Performance Reviews
“Stanford unveils remarkable cabaret skills…Displaying an impressive range in both vocal style and interpretive skills, Stanford was at her best here, often bringing out nuances in the songs that others might have missed… [a] singer to watch out for!”
John Amodeo, Bay Windows
“If you missed Stanford…don't despair. She'll be back… Melinda Stanford writes in every vein from blues to ballads. She's even set poetry like Robert Frost's "Reluctance" to music. Once you hear her gorgeous, bittersweet setting you'll be convinced his words and this music belong together…In addition to her skills as a songwriter, Stanford can deliver songs we associate exclusively with someone else and make them her own…She is a winning performer with a way of inhabiting a lyric. Her sweet demeanor gives her an easy rapport with the audience – so it comes as a bit of a shock when she launches into her darker material. She seems to have a direct line to intense heartache, something completely at odds with her fresh-faced exterior. Her exquisite delivery of Kander & Ebb's "Coloring Book" ("Color him gone...") had everyone searching their pockets for tissues. The plaintive ballad "Waitress Shoes", about dreams delayed, should soon become a standard on the cabaret circuit, and her ode on a friend's suicide-attempt captures desperation so acutely that you feel the pain in your own bones. What makes Stanford the performer a force to be reckoned with is her ability to infuse each song with a characterization – something which can lift cabaret from an evening of songs to an evening of theater.”
Beverly Creasey, Theatre Mirror
Reviews of Tread On My Dreams
“There are many albums released to the market each year that appeal to the commercial or to a certain genre or fan base. It is the select handful that can most accurately be described as 'art.' Melinda Stanford's 'Tread on My Dreams' is that album.
“Taking texts both known and unfamiliar, Stanford achieves an alchemy of words and music that is simply a new level of songwriting. One actually hears the most studied texts of Shakespeare, Cummings, Browning and Yeats for the first time anew to great emotion and revelation. Others become immediate classics, such as the stop-your-heart 'Funeral Blues' with text by Auden.
“Yet contained within is humor, soaring-of-the-soul, and the simplest truths, all achieved with a purity of voice, an economy of music-writing and accessibility that is a lesson.
“In this way, it is an album that can and will be enjoyed by an entire family, from the youngest child to grandparent, to the point of obsession -- and rightly so!”
Joel Flatow
Senior Vice President, Artist & Industry Relations
Recording Industry Association of America
“If you've always loved the music of poetry, this is your CD! The essence of poetry, and the essence of music -- Melinda Stanford gets it all. She makes you hear the poems anew through her music. Just listen to ‘Amazing Grace’ or a Shakespeare sonnet, and you'll feel you are rediscovering the classics. I loved it!”
Linda Gottlieb, Producer of Dirty Dancing
“Move over Norah Jones! Everything about Tread on My Dreams is winning: the title, choice of poetry, design, song order, composition notes, and above all, the wonderful songs and arrangements. My favorites: ‘anyone lived in a pretty how town’ – a perfect lead song, so upbeat and catchy; ‘Funeral Blues’; ‘The Soul Selects,’ with its insightful and sexy take on Emily Dickinson. But there're all so good… a priceless gift.”
Maureen McCarthy Draper, Author of The Nature of Music
Testimonials about Vocal and Life Coaching
“There is not one single person in my life that has impacted me as you have… I would never have made that discovery about myself if you hadn’t been in my life. Just know that you are making a big difference in people’s lives and we are eternally grateful.” J.H. Newton, MA
“You are an f----- brilliant coach! I could not nor would not have undertaken this project without you... Thank you for helping me find my voice.” B.R. Boston, MA
“Thank you so much for all you have taught me… You are wonderful and I am blessed to have had you…” S.W. Newton, MA
“I can’t tell you how much I think about you and how much I enjoy our time together.” L.V. Brookline, MA
“… I just wanted to say thank you again for helping me plan… Your advice may very well make the difference in how this year plays out. In other words, I’m glad you’re looking out for me…I am trying so many new things and already feel myself making permanent changes to my day-to-day choices and actions. Honestly, this is because of you. I don’t know how to say thanks to you enough.” K.D. Brookline, MA
“I just wanted to express how completely grateful I am for your confidence, guidance, sense of humor and love throughout this whole amazing journey…You are such a bright light, a mentor, a teacher of the highest order. I feel blessed to have found you… Your clarity of mind, fullness of heart and beautiful, generous spirit have inspired me so much. Thank you and thank you again.” J.F. Newton, MA
“You are truly a light in the world.” L.E. Bangor, ME
“Melinda is a breath of fresh air: cheery, engaging, very bright, uplifting. Thank you so very much…” S.P. Milton, MA
