Stories Now Told, Songs Now Sung

Professional singer and 2024 Arts Fellowship Orlando artist Melissa Ramb says, “This program is absolutely unique and such a gift to any artist. The intentionality of the program is really quite phenomenal, between the theological training, artistic nurture, and spiritual nurture—asking, ‘What are the things holding me back?’ As I’ve continued to bring these things into the light, I’m seeing artistic breakthroughs come, part of which is the Lord working and healing and bringing new insight.”

As a professional singer, Melissa Ramb had refined her vocal talent and skills close to perfection. However, she had also cultivated a harsh inner critic in the midst of the perpetual pressure, and it was holding her back. Then she got accepted into the Arts Fellowship Orlando program, sponsored by the Heart of the City Foundation, where she was given the opportunity to create in vulnerable community. Now she is learning to quiet the internalized criticism and has created her first ever original works!

“Fortunately, I had parents who took me to the theatre, and every time they did, I just sat in my seat and I waited for the cast to come get me to be a part of the performance,” says Melissa, “I just waited and waited and waited, and I was sure every time that it was going to happen.” Ever since she was a child, Melissa felt called to the stage. 

In sixth grade, she auditioned for her first musical. She had sung in church and taken piano lessons before then, but it was the musical which truly lit her passion for music. In college, she received a scholarship for music and theatre, ultimately earning a master’s degree in vocal performance. Since graduating, Melissa has consistently worked as a singer and voice teacher. She’s been on staff at the Cathedral Church of St Luke for 17 years, directing their children’s choir program and serving as soloist and section leader for the sopranos. 

But in all her years as a professional singer, she had never been poured into spiritually and artistically. Further, after performing for so many years in classical music—enduring her fair share of errors that she had been taught there was no space for—she had developed an inner critic that told her she was not enough.

She had developed an inner critic that told her she was not enough.

When she was a child, she auditioned for a play. She wasn’t cast in it but was invited to play piano for one of the scenes. During the performance, she froze. Melissa shares, “It was very scarring and very traumatic. But I also buried it. I didn’t talk about it.” Unearthed experiences like this one had grown roots of fear and anxiety within her.

Then she heard about Arts Fellowship Orlando, a six-month fellowship program designed for professional creatives to explore the intersection between art and faith—and ultimately create an original work. She was intrigued. 

Melissa says, “Ironically, when I applied, I didn’t understand the whole concept of ‘an original work.’ As a singer, I have premiered other people’s original works, but I have never been a part of an original work.” She felt intimidated—but she did have a vision for an original work she wanted to create. 

Bravely, she dove into the program alongside five other artists. She says, “I have definitely had great spiritual nurture and I’ve had artistic training and experiences, but it’s not until AFO that I have ever felt this intense intersection of spiritual nurture and challenge as well as artistic nurture and challenge. It feels like an explosion in the best sense of the word. 

“It’s also inspiring to be with other creatives. As someone who is with musicians all of the time, getting to hear the painters talk about how they process, and a poet, and a photographer—it’s exciting.” 

Together, they started imagining their projects, digging into their spirituality and theology, and sharing their stories. Talking with the other artists, Melissa noticed a freedom she hadn’t felt before: “As I began to tell some stories that haven’t been told, their hold on me changed. The fun thing has been hearing other people resonate with those stories, because they’re their stories, too.”

“As I began to tell some stories that haven’t been told, their hold on me changed. The fun thing has been hearing other people resonate with those stories, because they’re their stories, too.”

In creating her original work, she pressed through the paralysis of the inner critic, aspiring to “just do the next thing” and discovering profundity in simply  “showing up.” Now she has two songs she is thrilled to be able to share with a larger audience at AFO’s annual showcase this June. Throughout these songs, she shares her journey as a singer, unfolding experiences which are mirrored in our relationship with God.

“When I am blinded by the lights of the stage,” explains Melissa, “it’s the most freeing place in the world to me, where I know an audience is there but I can’t see them, and it is truly one of the most inspiring places for me. This light that continues to call and captivate me, I can’t escape it. These songs talk about what is lost when voices are silenced and stories go untold and songs go unsung. They talk about bringing all of ourselves into the light—into God’s light.”

If you would like to see Melissa and her fellow artists share their original works in AFO’s annual showcase on June 8th, you can choose from two shows (as long as tickets last, and last year they went fast): 2:30 pm and 7 pm. You can get your tickets here!