Since being one of three finalists in Solistpriset 2018, one of Scandinavia’s most important classical music competitions, pianist Melissa Jacobson-Velandia has been increasingly sought after as both a soloist and chamber musician in her native-Sweden, and abroad. Praised for her natural musicality, mesmerising sound, and breath-taking engagement in the music she plays, Melissa is hugely popular both with audiences and her fellow musicians.   

Alongside Melissa’s performance of Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, recent concerto engagements have included rehearsing Beethoven’s 3rd, and Rachmaninov’s 2nd and 3rd piano concertos with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and Maestro Derrick Inouye. Performances at the Verbier Festival include Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring for 13-players with Maestro Kent Nagano, as well as John Cage’s The Seasons with Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas.

“…it was music-making of the highest-level, where sensitivity, technique and a mastery of form intertwined perfectly.”  Arbetarbladet, Sweden

Further performances in Melissa’s native Sweden have included Mozart’s 9th Piano Concerto with Jönköpings Sinfonietta and Mozart’s 23rd Piano Concerto with the S:t Matteus Symfoniorkester. She has given recitals and chamber music performances at the Gotland Chamber Music Festival, Konserthuset Stockholm, Piano Visions recital series, and was part of the Piano Festival Debussy 100 (celebrating 100 years since the composer’s death). Performances in Germany have included at the Tonhalle and Robert Schumann Saal in Düsseldorf, in the Jahrhunderthalle Bochum during the renowned Rhein-Ruhr Festival, and in the Laeiszhalle Hamburg.

Mixed with Melissa’s Swedish side is the Colombian heritage she has from her mother, meaning she is equally at home in South America as she is in Europe. She has been lucky to perform a number of times on the South American continent, most notably at the Cartagena Music Festival in Colombia.

Alongside her success at the Solistpriset, Melissa has been a first-prize winner at Steinway competitions in both Germany and Sweden, as well as at the Schmolz und Bickenback competition in Düsseldorf. She completed her Konzertexamen under professor Georg Friedrich Schenck at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, in 2017. Professor Schenck is famed for his teaching centred on creating a ‘3D sound world', and Melissa is indebted to him for enriching her with an extraordinarily refined, multi-layered, and unique sound. She is equally thankful to her other teachers, who have included Paolo Giacometti, Staffan Scheja, Jan Ericson and Patrick Jovell.