“…I just wanted to say thank you for being so wonderful. I feel really lucky to have a person like you in my life, and each week I’ve looked forward to talking with you and having the chance to work through what I’m thinking and feeling with someone who listens so well and who I trust. It’s really special and awesome.” J.E. Oakland, CA
“Working with you has been one of the greatest privileges and joys I have ever known… You have been a guide with the perfect wisdom-humor combination to reach me in my deepest frustrations and to mirror back to me my deepest joys. You have been the constant mentor and friend through so much inner change… It’s so very rare in life that one finds a teacher who is not only an unbelievably naturally gifted mentor and coach, but who also sees all facets of one’s life and embraces the student as a full person—with all their quirks and talents and abilities to grow…” S.F. Newton
“I was very different when I first came to see you, and the fact that I’ve changed is thanks to your encouragement, … your patient listening, and your constant reminders that I should never be afraid to be who I am.” C.Z. Newton, MA
“I just wanted to write to you to tell you how truly amazing you are and how grateful I am to have you in my life… I notice the changes you have helped me make in myself every day and it’s astounding. I am still not perfect, but no one is, and at least now I have realized I can stop pretending to be… There aren’t enough words in the universe to express what you have done… You make everyone feel loved. Your guidance and friendship has meant so much to me and I will cherish it.” M.N., Newton, MA
“You are making a real difference as an adult woman role model to a teenage guy. He is coming along and we have had some good talks… Thanks so much for your mentoring...” R.D. Brookline, MA
“It’s always fascinating to see your mind in action… You are so good at understanding, synthesizing and delivering a response, and I think it was very helpful.” J.P. Newton, MA
“Thank you for your coaching…. You have such a gift with this!” S.P. Worcester, MA
“Melinda was great. She listened while giving open and honest feedback. She didn’t force the conversation, and more asked questions to get a sense of what I, as the client, was really looking for and trying to get. While helping, and encouraging the “what”, she also spent a great deal of time focusing on the “how”—what action steps I needed to take to help get what I was looking for. This practical, supportive advice encouraged me to head in the direction that I needed and gave me the tools to get there. I highly recommend her for anyone at a transition point in their lives, searching for the next step.” A.P. Dedham, MA
“Thanks so much for the wonderful connection you have both made… What a wonderful coach YOU are!” D.F. Newton, MA
“Thank you for your friendship and belief in me.” J.F. New York, NY
“Stanford unveils remarkable cabaret skills…Displaying an impressive range in both vocal style and interpretive skills, Stanford was at her best here, often bringing out nuances in the songs that others might have missed… [a] singer to watch out for!”
John Amodeo, Bay Windows
“If you missed Stanford…don't despair. She'll be back… Melinda Stanford writes in every vein from blues to ballads. She's even set poetry like Robert Frost's "Reluctance" to music. Once you hear her gorgeous, bittersweet setting you'll be convinced his words and this music belong together…In addition to her skills as a songwriter, Stanford can deliver songs we associate exclusively with someone else and make them her own…She is a winning performer with a way of inhabiting a lyric. Her sweet demeanor gives her an easy rapport with the audience – so it comes as a bit of a shock when she launches into her darker material. She seems to have a direct line to intense heartache, something completely at odds with her fresh-faced exterior. Her exquisite delivery of Kander & Ebb's "Coloring Book" ("Color him gone...") had everyone searching their pockets for tissues. The plaintive ballad "Waitress Shoes", about dreams delayed, should soon become a standard on the cabaret circuit, and her ode on a friend's suicide-attempt captures desperation so acutely that you feel the pain in your own bones. What makes Stanford the performer a force to be reckoned with is her ability to infuse each song with a characterization – something which can lift cabaret from an evening of songs to an evening of theater.”
Beverly Creasey, Theatre Mirror
Reviews of Tread On My Dreams
“There are many albums released to the market each year that appeal to the commercial or to a certain genre or fan base. It is the select handful that can most accurately be described as 'art.' Melinda Stanford's 'Tread on My Dreams' is that album.
“Taking texts both known and unfamiliar, Stanford achieves an alchemy of words and music that is simply a new level of songwriting. One actually hears the most studied texts of Shakespeare, Cummings, Browning and Yeats for the first time anew to great emotion and revelation. Others become immediate classics, such as the stop-your-heart 'Funeral Blues' with text by Auden.
“Yet contained within is humor, soaring-of-the-soul, and the simplest truths, all achieved with a purity of voice, an economy of music-writing and accessibility that is a lesson.
“In this way, it is an album that can and will be enjoyed by an entire family, from the youngest child to grandparent, to the point of obsession -- and rightly so!”
