2025 Workshop Team
Melissa Cross
Presenter
Melissa Cross graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Bristol Old Vic Theater School, after which she became a rock singer-songwriter for many years. She began teaching voice in 1990 and has since become the industry go-to expert in rock singing, having developed a pedagogically sound technique for adding "noise" to vocal performance. She has taught more than 250 touring/recording artists, and her instructional DVD series, "The Zen of Screaming," has sold over 250,000 copies since 2005. Melissa has made multiple presentations at The Voice Foundation, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Pan American Vocology Association, the Berklee College of Music, New York University, Shenandoah University, the University of North Carolina and many more. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, HBO, NPR, MTV, VH1, the Discovery Channel, among others. She currently teaches seminars and private lessons both in the United States and abroad and is grateful for the many years of study of singing and voice science with Dr. Richard Lissemore.
Kelley Hijleh
Associate Workshop Director & Presenter
Kelley Hijleh holds a Bachelor of Music degree and a Graduate Performance Diploma in voice performance from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. She served on faculty of Montclair State University, where she taught private voice and vocal pedagogy. Kelley has recently relocated to Ashville, NC, where she teaches singing at Montreat College.
Stephen D'Amico, CCC-SLP
Presenter
Stephen D'Amico is a licensed and practicing speech -language pathologist living in Houston, TX. Professionally, he specializes in the evaluation and treatment of voice and upper airway disorders on a multidisciplinary team of laryngologists and SLPs at The Texas Voice Center at Houston Methodist Hospital.
Richard Lissemore, Ph.D.
Director of Singing Voice Science & Presenter
Richard Lissemore, Director and Founder of Singing Voice Science, is an internationally acclaimed singing teacher, voice scientist, and performance coach who is equally adept at techniques for classical as well as popular vocal styles such as musical theater, rock, pop, R & B, and jazz.
Jeanne Goffi-Fynn, Ed.D.
Teachers College Columbia University Liaison & Presenter
Soprano Jeanne Goffi-Fynn is active as a performer and teacher in the New York City area. She received her doctorate in education (Ed.D) from Teachers College of Columbia University, where she serves as director of the Doctoral Cohort Program in the Program of Music and Music Education. Her particular area of interest at Columbia is the applied music studio.
Ronald C. Scherer, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor & Presenter
Ron Scherer, Ph.D., Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Bowling Green State University, teaches voice disorders and voice and speech science courses. His research interests include the physiology, mechanics, and acoustics of basic, abnormal, and performance sound production, and the methodologies involved in such research.