Melanie Pappenheim is a singer, performer and composer. Her versatility has allowed her to explore several different genres. As a singer she has worked with many leading contemporary composers including Gavin Bryars, Judith Weir, Graham Fitkin, Orlando Gough and Jocelyn Pook with whom she has recorded several CDs and toured extensively.

As a theatre performer, Melanie has devised work with many leading multi-media groups such as Lumiere & Son, DV8 Physical Theatre and The Shout of which she is a founder member. She played a principal role in the youth opera Misper at Glyndebourne and sang in Marianne Elliott’s 2008 production of Saint Joan at the National Theatre. In June 2010, Melanie appeared at the Linbury Theatre as the solo singer/actress in A Ring A Lamp A Thing, a new opera by Orlando Gough with libretto by Caryl Churchill, and also in Jocelyn Pook’s Ingerland. Together with fellow Shout singer Rebecca Askew, she regularly performs the comic voice theatre piece FLAM, also written by Orlando Gough, which has been hugely popular at festivals both in the UK and abroad.

Her voice can be heard on many TV and film soundtracks including Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. She garnered popular acclaim for her vocal contribution to the TV series Doctor Who and in 2009 appeared in a BBC prom dedicated toDoctor Who composer Murray Gold.

Film appearances include The Alien, Strange Fish (DV8 Physical Theatre - winner of the Prix Italia) and Warren Beatty’s Coat by Station House Opera.

As a composer Melanie has written and recorded music for several BBC radio drama productions, plays and sound installations.

Alongside her work as a performer, Melanie enjoys leading voice and movement workshops and is frequently employed  in this capacity by many leading arts organisations; she has a special interest in assisting dancers who use voice in performance and has worked with Protein Dance, Volcano Theatre, Arthur Pita and is the company vocal coach for DV8 Physical Theatre.