Joel Flatow
Senior Vice President, Artist & Industry Relations
Recording Industry Association of America
“If you've always loved the music of poetry, this is your CD! The essence of poetry, and the essence of music -- Melinda Stanford gets it all. She makes you hear the poems anew through her music. Just listen to ‘Amazing Grace’ or a Shakespeare sonnet, and you'll feel you are rediscovering the classics. I loved it!”
Linda Gottlieb, Producer of Dirty Dancing
“Move over Norah Jones! Everything about Tread on My Dreams is winning: the title, choice of poetry, design, song order, composition notes, and above all, the wonderful songs and arrangements. My favorites: ‘anyone lived in a pretty how town’ – a perfect lead song, so upbeat and catchy; ‘Funeral Blues’; ‘The Soul Selects,’ with its insightful and sexy take on Emily Dickinson. But there're all so good… a priceless gift.”
Maureen McCarthy Draper, Author of The Nature of Music
Testimonials about Vocal and Life Coaching
“There is not one single person in my life that has impacted me as you have… I would never have made that discovery about myself if you hadn’t been in my life. Just know that you are making a big difference in people’s lives and we are eternally grateful.” J.H. Newton, MA
“You are an f----- brilliant coach! I could not nor would not have undertaken this project without you... Thank you for helping me find my voice.” B.R. Boston, MA
“Thank you so much for all you have taught me… You are wonderful and I am blessed to have had you…” S.W. Newton, MA
“I can’t tell you how much I think about you and how much I enjoy our time together.” L.V. Brookline, MA
“… I just wanted to say thank you again for helping me plan… Your advice may very well make the difference in how this year plays out. In other words, I’m glad you’re looking out for me…I am trying so many new things and already feel myself making permanent changes to my day-to-day choices and actions. Honestly, this is because of you. I don’t know how to say thanks to you enough.” K.D. Brookline, MA
“I just wanted to express how completely grateful I am for your confidence, guidance, sense of humor and love throughout this whole amazing journey…You are such a bright light, a mentor, a teacher of the highest order. I feel blessed to have found you… Your clarity of mind, fullness of heart and beautiful, generous spirit have inspired me so much. Thank you and thank you again.” J.F. Newton, MA
“You are truly a light in the world.” L.E. Bangor, ME
“Melinda is a breath of fresh air: cheery, engaging, very bright, uplifting. Thank you so very much…” S.P. Milton, MA
“…I just wanted to say thank you for being so wonderful. I feel really lucky to have a person like you in my life, and each week I’ve looked forward to talking with you and having the chance to work through what I’m thinking and feeling with someone who listens so well and who I trust. It’s really special and awesome.” J.E. Oakland, CA
“Working with you has been one of the greatest privileges and joys I have ever known… You have been a guide with the perfect wisdom-humor combination to reach me in my deepest frustrations and to mirror back to me my deepest joys. You have been the constant mentor and friend through so much inner change… It’s so very rare in life that one finds a teacher who is not only an unbelievably naturally gifted mentor and coach, but who also sees all facets of one’s life and embraces the student as a full person—with all their quirks and talents and abilities to grow…” S.F. Newton
“I was very different when I first came to see you, and the fact that I’ve changed is thanks to your encouragement, … your patient listening, and your constant reminders that I should never be afraid to be who I am.” C.Z. Newton, MA
“I just wanted to write to you to tell you how truly amazing you are and how grateful I am to have you in my life… I notice the changes you have helped me make in myself every day and it’s astounding. I am still not perfect, but no one is, and at least now I have realized I can stop pretending to be… There aren’t enough words in the universe to express what you have done… You make everyone feel loved. Your guidance and friendship has meant so much to me and I will cherish it.” M.N., Newton, MA
“You are making a real difference as an adult woman role model to a teenage guy. He is coming along and we have had some good talks… Thanks so much for your mentoring...” R.D. Brookline, MA
“It’s always fascinating to see your mind in action… You are so good at understanding, synthesizing and delivering a response, and I think it was very helpful.” J.P. Newton, MA
“Thank you for your coaching…. You have such a gift with this!” S.P. Worcester, MA
“Melinda was great. She listened while giving open and honest feedback. She didn’t force the conversation, and more asked questions to get a sense of what I, as the client, was really looking for and trying to get. While helping, and encouraging the “what”, she also spent a great deal of time focusing on the “how”—what action steps I needed to take to help get what I was looking for. This practical, supportive advice encouraged me to head in the direction that I needed and gave me the tools to get there. I highly recommend her for anyone at a transition point in their lives, searching for the next step.” A.P. Dedham, MA
“Thanks so much for the wonderful connection you have both made… What a wonderful coach YOU are!” D.F. Newton, MA
“Thank you for your friendship and belief in me.” J.F. New York, NY