrea Bocelli, and Vladimir Jurowski.

​

Equally comfortable in popular genres, Melissa also regularly performs in pop bands and ensembles, such as for the 2023 production of the musical &Juliet, the Faith and Freedom George Michael tribute concert, Prom Praise at the Royal Albert Hall alongside Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin from Hillsong, as well as yearly instalments of MOE's Friends in Concert where she has sung and performed on cello, electric guitar, and electric bass since 2018.

​

A firm advocate for chamber music, Melissa has also performed with various groups on both modern and period instruments. Notably, her string trio (the Tercina Trio) has twice performed at Cadogan Hall, and was awarded a scholarship to participate and perform at the Chilingirian Quartet Summer Course in 2014. Melissa also performed the UK premiere of Henze’s Kleine Elegien für alte Instrumente as part of RCM’s CONSORT 21, which explores contemporary works for period instruments. In 2016, she performed with the founders of Red Dot Baroque as part of SSO’s VCH presents series.