Flutist Melanie Chirignan worked for three years in a duo with improvisational pianist Melanie Hardage, as well as for 4 years in a duo with cellist Laura Melnicoff. All three came together to form AtmosTrio. 

Atmos—?τμ?ς (atmós) Greek, meaning vapor. 

This program will feature some eclectic repertoire: the beloved Prelude by J.S. Bach, Handel-Halvorsen's "Pasagaglia," Indo-western music created by Melanie Hardage and Indian classical guitarist Susmit Sen and adapted by Laura and Melanie called "Torrent," the Jewish traditional piece "Rochamano," a newly commissioned piece with fixed electronics by Josh Hummel called "Where the Petals Fall," a couple meditative pieces with the Tongue Drum, a piece with a great groove called "Flow" from NY women composer's roster Pamela Sklar for flute and cello, and ending with a well-loved rendition of Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan.  

Program:

Bach Prelude in G minor 1st half flute, second half cello J.S. Bach

Stella Melanie Hardage and Melanie Chirignan

Snowmelt-for Tongue drum, flute, cello, piano by Atmospirit Trio

Sunbeams-for Tongue drum, flute, cello, piano by Atmospirit Trio

Flow Pamela Sklar

Rochamano-Jewish Traditional

Passacaglia Handel-Halvorsen

Where the Petals Fall - Josh Hummel

Torrent -Susmit Sen, adapted by Trio

Pink Pony Club -Chapelle Roan

Melanie Hardage is an American western classically trained pianist.  She writes and performs original music which has been described as “moody and flowing,” and “Rachmaninoff meets Tori Amos in an art museum.” Her training in Western classical music informs her original compositions which include free-form improvisations, expressive interpretations, and playing with “aplomb and in a virtuosic manner.”  Melanie moved to India in 2016 and began collaborating with Indian musicians, namely renowned Indian guitarist, Susmit Sen, which opened a new door for creativity and expression.  Featured in Rock Street Journal as a female artist who “smashed gender barriers,”  Melanie has represented Amnesty International and Yamaha Music during her time in India.  She has been a private piano and voice instructor with studios in New York, Rhode Island, Mississippi and India; and conducted student choirs in both the US and India.  Her passion is music and her goal is to create music that makes you feel.

Flute player Melanie Chirignan is a chamber musician at her core. She loves to collaborate with other musicians and media to be expressive. She believes in Groupmuse house concerts and performing in non-traditional spaces to build community, speak about music, tell stories, and make music accessible to all. 

Melanie believes strongly in innovation, commissioning and premiering new music, and is very grateful to have won grants from the Schenectady Community Arts Council, the Saratoga Community Arts Council, and the New York Women Composer's Seed Money Grant to bring these projects to life. She has worked with a multitude of composers on projects that speak to her including: Alex Ford's "Berus in the Woods" in collaboration with Electric City Puppets; Ralph Raymond Hays’ musicalization of the story "Keller's Heart" by John Gray; she has premiered music by Sean Pallatroni, Kary Contreras Galindo, Joshua Hummel, and made world premiere recordings of music for Masatora Goya's album, Dream Of Sailing, available on ITunes and Amazon; Nolan Stolz's Princess Ka'iulani, released on SCI/ Parma Recordings and "Latinos Ni de Aqui Ni de Alla'' on the Latin Heartbeat Orchestra album, El Regreso. She recently recorded "Radiations" an EP of partially improvised compositions with pianist Melinda Faylor, available on Band Camp. Currently, she is recording an album of flute and guitar music by women composers with guitarist Scott Hill. As a member of the wind quintet Quintocracy, she premiered music for: the silent film Nosferatu by Sina Kiai, the silent film the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Brett Wery, the micro-opera the Pedesterra Cycle by Brett Wery, Daniel Carr’s “Bright, Flashing Stars,” and presented a program of music by women composers at SUNY PAC. Melanie has collaborated extensively with Stringwynde, cellist Laura Melnicoff in their Duo Envol, improvisational pianist Melanie Hardage as Atmospirit Duo, jazz bass legend Nat Reeves, Philadelphia Fife and Drum Corps, guitarist Oren Fader, pianist Max Caplan, and Alturas Duo. She recorded Philip Spaeth’s Cumulus Reverie and added animation by Tiny Planet LLC to create a video of a child looking up at the clouds and imagining different shapes. This is the basis of a workshop discussing how music and visuals makes us visualize different images, culminating in participants painting what they imagined when they listen to Cumulus Reverie. Thanks to the Looking Glass Arts Neighborhood Residency, which allowed Duo Envol to record “Snowmelt,” available on BandCamp. 

Melanie loves to work as an orchestral player as well. She has performed with: the New York Chamber Players Orchestra, Albany Pro Musica, Octavo Chamber Orchestra, Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, Garden State Philharmonic, the Chelsea Symphony, Gateway Classical Music Society, S.E.M. Ensemble, and Hartt Independent Chamber Orchestra. As a soloist, Melanie has been featured with the Chelsea Symphony, performing "Poem" by Charles Griffes. 

She has performed in a variety of inspiring venues including; Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, Opera America, the DiMenna Center, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Tenri Cultural Center, for Composer's Voice Concert Series, the Connecticut Guitar Society, the Windsor Historical Society, the New Britain Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, and the Wadsworth Museum of Art.  

Melanie Chirignan is a teaching artist at heart. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in music performance and music education, graduating magna cum laude from SUNY Fredonia and a Master of Music in flute performance from the Hartt School. She has taught general music, chorus and orchestra to students ranging from elementary school to conservatory and college. She has taught workshops on the "Origins of South American Folk Music'' with the Alturas Duo.  She was an adjunct faculty member at the College of Saint Rose and maintains a busy private teaching studio in addition to her busy performance schedule. As a member of Quintocracy she was an artist in residence at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and offers workshops for schools through BOCES.  She has co-taught with pianist Melanie Hardage Improvisation workshops at Big Picture Learning Schools this Fall thanks to a Schenectady Arts and Education grant.

A Manhattan native, Laura Melnicoff started cello lessons at age 6. She was part of the pilot class at Special Music School and attended LaGuardia Arts High School. She holds a Bachelor’s of Music from The Mannes School of Music, where she was a student of Timothy Eddy. Her Master’s degree took her to Israel, where she studied with Hillel Zori, was a member of Tel Aviv University’s resident string quartet, and interned as a cellist in the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Music festivals include the Aspen Music Festival, Keshet Eilon, Kyiv Summer Music Evenings, the Madrid Cello Forum, Your Body Is Your Strad, SababaFest, Junity, KlezKanada, and Yiddish New York. 

Masterclasses include Richard Aaron, Anthony Elliott, Yehuda Hanani, Gary Hoffman, Israel Edelson, David Geringas, and Barbara Stein Mallow. Performances at major stages such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Frankfurt Alte Oper, and Heichal HaTarbut Tel Aviv. Frequent contracts with the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene performing reconstructed works of the heyday of Yiddish Theater. Recording credits include the cast album of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish.