Melina Gerges is thriving in today’s topsy-turvy music business because she is a renaissance woman with more skills than one can count. To begin with, this classically trained opera singer recently applied her studied vocal craft in the highly demanding Italian opera scene. At the same time, however, she is also Melina Gerges, the sophisticated American pop singer with a distinctly sassy, European vibe. This compelling combination of classical music training, along with American pop, European dance, and exotic Middle Eastern roots, leaves no question about her utter uniqueness. Without question, Gerges has no trouble standing out above the rest of the pop music crowd -- especially in a music scene that oftentimes appears like vocalist cloning gone awry.
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Gerges’ new album title, Salam, means ‘peace’ when this Arabic word is translated into English. But “Salam” is also a song, as well as an album title. And like all truly great songs, its message is timeless.
“It’s funny to me that I wrote it a year and a half ago,” Gerges relates, “and people still turn to me and say, ‘God, what a timely song!’ Like I wrote it yesterday. What that told me, first, was that people are really intrigued by the Middle East, despite all of the incredible deep issues that they have with religious and political friction in those countries. But I love what the song says in the second verse: “We can make a difference on our own.” This tells me that, although I may not be able to affect the whole entire world, I wonder if my husband and I can make small changes in our lives and the way we treat people. Would it make a difference?”
Gerges’ question is a rhetorical one, of course, because positive change almost always takes place within the hearts and lives of a few committed people at a time, rarely in mass. And Gerges walks the walk, not just talks the talk. For instance, supporting the Heal Sick Children (Texas Children’s Hospital) is one of her current passions. “My life mission will always be to give back to children’s organizations,” Gerges says. “The doctors at TCH are so committed to research and development, in terms of what they can offer children in need of treatment. In my opinion, they are the future.”
This artist’s heart goes out to mothers and young children because she has a zest for living; the sort of unique perspective on life one only finds in true originals. “If I were a pair of shoes,” she mock theorizes, “I would be my platform, orange Michael Kors Sandals.” But why orange, you ask? “Because it’s a, ‘Shout it out…laugh and live out loud color,’” of course.
Ah, but this particular ‘laugh and live out loud’ gal is also equipped with the healing power of music; a natural talent, first recognized in grade school, that changes lives for the better in ways few other talents or abilities ever could. Gerges’ style of music, while powerful, is not always easily described, let alone categorized.
“I’m drawn to, and I can sing in the vocal range of, Eva Cassidy and k.d. lang,” Gerges explains. In other words, hers is a thoughtful, deep pop music, rather than so much fluff that passes for pop music on today’s top-40 radio. “It’s not airy. It’s very heartfelt and soulful,” she continues.
Without a doubt, Gerges has a special gift for communication; a talent she never takes for granted.
“Even when I was singing opera,” she explains, “the one comment people would make to me was, ‘We didn’t understand a single word, but we could understand what you were saying.’” And make no mistake about it; Gerges has no regrets about her recent past life as a successful opera singer. It’s just the time has come to move on. “You reach a climax with as much success as the universe will allow you to have in that category,” she says now, looking back wistfully on her opera days.
Whether Gerges is teetering upon colorful platform sandals, singing a lullaby to a sick child in the hospital, or crying out for Salam-like peace, she’s ever-aware of the fact that music is a God-given, beautiful agent of change.
“Music sends a message, moves hearts to change, and unites a world divided,” she explains. “Music may be one of the very few things that warring nations can agree on! Regardless of the message, the artists, the genre, it has a remarkable way of healing, uniting, and driving change.”
-- Dan MacIntosh
Melina Gerges
Melina Gerges
Melina Gerges
Melina Gerges
