Melissa Spraggs

DMA Student, Choral Conducting
Office: TC 416
Email: mspraggs@uwo.ca

Biography

Melissa Spraggs is a music educator, conductor, and singer from Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. She is pursuing her DMA in Choral Conducting at the Don Wright Faculty of Music, under the tutelage of Dr. Mark Ramsay. Melissa currently co-directs Western University’s Chorale with Emer Montaño, as well as teaching undergraduate choral conducting courses. Her doctoral research uses a cognitive musicology lens to investigate emotional communication and its impact on positive choral singing environments.

Melissa is passionate about incorporating the Kodály Concept into her music classes and choir rehearsals, having taught Kodály Level 1: Pedagogy and Materials at the University of Manitoba in July 2026. Throughout her career, she has directed children's choirs, school choirs at all levels, and adult community/church choirs. Melissa currently directs Wavesong Vocal Ensemble (treble voices) in Sarnia, Ontario. At Western University, she has fulfilled the role of Assistant Director of Les Choristes (SSA Chamber Choir) and Western Singers (SATB Chamber Choir), as well as designing a Kodály-inspired sight-reading program for two university choirs. Melissa is actively engaged as a choral clinician and adjudicator.

Melissa holds a Bachelor of Music from Canadian Mennonite University and Bachelor of Education from the University of Manitoba, where she specialized in high school choral education. In 2020, she obtained her Master of Music (Education) Degree from Brandon University, earning the Governor General’s Gold Medal and the Brandon University Gold Medal in Master of Music. Melissa’s research has been published in the Canadian Music Educator (59.3, 63.3, 67.1) and she has presented at conferences in Manitoba, Ontario, British Columbia, and Québec. In August 2025, she was honored to present at the International Kodály Symposium in Kecskemét, Hungary. Melissa has enjoyed opportunities as Faculty Advisor and Sessional Instructor at the Brandon University School of Music, most recently directing the Brandon University Concert Choir.

Melissa is an advocate for maintaining strong choral musicianship, most recently singing with Western University Singers and Brandon Manitoba’s SSA Ensemble Novos. In 2023, she had the honor of singing at Carnegie Hall, representing Brandon’s SATB Choir Konektis as a soloist.