News > Students, Faculty + Alumni
Back to News Browse
Students, Faculty + Alumni

Mellasenah Indira Edwards ’91MM to Head Music Department at Baltimore School for the Arts

Mellasenah Indira Edwards '91MM, a graduate of the Yale School of Music, has been selected to head the music department at the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA), a school that provides pre-professional training in the arts in the context of a college preparatory curriculum. Dr. Edwards replaces Chris Ford; her position was approved by the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, and she will begin her new position at the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year.

Dr. Edwards, a graduate of the BSA (1985) and a faculty member there for the past two years, has extensive experience and professional training in musical performance and music education. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music (1991), and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music.

Currently, Dr. Edwards is Curriculum and Program Assistant in BSA’s Office of School and Community Partnerships where she develops programming and assists in the management of the School’s TWIGS program. She also leads the BSA Orchestra. A noted violinist, she teaches violin at both the BSA and the Peabody Institute. Before coming back to Baltimore in 2009, Dr. Edwards was Chair of the Music Department at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities where she also taught violin.

Chris Ford, Director-Designate of BSA, commented, “I think it is very exciting to see the first BSA alumnus in a leadership role at BSA. Mellasenah has the artistic and educational reach to serve all of our students—from the most elementary to the most advanced. Thrilling times are ahead for the School for the Arts Music Department.”