Melissa Bencic

Melissa is the Founder and Artistic Director of Bravo Academy where she has worked extensively for over 20 years developing innovative performing arts programs. Her Bravo journey first began in 2003 teaching out church basements and other various facilities until the company grew. In 2007, Melissa officially incorporated the company and in 2008 she moved Bravo Academy into its first location in Leaside. In 2016 Melissa led the new build of our current facility.

Melissa is active as an artistic director, producer, performer, voice instructor, stage director, adjudicator, consultant and coach. Melissa has produced more than 200 musicals, and directed more than 55 shows and operas, She has a passion for new work and is the founder of New Musical Theatre Intensives (NMTI) where she has helped develop new Canadian musicals such as Drama 101, Going Under, Crack of Doom, Super School and The Quest. Melissa was the Artistic Producer on the musicals Crack of Doom (2022) and Drama 101 (2018) which both won Patron’s Pick and played to sold out audiences at the Toronto Fringe Festival.

Melissa began her musical journey performing and studying musical theatre. She holds a Master of Music in Opera Performance from McGill University and a Bachelor of Music in Opera Performance from the University of British Columbia. Her studies have taken her throughout Canada and Europe including having studied Bel Canto Opera at Liceo Musicale “F. Manzato” in Treviso, Italy. Melissa has performed both nationally and internationally in opera, operetta, oratorio, musicals, and concerts. Melissa has performed with companies such as the Toronto Operetta Theatre, International Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Opera Association, Summer Opera Lyric Theatre, Brampton Lyric Opera and Royal Opera Canada. Melissa has performed in musicals such as: West Side Story, Annie, Sound of Music, A Christmas Carol and operas such as Don Giovanni as Zerlina, Hansel & Gretel as Gretel, Die Fledermaus as Adele and Le Nozze di Figaro as Susanna.

As a voice teacher, Melissa has taught at Bravo Academy since it began and also taught as part of the vocal faculty at Sheridan College for 5 years. Melissa’s students have received great success in attaining recording contracts, agents and professional opera and musical theatre roles with various companies such as the Straford Festival, Mirvish Productions, Drayton, entrance to various university and college classical music and musical theatre programs such as Sheridan, University of Toronto, National Theatre School, Berkeley, Western, Queens, McGill, Dalhousie, entrance to programs such as Claude Watson, Etobicoke School for the Arts and Cardinal Carter School for the Arts and entrance to internationally recognized summer classical music academies such as Tanglewood and Interlochen. Her voice and musical theatre students continuously receive top marks and have received gold and silver medals in RCM and Conservatory Canada (CC) music exams and numerous scholarships and awards from numerous festivals and competitions.

Melissa is an active adjudicator at both the local and provincial level primarily in musical theatre, classical voice and speech arts. Melissa is actively involved within the theatre community and other arts organizations. She is a member and on the Executive Committee for the Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance (MTEA) where she is also part of the sub-group of the New Works group and is an mentor. Melissa is also a member of the National Association of Musical Theatre (NAMT), National Association of Teachers’ of Singing (NATS), the Performing Arts Alliance (TAPA) and she has served a term as the Vice-President for the Ontario Music Teachers’ Alliance (ORMTA).